As it gets harder to live in the moment, without distraction, some swear by a forced shutdown.
It's an environment entirely stripped of stimuli. Even gravity feels
nonexistent, inside a tank filled with nearly a foot of water and just
about 800 pounds of Epsom salt. Like the Dead Sea. You climb inside and
lie floating in the darkness.
To experience complete sensory
deprivation is, ideally, to delve into one's psyche. It forces
contemplation of facets of life, that -- similar to less "heavy" types
of meditation -- is meant to leave us healthier and happier. The theory
is that removing yourself from all
external stimulation allows your mind to suddenly dial down the RPMs,
resulting in heightened in-the-moment awareness, creativity, and
clarity.
Comedian and
Fear Factor host Joe Rogan has been effusive in his praise of the tank.
"I
think it's one of the most incredible pieces of equipment for self-help
and introspective thought that you could ever find," he
told me. "It's been one of the most important tools for me in
personal growth for understanding myself, how I am, and what effect I do
have on other
people."
Rogan got into sensory deprivation in hopes of achieving psychedelic experiences without taking actual
drugs. He's attained that, and, in the process, gained innumerable reasons to keep floating. "People don't realize how much
everything is a distraction," he says.
The experience in the tank, though, can be "brutal and unflinching
in its portrayal of you and your reality," said Rogan. "That's a
terrifying thing to a lot of people -- the fact that you're alone with
your
unconscious thoughts, with everything that's truly troubling you.
It's the only time that you are untethered from your body."
He's not alone in describing that untethered feeling as a potentially intense emotional experience. Your mind begins
to run rampant. With nowhere else for thoughts to go, whatever problems, worries, or guilt sits in the back
of your brain has to be confronted. As it's been put before,
inside that tank, you have to face yourself.
"It can be uncomfortable in the sense that you really can't run away
from any of the things that
are subconsciously troubling you, but I love that," Rogan said. "I'm
not a big fan of running away from reality. I like handling all of the
issues that bother me in
order to go through life truly happy. There's a lot of people out
there with ghosts, a lot of demons haunting their mind. In my opinion,
this is your
chance to face it head on and try to come up with a better path."
But a fear of facing oneself shouldn't be a deterrent to any type of therapy.
Sensory deprivation has become a popular exercise throughout the world, with validated positive results that
extend into everyday life. Namely stress and anxiety reduction, but also as an adjunct for chronic physical pain.
Dr.
Darren Weissman, a holistic physician who has floated weekly since
1986, explains, "I really feel that it's a result of
floating and getting myself out of the way that I saw how all these
multiple disciplines that activate the healing potentials of the body
actually work
together."
Floating isn't just about facing the negative aspects of life. It's
also about being more aware of, and appreciating the good. Letting the
little, good moments simmer -- instead of just moving to the next thing
-- helps them feel (and actually become) more real.
As Dr.
Weissman says, it "allows us to recognize our body's potentials. It
opens us to a whole different level of awareness and of who we are. We
start
to notice things. It awakens consciousness."
Matt Frederickson, an avid user of floatation tanks, says, "Since I
started doing it, I've become more calm, especially in my work life." A
long-time sufferer of chronic neck, head, and back pain, Frederickson
took
his first float after hearing Joe Rogan's praise of the physical
benefits of the isolation tank on Marc Maron's
WTF podcast. "I thought it sounded interesting
because I personally suffer from a lot of chronic pain, so that's what initially drew me to it."
Frederickson tried therapies for his chronic pain, a lot of which
worked a little, but he's found that no other
practice produces results as consistently effective as the isolation
tank. But, like Rogan, he gets more out of it than he initially sought.
"I still use it mainly for the pain," he says. "It really helps lessen
that, but I think the secondary benefit, for me, would be the anxiety
that's tied to the pain."
"I think people are very mentally attached to certain things and
certain ways of living," Frederickson told me. "I work in the music
industry, so I
attend a lot of shows. I'm constantly seeing people on their phones
or giving into different distractions at these concerts. They don't see
there's a way
out of that, to be in that present moment."
While generally praised by users, sensory deprivation is met with
some mainstream hesitation. Whether that stems from the germ theory --
which Dr. Weissman
assured me shouldn't be a worry -- claustrophobia, or even a fear of
experiencing thoughts that might make us question ourselves, the
floatation tank is a tool that waits patiently for those willing to give
it a shot.
Most who've experienced isolation tanks admit that
the idea of "letting go" and allowing your mind to relax takes time.
Even Rogan admits that floating took some getting used to. "I remember
thinking, this is something I'll have to get comfortable with."
But with practice comes success.
Ultimately the tank can create an optimal environment, but once inside the onus remains on the person as to where they go.
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