Reading this article on IO9 reminded me of what a sensory deprivation tank is like. I never really talked about it here because this was in May, when Lannie.net was completely down for nearly a month, but… yeah. I did that.
Not too long ago, Lie got a voucher for a spa treatment in a place that also included a ‘float’ experience. Floating is apparently lying around in a sensory deprivation tank in salt water for an hour. I was very curious about what it was like. The website said it was more of a cabin and less of a tank… not claustrophobic at all, they claimed. What basically happens is that you take a shower, and then you step into a cabin, through a hatch, into water that is indeed extremely salt (make sure you haven’t nicked yourself shaving your legs or armpits that day). They have some ambient music playing and some lights on, so you can get used to everything. Then the music fades away and you’re on your own in the cabin for the next hour. I felt hardcore and turned the lights off as well, to get the full experience. I am not particularly claustrophobic, and I’m used to relaxing/snoozing in the bath tub, so I thought I’d be fine. And indeed, after some time lying around alternating between mild boredom and letting my mind wander all over the place, I must have fallen asleep. I am not sure how long this lasted. There was no way of measuring time in there, and it was hard to differentiate between being awake or sleeping in the total floaty darkness.
What I do know is that at some point I woke up with a start. It was completely dark, still the same temperature, and I felt like forever had passed. The whole world could have died and I wouldn’t have known. How much time had passed? Had they forgotten about me? Left me here? What was the time, the date, ARGH?! Heart racing, I turned on the lights and opened the cabin to the showers, but all was gentle and quiet and I was reassured that the world still existed. A couple of minutes later the music started playing softly, indicating my time there was done and it was time to hit the showers.
And so I did. Afterwards Lie and I hung out a bit more at the float center and exchanged experiences. Lie hadn’t been claustrophobic at all, which I thought was pretty awesome because she tends to claustrophobia sometimes. She had left the lights on for most of the time though, which must have helped.
So was it as life-changing as the advertisements and the website says it is? I am not sure. It was indeed pretty damn peaceful in there. Snoozing on salt water in a body-temperature environment is a nice state of being. But I am used to snoozing in my bath tub as well (NO I do not drown, I don’t fill my bath tub all the way to the brim) and that is generally pretty much the same. Close your eyes, and then it’s dark as well.
Sadly enough the thing I remember most about the floating experience is waking up in that pure terror, not knowing how much time had passed and what the state of the world was. I felt like a day and a night had passed and was pretty weirded out that it had only been an hour. I felt like they had forgotten me, and that was a horrible feeling. So I’m not sure whether I’ll ever do it again. The website and the consultants there do encourage it, because the first time you do not get the full effect yet – but I think I’m cool with it. I’ll also be happy just floating in my own tub, thank you very much. At least that doesn’t cost me nearly 40 euros.
