My First Float in an Isolation Tank – Sensory Deprivation is Awesome For Stress Relief

My first float in an isolation tank helped reduce my perceived stress.

The after float glow was awesome. The walk to my car after my first float was like walking on air. I felt like I had just had the most amazing massage and I felt incredibly relaxed.

I rode home with the windows down which is not normal for me. I also realized that I was driving slow (for me) and thoroughly enjoying my drive home. I had a very keen sense of smell or maybe just noticed more scents. My wife and I live in Hunterdon County New Jersey and I smelled both pine and cedar trees on my way home and it reminded me of Vermont. I felt keenly aware of my surroundings and had an overall feeling of happiness. 

The next morning when I awoke I still felt relaxed. I still had a bit of a glow and I slept really peacefully. I felt very positive, relaxed, and almost like I was on a vacation. Day two when I woke up, same thing, I still felt very positive and relaxed. Day three after my float when I woke up, I was starting to think that I still felt the glow but it was wearing off. I think that would’ve been a good day to go for second float.

 Now I was calculating in my head how much it would cost to pay individually versus signing up for a monthly unlimited float plan and how much does it cost to have an isolation tank in my house. Turns out they’re very expensive and the break even point is probably years.

My schedule didn’t allow me to get back to the float center until Saturday which was day 5, so not quite a week. I scheduled another 60 minute float even though I really wanted to do 90 minutes but my schedule didn’t allow. Saturday is a workday for me and I needed to float on a lunch break because the float center wasn’t open late on Saturdays. I don’t think going back to work after a float is ideal but it was the soonest option I had and I wanted to get that feeling back. Going back to work immediately after a float takes some of the after float glow away for sure. I came back from my second float feeling much like the first time. More on float two later.

What was my first float like and what happened in the isolation tank you ask? It was really pretty amazing, you lose track of time in there. I mean you have a general idea of time but it gets blurry after the first 15 minutes. I was having a difficult time getting past the sound of my breathing and how loud it was. Because the tank is so quiet, you become aware of the sound of your heartbeat, breathing and if your stomach gurgles it’s LOUD.

I kept touching the sides of the tank and pretty quickly realized not to compensate by pushing off the wall with my hands or feet because it just made it worse. Once I realized if you stay still, you’ll float back away from the wall and end up back in the middle anyway, I was better able to relax. During my first float I would say I didn’t have a good concept of time after the 15 minute mark but probably somewhere about 45 minutes this really warm sensation came over me. It’s very hard to describe, I just felt warm like at the beach, calm and overall it was just a really awesome feeling. Then that awesome place or space disappeared.

I started concentrating on my breathing again and I started to meditate, wondering if that would bring back that awesome feeling again. It felt familiar to me, very similar to hitting a new plateau in meditation. So it made me think that if I meditated in the tank, it might take me back to that place. Unfortunately, meditation didn’t seem to help, at least not yet.
I did hit that that space again and found that awesome plateau at about the 50 to 55 minute mark. Just when I felt like I was in the perfect space or place (I don’t know how to describe it but that will probably come in time) the light came on in the tank. The light comes on to alert you that your session is over.

After I showered, I went back out to the lobby where the person I had gone there with was at the front desk talking to the owner of the float center. He had already made another appointment for a second float. I immediately made an appointment for a second float, this time a 90 minute float knowing that it took to 60 minutes on my first float before I got into a really good spot. Ending up doing 60 on float two due to time 🙁

I started to plan my second float and decided that if I ate maybe four hours before the float I wouldn’t be hungry or full. During my first float I could feel my heartbeat and I could actually feel the water pulsing a little bit from each beat. It’s a little unsettling and I think I need to just get past that sensation or awareness of my heartbeat.

I think in my first float I realized that not thinking about anything at all helps to find that great place. I used to meditate on a regular basis, so that awesome feeling is a space that I’m familiar with. Although it’s not as easy for me to get there today because I don’t meditate as often as I used to, it’s still a space that I’m very familiar with and can recognize when I’m there. I think the nicest part about being in a float tank is that you really don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to work at meditation, you don’t have to work at your breathing, you really just have to do nothing and let your your mind do it’s own thing. Clear your thoughts a little bit and then just hold on.

Some of the things to watch out for in an isolation tank are making sure that you don’t get any water in your eyes because apparently that’s very painful. Luckily I didn’t have that issues on my first float, I didn’t feel claustrophobic in anyway and I was totally comfortable. I had a little anxiety about the light coming on because time was hard to keep track of.

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