SUFFERERS of MS and ME are being invited to take part in the second phase of a floatation tank trial.
The six-week programme, run by Float SW, which has centres in Saltash and St Agnes, will follow on from the pilot scheme launched in December 2008. Float SW aims to compile a report for the NHS to show how floatation therapy can help patients deal with muscle pain, poor sleep patterns, stress and fatigue.
Clare Berry, managing director of Float SW, in St Agnes, said: "We have already seen some patients with MS and ME get remarkable benefits from floatation therapy during phase one of the pilot.
"Such things as pain relief, improved levels of contentment and more energy mean that most patients on the trial are reporting great benefit."
A floatation tank, which is filled with a heated Epsom salt solution to body temperature, enables clients to float effortlessly on the surface, thereby inducing relaxation.
The course costs £100 and participants need to be able to float weekly.
All participants, who wish to, will get automatic inclusion in a longer NHS funded trial starting later this year.
For more details e-mail enquiries@floatsw.co.uk or call Clare on 0844 669 8756.
As I mentioned a couple posts ago, Google Images (images.google.com) has provided very different results for the term "sensory deprivation tank" than doing a regular Google search. I was recently rewarded with this painting by Ray Rum, entitled Vision of Loveliness, the most beautiful piece of floatation tank-inspired art I’ve seen. You can see more of Ray Rum’s work at rayrumart.com.
I just came across this fascinating publicity stunt at SuicideGirls.com:
Drummer to the stars, Josh Freese, is selling himself to sell his new album, Since 1972. Inspired by the value-added packages offered by his buddy Trent Reznor for the last Nine Inch Nails release, Freese has come up with his own gift-with-purchase plan — only his is a whole lot wackier.
Those that are willing to pay a little more than the base price for Josh’s new solo album are offered a plethora of incentives. At the $50 price point you get a five-minute "Thank You" call from Josh, who promises you can "yack it up" about whatever you want. Since Josh has worked with some of the biggest and/or coolest names in the business — he’s a member of The Vandals, Devo, and the on-hiatus A Perfect Circle, and has played with NIN, Sting, and Guns N’ Roses — there’s a lot of ground to be covered in that brief call.
As you rise higher in price, the bizarreness of the stuff on offer increases. Items on menu (which can be viewed at JoshFreese.com) include a trip with Josh to a sensory deprivation tank followed by a steak and all-you-can-eat shrimp dinner at Sizzler — for an investment of $500. A visit to the Hollywood Wax Museum or lunch at Spearmint Rhino with Josh and a member of either The Vandals or Devo (your choice) will set you back $2,500.
For $20,000 Josh will write and record two songs about you that he will then make available via iTunes (you can even sing backup). And, for a $75k, you get a signed CD and Josh in your band for a month. Not got a band? No problem. Other options in this super limited edition of one include having Josh as your personal assistant / cabana boy for a couple of weeks.
Of course behind all of this silliness, Josh has a very serious intent; to get a little more attention for his second solo album than he got for his first (which was released in 2000). And his crackpot scheme, which also involves crazy golfing and a nefarious trip to Tijuana and calls on the services of many of Josh’s celebrity buddies such as Twiggy (NIN and Marilyn Manson), Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) and Maynard James Keenan (Tool), is working. The UK’s mighty Guardian has written about Josh and his multi-tiered promotional plan, as have NPR, The Boston Herald and numerous other newspapers and websites. The cost of the album may just be $7, but the attention Josh is getting for it is priceless.
Restricting Environmental Stimulation (REST) to Enhance Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder With Schizotypal Personality Disorder
W. Rand Walker, Robert F. Freeman, and Daniel K. Christensen, Washington State University
Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) was used adjunctively in an imaginal exposure plus response prevention treatment for a subject with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with comorbid Schizotypal Personality Disorder. An audio loop tape was used as the eliciting stimuli during exposure to REST. Psycholphysiological measures and self reports indicated a substantial reduction of arousal to fear-evoking stimuli, as well as a marked reduction in OCD symptoms. Additionally, imaginal ability and attention to the task appeared to improve in the REST versus non-REST condition in this data-based single case report. Restricted environmental stimulation may enhance the effectiveness of imaginal exposure in patients with treatment refractory OCD.
The isolation tank (aka floatation tank) is arguably the most relaxing activity there is. Float sessions offer a wide variety of important health benefits, as evidenced by the testimonial given toward the end of this video.
Graphic designers, illustrators, artists, and advertisers will continue delivering all of the persuasive, informative, narrative, and poetic visual stimuli we see every single day, but others may seek out inventive ways to create shelter from it. They will fabricate new media to help consumers escape from new media, where we turn off (or worse yet, hide) from the abundance of stimuli.
The solution to information anxiety may not lie in better visual communication, but rather, leaving it all together. Solving creative blocks may best happen without a pencil in hand, with no fingers at the keyboard. Hiding behind noise-cancelling headphones to enjoy the latest Brian Eno ambience may necessitate a sight-cancelling embodiment so we can fully appreciate the calming music without posters in our office distracting us. William Hurt’s character Dr. Eddie Jessup took that concept to a new high in the 1980 film Altered States, when he experimented with sensory deprivation tanks to achieve heightened awareness, crossing physiological planes of existence. During the 1980s, floatation tanks became the vogue method for relaxing one’s body, and some athletic teams such as the Dallas Cowboys and Bill Bergey of the Philadelphia Eagles used them to recover from strenuous play. Then, as much as now, floatation tanks and sensory deprivation appear luxurious, even bordering on voodoo; but in the future, we may require a similar means to fully shield ourselves from deafening noises and bombastic graphics.
Still, our bodies need to slip away, and we all know this, but sometimes need reminders. My reminder happened in a client’s small waiting room devoid of magazines, brochures, artwork, and disruptive noise. As luck would have it, I left my mobile phone in the car, and did not have the added tension of its ringer in my pocket for the thirty minutes I sat waiting. This small room was also equipped with a white noise machine, delivering a soothing sound. We’ve each had moments like these, sometimes they happen on accident; sometimes they happen purposefully. I would frequent James Turrell’s Skyspace, located in the Henry Art Gallery, to intentionally escape my graduate school rigors. Those who have experienced the Skyspace, or any of Turrell’s other light sculptures, can appreciate the spiritual effects. We may crave them so much, that we choose to live in a minimalist environment, similar to the one illustrated in BusinessWeek below.
Entering the vacuous apartment illustrated in BusinessWeek, sitting in a quiet waiting room for a client, or gazing out of Turrell’s Skyspace can help us take time off—even momentarily—and initiate the parasympathetic nervous system’s rest and digest process. As humans withstand more and more stimulation and interaction, through computers, hand-held devices, or televisions, we may need a greater distance from that media to relax and initiate the parasympathetic responses. Taking 30-40 minute breaks out of doors may not be good enough because a passerby has an obnoxious mobile phone conversation happening, or an iPod hooked up to portable Bose speakers with jarring music erupting at us. Selecting the right restaurant to escape our 9 to 5 jobs has become just as trying, with televisions plastering many walls and the clicking customer adjacently tapping on a Blackberry.
Creating artificial habitats that better isolate us from stimuli will require artists, designers, color theorists, or audio designers to partner with architectural, interior, or exhibition designers. James Turrell is one artist who has taken on that challenge, and while some view Skyspace as art, it looks like the future to me. Designers such as John Maeda and Peter Saville also experimented with spirituality in the DVD ColorCalm: By Design: juxtaposing sound with light for the comfort of your living room or office computer.
Because the battle to win consumer and audience attention grows bigger and bigger, covering more and more space, soothing our senses may require more extreme measures than visiting an art gallery or plugging in a colorcalm DVD. The cold war brought about a rise in bomb shelters. Crime sprees during the 1990s pressured homeowners to install panic rooms. What residential innovation will we see over the years, when the ever-growing information superhighway becomes pervasive? Futurists see hover cars, video phones, space travel, and touch-screen computing this century or next, but I believe sensory deprivation rooms will reside in every home.
As the nature of our lives evolves and changes we are constantly looking for ways to improve our creativity and production. This is not a new challenge but one that has taken a sudden sense of urgency, especially in the modern business world. One of the strategies for doing this is to step out of our daily routines, block out the world and focus on our ‘inner selves’. ‘Getting away from it all’ has taken on new meaning and relevance in our stress-filled hurried lives.
The quest for human potential has been going on for ‘eons’. Some argue that Cro-Magnon people isolated themselves from their outside world by entering caves and eventually producing pre-historic cave art. The great religious leaders often promoted meditation and introspection as a means of gaining greater understanding and ultimately arriving at a higher level of potential and production.
Today we try to get away to isolated vacation spots, stress-reducing spas and use New and Old Age methods of turning off the outside world. The premise is that by shutting down the barrage of outside stimuli we can allow ourselves to develop internally. And of course in the Modern Era we use technology to help us with our quest.
One such technological innovation is the flotation tank. No one knows when the idea for sensory reduction started but the first scientific experiments began in the early 1950s. The original premise was that by shutting down outside stimuli one could shut down brain function. The initial surprise was that the brain did not shut down but instead became more active in different ways.
A flotation tank has been described as a portable closet turned on its side and filled with about ten inches of concentrated Epsom salts dissolved in water. The typical tank will have between 800 and 1000 pounds of concentrated Epsom. Newer tanks have an air supply and a temperature regulator that keeps the solution a constant 93.5 degrees F. or skin temperature and a door that essentially shuts out all light. Earplugs are often worn and most tanks have very little or ‘no’ sound.
The floater enters the tank, closes the door and with it blocks out most external stimuli. The floating experience comes close to no gravity — one floats and physically cannot sink in the tank. There are no rules — no set procedures, no instructions, no agenda. Each floater takes into the tank what they bring with themselves. Some meditate, others work on business problems, and others let their minds go and try to enter a creative state. Many, though not all, go into a brainwave state known as the ‘theta zone’ — a brainwave pattern similar to sleep. There are no drugs, massages, or therapy processes. In short, there is no intervention of any kind — only the floater and the tank.
"Floaters" report many different types of experiences and many of these experiences are perceived as profound. I recently conducted a series of interviews with floaters and was told the following: A systems analyst uses the tank to reduce stress and become ‘less of an nerd’; a research scientist visualizes molecules and protein structures; a banker uses the tank to work on difficult projects by isolating each component of a project and visualizing how these components can come together. Athletes use floating for optimal performance, visualization and injury healing. Doctors and chiropractors recommend floating as a way to reduce pain, especially back pain. Psychologists recommend floating as a way to reduce levels of depression. Writers and inventors use floating as a way to create and innovate. Why does floating work? There are a number of theories: the anti-gravity effect, the increase of left brain activity as right brain activity is decreased, endorphin production, integration of the primitive and modern brain layers, brain waves (theta), biofeedback and homeostasis of the human brain.
But most floaters do not care so much how it works but that it works. They report that old ways of thinking simply ‘melt away’ and do not have to be ’strategically broken down’. They report a greater sense of well being and an enhanced sense of creativity and innovation. Many report that floating has significantly changed their lives. The effects can last for days, weeks, years or a lifetime.
As a matter of curiosity I tried floating. The immediate effect I noted was a sense of well being that lasted for weeks. I cannot say whether is was cause and effect, but after floating regularly for several months, I started a new business venture that I had been contemplating for over a year. As a true skeptic I cannot say what is going on but I can say that something is going on. My wild guess is that it has something to do with endorphin production but admittedly that is a wild guess.
For those of us that constantly deal with human potential in the workplace we cannot ignore the human mind. Although we do not fully understand how the mind works, we do know some of the basics. We now know that constant stimuli bombardment can lead to high levels of stress, which in turn can cause mental and physical maladies. These maladies can lead to lower production and a reduced potential.
The Brave New World of the future may not have our minds hooked up to stimuli producing machines. The Brave New World may have us float in a tank and ‘regress’ to some primordial state where we can shut out the modern world and realize ourselves and our own potential.
In a true sense, we may be returning to the cave to find ourselves.
This is a snippet of an interview Roots Of Rebellion conducted with Michael Hutchison, author of the definitive work on the floatation tank (and a great read!) The Book Of Floating
Here’s a fascinating story about a very left-brained man overcoming his shyness, John Lilly’s Flintstones-esque floatation tank, and the birth of a new industry. This is a segment from a conversation with Lee Perry, co-owner of Samadhi Tank Co.
Restricting Environmental Stimulation (REST) to Enhance Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder With Schizotypal Personality Disorder
