Demo must be viewed on a laptop or desktop. Mobile/tablet not avaialable.

Why Float Tanks Are the Shit

Share this post!

If you’ve been following me for the last 3 years, you’ll know that I love sensory deprivation tanks AKA float tanks.

I’m going to share all of the reasons I fan girl over float tanks, and why you too should be crazy about them.

Entering my spaceship

But in the meantime…

What the hell is a float tank?

A float tank is typically a pod like structure that contains water and about 1000 pounds of dissolved epsom salt. As you step in, you close the hatch on the structure and submit yourself to the experience, laying in the tank completely effortless as the epsom salt suspends your body in primordial goo complete peace.

The tank is pitch black, quiet, and free of sensory stimulation. For about 60-90 minutes you lay there suspended, [hopefully] surrendering your body and mind. #youllfloattoo

If you can allow yourself to, the float will lull you into a state of relaxation, meditation, and even hallucinations of the trippy kind. If you can’t get your mind to shut up, there’s plenty more benefits aside from it’s mood boosting allure.

You might be reading this thinking “fuck that, I’m claustrophobic.” I get that, but don’t you worry. Float technology keeps improving by the day. If you want all of the benefits of floating (see below) but the thought of being closed in a tiny pod makes you want to shit yourself, the good news is you ought to be able to find a float spa near you that has a large tank built for people with claustrophobia, or an entire float room- which is more accommodating not only for those who are claustrophobic but also for someone who has a disability. See the two pictured below. Not only that but most tanks come equipped with lights (that can be turned on and off) as well, so you don’t need to be in a pitch dark realm should you decide it’s too much.

Larger tank/room:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100412629935101&set=a.582996500181.2069901.200001012&type=3&theater

Float room:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100340043908081&set=p.10100340043908081&type=1&theater

Why Float Tanks Are the Shit:

  1. They’re great for reconnecting to your body. If you want to develop a little more self love and start tapping back into your intuition after years of ignoring yourself and your instincts, floating is a great way to do that. With all of the sensory stimulation gone, you’re free to be with your body. Take deep breaths, listen to the way your body sounds, reconnect with it. I love to inhale to a count of 6, pause, and exhale to a count of 6 to really listen to my body and gain more respect for it. If you listen deeply enough you can hear the sounds of nature. For example deep breathing sounds like rolling thunder. Also I love to get quiet enough in my thoughts that I can hear my heart beat or that I can hear my eyes move in my head.
Zero sound, thanks to the complimentary ear plugs each float spas gives away.
  • They’re powerful for minimizing stress. If you battle stress and anxiety, floating is an incredible modality for reducing them. Most the time when I book a float visit it’s when I’m at the absolute end of my rope… mentally fried, frustrated, questioning my next steps, becoming annoyingly anxious or stressed. The accumulation of shit just piles up until I’ve had enough. Enter floating. After 60 minutes of floating I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The things that were bothering me I either have solutions for, or I’m completely over. It’s a damn near miracle.
  • They’re wonderful for meditation. This is the part I struggle with. I have no issues reconnecting with my appreciation for my body each time I float, but it’s the calming of the mind part that allows me to go into a deep state of meditation is hit or miss for me. Often when I float I am lulled to sleep (yeah you can easily sleep in one), which is great but I crave getting a more impactful experience with my float- something meditative, awe-inspiring. This last time I went floating, I was able to focus intently on my breathing… this helped me to reach such an incredible meditative state, one that I haven’t been able to experience just through meditation alone. I felt super calm, like I was floating in space, and all of these downloads of new ideas for my business just rapid fire came to me. It was incredible and enlightening.
  • They’re an excellent source of magnesium. Magnesium is responsible for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body and impacts blood pressure, metabolism, immune function and many other aspects of health. Some experts claim that magnesium deficiency is the single largest health problem in our world today (source). The epsom salt in float tanks contains magnesium,  which is easily absorbed into your body while floating. Magnesium helps to relieve anxiety, headaches, muscle spasms, irritability, soothe pain and sore muscles as well as many other things.
  • They’re powerful for digital and stimuli detox. We are inundated with technology. It’s at our damn finger tips 24/7. That alone contributes to the stress in our lives, but also contributes to anxiety, addictive tendencies, and information/sensory overload. When I feel like I need a technology time out, into the pod I go. I am at ease, not feeling like I have to constantly be reaching for my phone, like Pavlov’s dog salivating waiting for the next ding or chime to tell me how important I am. When I come out, I want nothing to do with my phone.
  • You can float with your lover, or a friend. I’ve floated in large enough tanks that my boyfriend and I were able to float together at the same time, in the same tank. It depends on what you want to get out of it, sometimes floating with your partner can be stellar, other times they can unfortunately interfere with your intentions for floating and distract you from what you were hoping to gain. But hey, if you’re new to it and nervous about doing it perhaps you could find a place and float with your partner or buddy. #strengthinnumbers
  • They’ll help ya trip balls. Some people note that float tanks invoke a hallucinogenic experience for them, where they drift off into the depths of space or feel as if they’re floating in the womb again. I haven’t (yet) blasted off to another galaxy far far away, but it’s certainly not unheard of or uncommon for float tanks to make ya trip without the use of psychedelics.
  • Reconnecting with myself.

    The good news about all of this is you can experience it for relatively cheap, for a fraction of the cost of a massage. If you look on Groupon, most the time you ought to be able to find deals for float spas near you. A lot of float spas also offer package deals to help reduce the overall price of getting your float on.

    Most the time when I travel to new cities, I like to experience their float spa and reset myself after a long flight or from jet lag. I’ll just hop on Groupon, find a good deal and away I go to experiencing pure bliss.

    Have you ever floated before? Do you plan on checking one out?

    SaveSave