Please keep in mind as you are reading about my floats that these are my experiences and mine alone. Your floating experience could be totally different from mine and you reading this may or may not influence your experience. You could have similar experiences as me or have a totally different experience, floating is in your control and what happens is in your control. NEVER FORGET THAT. Everyone’s floats are different and unique each and every time they go into a sensory deprivation tank. I would like to think that most people who want to float research what floating is and where they should or can float prior to their first experience as I did. Your first float is really about figuring out the dos and don’ts. It is about figuring out in what position you are the most comfortable. I remember being so excited about the fact that I was floating that I just moved my body around in the tank. I was like a worm wiggling in the water. I did air jumping jacks too, that was fun. I also figured out which position I was most comfortable in, it was a toss up between my arms above me or on my side. The other thing is that I feel like it is impossible not to get salt in your eyes the first time. I thought it would be just like opening my eyes underwater in the ocean, boy was I wrong. It burns, it is a tolerable burn but it burns. In most places where you can float they have a towel for you on top of your tank so reach out and give your eyes a dab. The burning sensation does not last long and you can sink back into the tank. Getting used to doing absolutely nothing was very hard for me and it was not until the very end that I started to accept it. I remember my float being done and wanting more. I was told that that was a good thing. I was experiencing myself, alone with no distractions for the very first time. Floating is a way to experience yourself in a way you never thought possible, it takes some getting used to. Something that should be so easy seems so foreign. Some people get in the tank and get out before their time is up. It can be intimidating to be alone with yourself, very intimidating. But if you can’t be alone with yourself how do you expect other people to be?
When my float was done and over with I remember feeling so at peace with myself and the outside world I was about to dive back into. A calm came over me and I felt more in tuned with myself than I had been in a very long time, maybe ever. I knew then that I was doing something that was going to change my life and the way I looked at things and it has, drastically. I emerged from the room in my robe and looked at my brother and Marilyn (the owner of the float tank) and sighed a very happy sigh and smiled, big. They both smiled back at me, as my mood was contagious. My brother photographed my emergence and the look on my face below is pure bliss.
My brother went with me on my first float where he also had his first float. I never dug deep into his experience in there but he did make comments on how he could hear his own heart beat and how relaxed he felt. I think the fact that you can hear your body so well makes you more attuned to it. You make healthier choices later because you are now aware and paying attention.
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