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Testimonials
"This was my first float; I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a great experience, I tried to think about how I want my life to go on. I wanted to synchronize my energy. I learned that I don't know how to relax. I need to spend more time on myself to replenish my energies. This is where I am going to start teaching myself to relax and take time for myself." MC
"This was my first floating experience--my eyes are soft and I feel tears of love, joy, sadness, and gratefulness streaming down my cheek. My chest is full and I am reaching, stretching, expanding...breathing. I am reminded of my love for life, desire, reaching to be open, peaceful, happy and living life completely in the moment. I got how important it is to be in balance with work, play, intimacy, and growth. The tank allowed me to let go, to be free, to fly, to be delighted and happy as a child once again."
"Oh my, I was away too long; six weeks since my last float. It became so obvious what I was missing--painless spine, free clear mind, peace. I had taken it for granted when I floated every week. To feel this again is so sweet. I LOVE to be here." LJ
Today was my first experience with a
flotation tank. Wow! I'm sure many of you have seen the film Altered States, and
will never give what I'm about to tell you a second glance for fear of turning
into a monkey, or that you're in imminent danger of wolves. Stay focused....
Upon recommendation from my sister Colleen Hathaway, a
local healer, I was asked if I might like to try "floating." Colleen
is a classically trained chiropractor with heavy influences from eastern culture
on the body's energy flow and balance. She believes in letting the body work for
itself rather than stuffing it full of medication and stressors, which at times
may seem like a million arrows hurling through the sky; ourselves being the
direct target. Until today I had no idea about this technique or the truly
amazing benefits it can offer one's mind, body, and soul.
I jumped at the idea. Having just turned thirty years
old last month, I can officially say I feel the weight of the world bearing down
on me. After all, I'm still single. I am a professional bartender, and a
starving musician. I surely don't own a home. My rented apartment is a mess.
Bills are stacked up. Money is thin. Now some may think that sounds fun, but
trust me, it's little more than the ultimate springboard into a world ridden
with angst and fear.
I have suffered from acute anxiety and panic attacks
since my mid-twenties. I've tried different approaches to dealing with these
uniquely annoying talents. Some have proven more effective than others, but I've
come to rely on medication being the easiest solution. CLONAZEPAM. It's sure
hard to have a panic attack when your half sedated, reminding yourself of a
frontal lobotomy recipient. That being said, I've been looking for healthier
ways to ease my anxiety, taking a very strong sedative just isn't cool with me
anymore. Who knows how much damage I've already done. Here's where my sister's
invitation to come "float" with her was about to change my life, I
hope....
She picked me this morning around 10:30 at my downtown
apartment. I'll have you know I normally rise to action around noon. Last night
I had a (music) gig in which I played my guitar from 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m.
After getting done, packing up, getting home, trying to unwind, and finally
falling asleep; I was working on only 5 hours of sleep. Regardless, I was
excited to try this out, even a bit nervous. I had done some reading on the net
in the days leading up to my first "float." I liked most of what I
read, but did have a few reservations regarding my anxiety and claustrophobia.
We we're on our way to Blue Lotus, the
I was then given the brief rundown inside the tank room,
of which there are two totally separated tank rooms. Each is equipped with an
amazingly large trickle down shower head. You must cleanse yourself both before
and after your "float." After getting some brief instructions I was
ready to "float" for the next hour.
Let me try and describe the tank to you as best as I
can. It is literally a tank. About eight feet long, for feet wide, and four feet
tall. The tank is filled with about 13 inches of water that is set at exactly
98.6 degrees, the temperature of your body of course. 1000 pounds of epson salts
are dissolved making this easily the most buoyant water you've ever set foot in.
I was a bit hesitant at first. The tank isn't small, but once you shut the entry
hole behind you it can be a little weird at first. Please don't let this
discourage you, I am not one for small or crowded spaces and I felt at ease
within minutes. Some first-times choose to keep the door cracked or even all the
way open. The only downfall of this is that it increases the amount of stimuli
entering the tank, and really the goal is to create an environment that is as
close to 100% sensory deprived as possible.
Into the tank I went. A little weird at first. Naked,
alone, quiet, dark, but comfortable. I could not believe how I felt the second I
laid back into 13 inches of water. The water was holding me in a complete float
with absolutely no effort on my part. Lying on your back, your body is slightly
submerged, but your face never goes under, nor does front of your chest, torso,
or legs. I simply couldn't believe it. I started with my hands at my side, but
found that to cause me a little tension in my neck and upper back. I soon
adjusted to put my arms over my head, the position in which I remained for the
next 50 minutes.
I'd venture to say the first 5 to 10 minutes was just
getting adjusted, probably normal for a first-timer. Once I was comfortable, I
really tried to let myself escape. I would fall in and out of focus at times,
thinking of what I had to do later in the day, etc., but for the most part,
stayed pretty focused, zeroed in on nothing, that's ideal. I had some very
intense things happen to me in there.
The first thing I noticed was that my body was healing
itself where I had been hurting for weeks. My sore back was disappearing, my
knees where loosening, my whole body was at ease. You can actually feel your
body doing the work on specific spots. Working out the kinks by way of a
delicate, pain free balancing act in zero gravity. Next, I started to feel a
complete sense of relaxation in my mind, a rare occasion for me. At about 25
minutes I opened my eyes for the first time and although it was dark I looked up
and saw a huge night sky above me, even seeing a few stars. No I wasn't
hallucinating, it's just hard to explain what I saw. I feel that it was my
"third eye" as some would call it opening up and realizing that how
vast our consciousness is, like an endless night sky. I totally forgot that I
was in a tank at all. I closed my eyes again, for some reason I had a picture in
my mind of driving down a rural road in the back seat of a car looking out the
window, and seeing nothing but clouds and blue sky rolling by. Again, I'm not
crazy, it's just hard to explain. Time then must have passed unbenounced to me.
I definitely wasn't sleeping, but I was so far removed from the structure of
time as we know it in the gravity world. The last thing I remember was feeling
lifted up, higher, and higher. I felt zero stress, zero angst, total freedom. I
was thinking that I could see the world below me as a tangled scrap yard, and
yet somehow I was for that moment so far above and beyond all of it. At the end
of your float, one of the ladies will come in the room and give a knock on the
tank, you knock back to let her know you're awake, people have dosed off before,
but the water is so buoyant that there is no danger. She'll then leave the room,
you get out of the tank, which can be a little tricky given your relaxed state
and the unfortunate re-entry into gravity. Shower off, put on a robe (provided)
or clothes, and leave. Outside the tank rooms is the room with the pond and
comfy chairs. Colleen and I made ourselves some tea, and sat and talked about
our experiences. I think she was interested in what I went through, otherwise,
she probably would never had invited me to come. You can lounge in the pond room
as long as you'd like. The sound of the trickling water; the fresh plants; the
ripe wooden floors, all make for a perfect reflection spot after an unbelievable
experience. We were ready to leave, the only thing we had to decide is where we
were going to eat lunch. We decided on Tubb's Tacoria on Atwood, yum! Too bad
they didn't open until 5 p.m. Shucks! Just then an ambulance came flying by. I
knew my perception had changed when I turned to my sister and said, "There
is so much gravity in that noise." Which made no sense unless you were
coming from a "floating" session. We decided on The Weary Traveler.
What a great lunch. What a great day. Several hours later I am still feeling
euphoric and at ease. It's been along time since I've felt this way. It's good
to be home.
I truly believe I experienced freedom from my own mind
today. Surely we are all prisoners, even the happiest of us. We have so much
going on that it's impossible to stay this way all the time, but what I realized
is that there is a place where I can go, if only for an hour to get way from all
of it. I'm sure many of you have different ways you might do this, but if you
haven't tried "floating," you're missing out. Try it just once and see
what it does for you. Write back in to this forum. I'm planning on going at
least once a month, hopefully twice.
Patrick Sweeney (Colleen's brother)
More
testimonials:
www.floatforhealth.net/customer.htm
The Blue Lotus Floatation Center, 5105 Caton Lane, Waunakee, WI, 608-850-4547, 608-220-6009 or 1-888-883-9473, magnificentmind@chorus.net