1980. William Hurt’s first leading role was in a science fiction movie called Altered States which created a flood of interest in the floatation tank that continues 30 years later. In the movie, Hurt’s character uses the floatation tank to enhance the effect of the drugs he’s taking to achieve higher consciousness. Thanks to the movie and to widespread media attention, this idea of using the floatation tank to achieve a higher state of consciousness was seized on by millions and floating became very popular with people looking to have an experience.
Nationwide interest in the floatation tank prompted scientific research into its benefits. During the 1980s when floatation tank popularity was at its height, very promising research was presented that showed the floatation tank offered a wide variety of benefits such as relieving back pain, improving creativity, reducing headaches, reducing the pain associated with late-term pregancy, improving athletic performance and more. Time magazine reported on pro sports teams and Olympic athletes using the floatation tank and improving their game. The future looked very bright for the floatation tank.
Then AIDS panic hit, and many people feared they were at risk by using the floatation tank. Interest took a dive, leading to manufacturers and businesses going under, discouraging further promotion of the many benefits of the floatation tank. However a handful of manufacturers and promoters weathered the storm and helped to bring the floatation tank into the 21st century. The floatation tank has found popularity in many European spas, though a revival is yet to be seen in the US where it all began. If the internet is any indication, then much of the current American interest in the floatation tank is from young people wanting to use the floatation tank to enhance their drug use.
I’ve been researching publicly available information for the past six years and have seen very little reporting on the therapeutic or athletic benefits of the floatation tank. Many spa owners who provide the service have inadvertently undermined themselves by focusing primarily on the relaxation benefits, which puts the floatation tank on equal footing with massage in many people’s minds. When this comparison is made, massage usually wins since there’s not much mystery to massage, whereas the floatation tank is still commonly misunderstood, even after being widely available for over 30 years.
The floatation tank used to be referred to as a sensory deprivation tank, an outdated term that has a negative connotation. However, there’s nothing scary or unpleasant about floating like an astronaut in skin-temperature water that leaves your skin silky and your mind clear. When I asked my nine year old stepson why he enjoyed the floatation tank despite the fact he was afraid of going to bed with the lights off, he replied very matter-of-factly “In the tank, there’s nowhere for the monsters to hide.”
I discovered the floatation tank in 1999, before I watched Altered States and long after the AIDS scare was put to rest. Not knowing anyone who had done it before me, I went in merely curious, without any expectations. What I learned my first time is that the deep relaxation caused by floating weightless in 800-1000 lbs of dissolved Epsom salt caused my brain to release so many endorphins that after an hour, I emerged from the tank euphoric. I left the spa feeling like I was walking on the moon – just a fraction of my weight. I understood why the tank captivates many people who seek an experience.
Two years later, I returned to the floatation tank for a very different reason. I had been experiencing intermittent sciatic pain for six years and it was getting worse each time. In the spring of 2001, it was so bad I was barely able to walk. I went to see a chiropractor but the adjustments caused me even more pain. I was on pain meds but they weren’t helping. Then I remembered the relaxing experience I’d had a couple years earlier and hoped I could get some relief, especially since lying in bed was so painful that I’d barely slept in days.
To my amazement, the floatation tank took me from a 9 on the pain scale to a 0 in less than an hour. I was able to avoid back surgery thanks to the floatation tank. I still have a pinched nerve, but I no longer struggle with debilitating sciatic pain. A few years later, my wife and I opened a spa where we provided floatation tank services. This gave me the opportunity to witness 100s of people get impressive relief from acute stress, back pain, muscle pain, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, arthritis and more. I know now that my experience wasn’t a fluke and that the floatation tank is no mystery, but rather a powerful and natural tool for a wide variety of valuable benefits.
It’s quite an interesting idea to make a flotation tank part of an art exhibit, and brilliant too, considering that floating heightens your senses and concentration. Click here to read an interview with the artist.
Millions of people have seen those unusual waterbox contraptions featured in movies and TV shows, but few people know what they actually do. I just found a new video that does an excellent job of explaining what a sensory deprivation tank does to a person – highly recommended if you’ve ever been curious about it.
Note: There’s a 10 second commercial before the video plays
I just came across an article called “How To Create Your Own Flotation Tank” at www.ehow.com/PrintArticle.html?id=5105871. I wanted to take a minute to explain why putting Epsom salt in your bathtub is not an effective alternative to the floatation tank. Here’s what the article says:
Introduction
Flotation tanks were first used after WWI to treat shell shocked soldiers. The salt content helps to calm the nerves by stimulating the bodies endorphins. Flotation tanks are expensive to have made, but there is a way to create your own flotation tank without all the costs.
Instructions
Difficulty: Easy
Things You’ll Need
6 Pounds of Epsom Salts
Step One
Before starting anything, rinse the entire body off with warm water, making sure to get rid of any dirt, body oils, or skin care products.
Step Two
Shut the bathroom door, as well as any windows.
Step Three
Run a warm bath, ideally the temperature should be around 84F, give or take a couple of degrees.
Step Four
While running the bath water, pour the epsom salt directly under the running water.
Step Five
Turn the bathroom lights off, and try to block any light from entering the bathroom. Also get rid of any surrounding noises. Noise cancelling earphones or earplugs may be helpful as well.
Step Six
Settle in to the bath, until the water is at the upper neck or right below the ears. Soak in the bath treatment for about 15 minutes.
- end of article -
The Problem With Creating A Floatation Tank In Your Bathtub
Epsom salt is the primary component in a floatation tank, but 800-1000 pounds of dissolved Epsom salt is used in a floatation tank. Claiming that 6 pounds of Epsom salt is just as effective as 800-1000 pounds is just silly. You need 5 pounds of Epsom salt per gallon of water to create the zero gravity effect of a floatation tank.
To elaborate on the zero gravity effect of a floatation tank, 800 pounds of dissolved Epsom salt will cause you to float like a cork, and the constant pressure of gravity is momentarily suspended. This has a healing and stress reduction effect that a few pounds of Epsom salt in your bathtub can never approach.
Fortunately, you don’t have to buy a floatation tank to experience the benefits. You can just visit your nearest floatation center and compare that experience to sitting in your bathtub. If you want to make the comparison even more striking, try a floatation tank on a day when you’re particularly stressed out, or when you’re experiencing muscular pain of any kind.
About fifteen years ago, when I was living in Madison, Wisconsin, a flotation tank center opened, right in my neighborhood. I had heard of flotation tanks, but had never actually experienced one. So, feeling curious, I walked over to check it out, one spring afternoon.
It was a very small place: just a reception area and then a back room with two (or perhaps three) tanks, and a couple of showers. The tanks looked ominously like large metal coffins, which gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach. Still, I was up for trying it, at least once.
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.
Doing a Google Images search for sensory deprivation tank brought up several results that I’d never found on dozens of Google searches for the same term. I was pleasantly surprised to find many websites I never knew about, including one that I had to share with you – The Floatel, an art design for a floatation center in London. You can read more and see the fascinating drawings at http://www.audioh.com/projects/floatel.html.
