What is Floating in a Sensory Deprivation Tank Like?

Floating in a sensory deprivation tank and why you should try it.

After 40 floats, I thought I would share some of my experiences in a sensory derivation tank. I started to journal each float but stopped after the fourth and figured I would wait until I had a better understanding of the isolation tank and it’s effects before I blogged about it again.

I first heard about floating in college. I was writing a paper about altered states of consciousness in my psychology 101 class. The essay focused primarily on transcendental meditation (TM.) While researching TM I stumbled on a book by John C. Lily. In the book, Dr. Lily talked about his experiments with sensory deprivation and his invention of the isolation tank. He was definitely out there and he would routinely take LSD and get in his isolation tank.

Fast forward 30+ years….. I’m in a meeting with a marketing vendor and he asks me if I’ve ever floated. After that meeting I searched Google to see if there were any tanks in New Jersey and found one less than 10 minutes from where I work. I booked a float and the rest is history.

OK, let me get to the point of this article. What is floating in a sensory deprivation tank like? In one word it’s “Amazing.” I wanted to float because my research indicated that it could help reduce stress. I have a stressful job, work six days a week and take very little time off. I know it’s not healthy but it’s what I do.

Before I get started, my time in the tank has dramatically reduced my perceived stress and unexpectedly reduced some general anxiety that I wasn’t really aware of until it was gone. Whether I’m in there for 60 or 90 minutes, I’m unplugged from my phone, disconnected from the world and in zero gravity. Because you have no light, no sound, no sense of touch and you’re in zero gravity your mind starts to do it’s own thing.

Here’s what floating is like for me. In the beginning it would take me 10-15 minutes to get in the zone but now I find myself relaxed and comfortable in less than 5. Each float has been different and I’ve tried different techniques to reach higher levels of consciousness like TM and other forms of meditation while in the tank. Sometimes I just let my mind wander and have awesome floats with no effort. Sometimes I actually fall asleep. I’ve even had a couple of floats that seemed like I couldn’t get in the zone at all but every float has made me feel relaxed when it was over.

I’ve had floats where I spoke with my deceased Grandmother, replayed memories from my childhood, sorted our problems at work but my favorite are the ones where I’ve had transcendent experiences. When I started floating in a sensory deprivation tank there would be brief moments of euphoria. Very intense and overwhelming feelings of peace for maybe 10-15 seconds. I would then spend the rest of my float trying to achieve that same level of consciousness.

The more I floated the more often I would have these experiences and in some cases they would last longer and be even more intense. Most recently I felt like I had died in the tank. I knew that I was alive and well but my brain was telling me that “this is what it’s like when you die.” This experience was like a lucid dream. I knew that I was floating in a tank but it was an out-of-body experience like I hadn’t had before.

I will post some of my early journaling because they are interesting and they were all written shortly after the float while it was still fresh in my mind. I have now been floating in a sensory deprivation tank for over a year and have probably floated 40+ times.

Send me an email if you have any questions or comments cousinmikecooks@gmail.com

Here’s a story that CBS News did on floating in a sensory deprivation tank

Check out Quantum Floats in Bdeminster NJ

Read my other article on my first floating experience and I hope you have enjoyed my article on floating in a sensory deprivation tank