Floating

Have you ever spent an hour in a floating tank? I have come to love the experience. I have known about this practice for decades. Back in the 90s, I had a friend who installed a small floating pod in his home. He tried to build a business selling time in it. I never tried it even though I am generally interested in and open to experiences of this nature. But for my last birthday, my wife gave me a gift certificate at FloatingKC in Kansas City, Missouri. It is a wonderful salon in my part of town that has state of the art facilities. Finally, I embraced the experience and I am hooked! 

If is difficult to describe the experience to represent what it is like. Because it is not the same for everyone. In fact, it is not the same every time anyone does it. But it can be transforming at best, and wonderfully relaxing at the least. People who struggle with claustrophobia might be hesitant. But from my own experience it would seem that the case would have to be high on the spectrum. When a patron feels anxiety for any reason, it is suggested they simply step out of the tank and recompose themselves for a moment. Then step back in and resume the session. That does not break any rules.  And it affirms to the patron they are in control.

I will not attempt to describe the sensations of the floating experience. Many have already done that and their efforts are probably far better than what I could do. I still consider myself a novice at this practice and I am still learning about how it benefits me. I have a another session scheduled in the coming week as a matter of fact.

I want to call attention to a fact that does not help bring about a positive image of the floating experience. That has to do with the lexicon that has followed it ever since it created by John Lilly back in the mid 50s. You may know of him as the scientist who experimented with teaching dolphins how to understand human language. Lilly was a consummate explorer of the mind and psyche on several levels. Floating as we know it on a clinical level today was his invention.

I am referring to the negative descriptors associated with floating. It includes words like “isolation” and “deprivation”. We enter an “isolation tank” to experience “sensory deprivation”. Why would anyone voluntarily do that? Those are trigger words that cause people to take pause at the idea. We rely on our senses to navigate and survive in the world. It is true that one isolates themselves in a room that has a salt water tank. Once in the session, the environment is adjusted to reduce normal sensory awareness by depriving autonomic functions of their familiar stimulators. That is what makes it possible to focus on nothing other than our conscious state in the moment. Rather than feeling any sense of loss, it can be the most freeing experience many people ever have.

So, what might be better words than isolation and deprivation? For example, instead of “isolation”, consider “solitude”, or “reclusion”, or even “seclusion”. Are those words less intimidating? And instead of “deprivation”, how about “neutralization”, “removal”, or “disassociation”?

Words have power. They stir emotion and reaction. They repel and attract. Let’s replace negative descriptors with more positive ones. That may attract a larger population to the floating experience.