My First Float

How often do you get to have a completely new experience, unlike anything you have to compare to?

Experience the Dead Sea without travelling to Jordan.

Today I floated for the first time ever. And not just like doing a starfish in the water to stay near the surface. I was completely buoyant in water denser than the Dead Sea. 

At first, I was unimpressed and underwhelmed. So much for the experience of a lifetime.

But then everything changed.

As I climbed into the float cabin and uneasily lay back, I let the buoyancy of the Epsom salt take over and my body was whisked upwards from the bottom of the shallow water. From there I struggled to relax and get used to the thunderous sound of my heart beating in my chest. It was all I could hear other than the occasional pop and crackle of a joint completely released of all its tension.

Once I got my rhythm and played with my body in relation to the sides of the tank a bit, I was sinking deeper into the zone. I had an hour and a half in the tank. I didn’t know how I could possibly last it. When you’re in the tank eyes open or closed doesn’t mater - darkness is pitch either way. 

If you stay still, the temperature is perfect. You have no idea which body parts are submerged or exposed. Everything melds as one experience and time becomes funny. 

It felt like an eternity and before I knew it, it was over. 

The 90 minutes was done and I swear only 45 minutes at most had elapsed. The music slowly grounded me in reality and I thought there was no way my time was up - this music had to be coming from inside my mind. Sure enough, my time was up. I was relieved. After that length of time, I was ready to get up and use the bathroom.

That was when the real magic started. Just like with meditation, floating isn’t all that exciting of a therapeutic modality. The near-complete absence of stimuli, however, trains your mind to react differently.

The rest of the afternoon I was as calm as a cucumber. It was like I was floating on a cloud above all the bustle and nagging thoughts that usually race through my anxious mind. 

Everything just slid off my shoulders with nonchalance. This is what it must be like to experience the blissful non-judgement of the Zen Masters. To live a life free of pain, depression, anxiety, stress, and anger. All because it has no chance to gain purchase on your shoulders. 

You come to realize that the burdens of modern society are meaningless.

Welcome to a new outlook on reality.

Welcome to floating.

Welcome to Flow.