One of the unique ways that comedian and TV personality Joe Rogan has made a name for himself is by being an outspoken proponent of floatation tanks. 

Most Americans today have no concept of what floating is or what it offers, so when a celebrity like Joe Rogan talks about it, a huge number of people’s initial perceptions are formed by this first impression. I think the following video does a decent job of framing floatation in a positive light, even if it is colored by the old Altered States stereotype.

Be that as it may, some people hold the view that any attention is good attention. I discovered floatation in 1999 in a small classified ad and tried it out of curiosity. Little did I know that it would change my life on multiple levels. My point is that all it takes is a small nudge, so I commend Joe Rogan for using his celebrity status to promote this life-changing tool.

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That quote comes from Australian senator Richard Jones. I’ve never met the senator and I’ve never been to Heaven, but I have to agree with his statement.

After 100s of personal float sessions and after surveying 100s of people after their float session, I think the floatation tank is one of the most underestimated tools available for combatting stress, fatigue and many types of pain, as well as facilitating deep relaxation. Also, thanks to the burst of endorphins your brain releases when you’re floating weightless, it feels wonderful in a way that can’t be explained. This isn’t wonderful like how a massage is wonderful, or a foot rub. Floating is in a category all its own.

Now I don’t want to encourage any misconceptions with my spaceship comparison. If you saw the hilarious Simpsons episode when Homer and Lisa had an adventure while floating in a sensory deprivation tank, you may think that only New Agey types are into floating. Nothing could be further from the truth. During my short stint with the floatation center, I saw about 800 people come through, mostly suburbanites with stressful jobs and chronic pain. You can read a small sample of their comments on the float tank experience here.

My goal here is to help turn people on to something they may have heard about, but had no idea how beneficial it was for common problems. In the spring of 2001, I was nearly paralyzed with sciatic pain due to a pinched nerve in my lower back. This was a situation that had been getting progressively worse for 6 years. Pain meds weren’t working and I really wanted to avoid getting a cortisone injection or undergoing back surgery. I went to a chiropractor who put me in more pain and told me to come back in two days. Needless to say, I never went back.

Then I remembered an old ad I’d read in the newspaper about a floatation center in Chicago and decided to give it a try. I came in walking like a frozen zombie, with every movement causing so much pain as to take my breath away. Within 45 minutes in the float tank, I was pain-free.

If you’ve ever experienced severe pain, especially for an extended period of time, then you can relate to the gratitude I felt toward this thing that had given me my life back. I hadn’t slept in almost a week because of the pain. I had used up my sick days at work and was eating up vacation days while bedridden, barely able to feed myself. I had to float several more hours in order to be pain-free outside of the float tank, but the healing process was exponentially faster than the bed rest I’d been doing the previous week. Six years of progressively worsening sciatic pain had been interrupted. Now I just float every few months for maintenance, but I float more often for relaxation.

Knowing that there are tons of people out there dealing with stress, fatigue and pain compels me to do my part in getting the word out about this odd-looking contraption that has greatly improved my quality of life.

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If you’ve ever been curious about why some people swear that floating in a sensory deprivation tank (aka floatation tank) feels great, I wrote a straightforward description of what the float experience is like by answering questions posted on Yahoo Answers.

Here are a few questions for anyone who has tried floatation therapy:

Does the water get changed between customers?

Is it dark inside?

How much did it cost?

How did you feel afterwards?

Answer:
Q: Does the water get changed between customers?

A: A floatation tank has 800-1000 pounds of dissolved Epsom salt. This is what makes a person float like a cork, creating a low gravity environment.

Epsom salt is a natural antiseptic that inhibits the growth of microorganisms. The best example of this in nature is the Dead Sea in Israel. There are $300-$400 worth of Epsom salt in a floatation tank and it can take up to a week to dissolve, so it’s necessary to create a closed system where the water is pumped out of the tank and goes through a 3 stage filtration process that includes UV sterilization and/or ozone sterilization before being pumped back in. A floatation tank is cleaner than any swimming pool, hot tub or jacuzzi.

Q: Is it dark inside?

A: The floatation tank used to be called the sensory deprivation tank. The name was changed because many people confused the beneficial kind of sensory deprivation with the kind of sensory deprivation used in prisons. The reason for floating in a dark environment is because a person will usually relax more deeply in the absence of light. That’s why we turn the lights off when we go to bed.

A float tank is usually in a private room with a light on so the person entering and exiting the tank has plenty of light to see what they’re doing. Once they’re situated inside the float tank, they can close the door and enjoy the darkness or some people will prop the door open with a towel to let in some light and some people will leave the door wide open.

As long as the top of your body is warm and comfortable, it’s ok to leave the door open. Remember, you’re floating like a cork with the top of your body floating above the water. The water temperature is 93.5 degrees (skin temperature) so if the air temperature gets too cool, you’re likely to get chilled and then you’re not relaxing.

Q: How much did it cost?

A: The place where I float in Chicago costs $40 for an hour, but prices range from $35 at small businesses to $125 at some spas.

Q: How did you feel afterwards?

A: After my first float session, I felt much lighter, as if I was walking on the moon. Colors were richer and more intense. I learned this is because our brains crave stimulation, so when it’s deprived of sensory input for a while, our senses get intensified. Also, I was feeling euphoric because of the burst of endorphins that your brain releases when you float.

I’ve floated many times and I typically feel more energized and calm afterwards. I can’t float in the evening or else I won’t be able to sleep. I’m told this is because your brainwaves transition from beta to alpha to theta. Being in that theta state has the effect of giving you the benefits of several hours of sleep in a fraction of the time. So if I need to pull an all-nighter, I float.

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Whether you’re a big fan of floatation tanks or are just mildly curious, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this resource that I just found – http://amaznode.fladdict.net. Type a search term into the field where it says "Input keyword here." and hang out for a minute or two while an interconnected web of books and videos with relevant material is created.

I put in the search term "floatation tank" and was given many book results I’d never heard of. The graphical interface is very eye-catching and the number of results that can fit on a single page is very impressive. Highly recommended.

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