Time: 1-12 Hours

Cost: $50-$500

Worth-it-ness? Completely Worth it

Intimacy Level: 5 Marvin Gaye Singles out of 5

“The Sensory Deprivation Chamber has been the most important tool I’ve used for developing my mind.”-Joe Rogan

What is it?

A Sensory Deprivation Tank is essentially a completely enclosed bathtub filled with 850 lbs of epsom salt and water with the intent of starving your body of all sensory input. The fact that there’s no light, sound or pressure from gravity combined with a water temperature of 34°C (skin receptor neutral) – the sensory experience you receive is truly nothing. And its both terrifying, and liberating at that same time.

My Experience

To be completely honest, I’ve putting off this post due solely to that fact that I have been concerned about doing it justice. But here it goes.

My experience floating a few weeks ago was one of the most liberating, introspective and personally challenging things I’ve done in a long time. Even though I was only in the chamber for an hour or so, during that hour… I don’t think I’ve ever in my 21.5 years of living on this planet, had a more intimate relationship with myself. And it was terrifying.

Physically…

I felt as though I was finally given permission to consciously and completely relax my entire body. The interesting thing was, right off the bat I felt as though I was completely relaxed, that I had totally let loose all of my physical reservations. Nope…not even close. About 20 minutes in I noticed that I had been holding my head upward, resisting falling back into the Epsom salt solution. So I let it loose, believing that was my last step to complete physical release….lol nope. Again, about 10 minutes later I realized I had been stubbornly clenching my jaw (not really sure why), and let that go. I’m not even sure if I ever did relax all my muscles 100%, but once I let the tension go in my jaw, it was pure relaxed bliss.

Not only is it a great way to give your muscles a break, it is amazing way to clean your pores too!

Mentally…

I think I was riding an emotional and introspective roller coaster the entire time I was in the tank. And this is neither a good or a bad thing…just a thing. A damn cool thing at that. In the beginning stages, I remember closing the door on myself in turn removing all sources of light and visual input. I also remember having a mini panic attack. I’m not one to be made nervous by many things, but for some reason my mind was so overwhelmed with the idea of being alone with itself that it immediately rejected the feeling. And understandably. In this day and age there are very few opportunities for your body to cease all sensory input and be alone with itself…but when it happens, so does a lot of super cool shit.

“There are people that meditate for 20 years and try to have the same deep meditative experience that you accomplished in 20 min in the tank. It kind of like cheating in that sense”-Modern Gravity Studio Owners

Speaking of Super Cool Shit, check out this video recounting my experience, as well as talking a bit about the philosophy of floating.

What did I learn?

I learned that openness to experience, and openness to the relationship you have with yourself can be the two most important paths to bettering yourself as a human being. Openness to the potential of having an intimate connection with yourself and others, and embracing the shit out of it. My experience in the tank will not be the same as yours, but I guarantee you will learn something interesting about yourself if you choose to take part. I hope you you do!

Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk next week.

Big thanks to Modern Gravity in Edmonton AB, for letting me film in their facilities and all the wisdom they provided to boost this post. And thanks to George Visan for inspiring me to do this.