Floating

A few weeks ago a friend and I tried out float tank/ sensory deprivation therapy. We each had our own room with a shower and a tank or pod in it. The water is fairly shallow but warm and claims to have 600kg of Epsom salts in it which is why your body floats. At first when I got in, it took me quite a while to relax the tension I was holding in my neck – I hadn’t been aware of it before floating, but it was preventing me from truly letting go and floating freely. It was hurting quite a bit, but eventually dissipated and then I felt amazing – euphoric even! At first my mind was racing and I was thinking it was a bit boring and how on earth would I last a whole 60 minutes. Right after that thought I drifted off and the music came on to let me know it was finished in 5 minutes – typical! I guess I really did end up relaxing deeply. I got out and could feel the salt starting to dry on my body very quickly – even after a shower my skin was a bit dry. Epsom salt has so many physical and spiritual benefits, but unfortunately the experience was a bit tainted for me by the smell of chlorine. For the rest of the day I felt extremely aligned, like all of my bones and muscles were exactly in place and my mind was very clear with a sense of calm. I had never thought about it before, but we never experience total body weightlessness and the feeling is unique. It’s definitely something I would do again, but this time I will call first and ask what time is best to get the least amount of chlorine as that ruined it slightly for me. We went first thing in the morning which I was later told is when the chlorine is at its strongest… I went to Gravity Float in Melbourne – the girls there were lovely and it’s a beautiful, relaxing space with fresh herbal teas and filtered water to sip on before and after.

I thought this dreamy song called Rock The Boat by the late great Aaliyah was appropriate with all this talk about floating.