Birth and Death within a Float Tank

While many people consider the float tank a means for relaxation. This therapeutic experience is much much more. I have been actively floating for over 7 years and the experiences can manifest themselves into more than just a day at the spa.

My first intense experience with flotation therapy was during my first 2 hour float. During the first 10 minutes I found myself settling in, slowly letting my mind drift away with the soft ambient music. As the music slowly faded into the dark abyss that I found ever so welcoming I started to receive visual hallucinations which is fairly common for those of us who actively float. The visuals were unlike anything I had ever experienced before though. For most people the visuals usually manifest as small orbs floating around in different patterns. For this experience however, it looked and felt like I was in the millennium falcon activating warp speed. As this psychedelic hallucination was overcoming my sober mind I felt a presence unlike anything on this planet. Every aspect of my psyche, my deepest essence of being was revealed like a great magic trick. The idea of "me" was completely dissolved. As someone who has suffered with depression and anxiety their whole life, I had never felt more loved, peaceful, and one with the source then I had in my entire life. It was the purest cathartic experience I have ever encountered. Once I had surrendered to the source the true therapy began.

I had felt the security at this point into the float that it was alright to let go of subconscious anger, resentment, disgust, expectations, and all of these heavy psychological burdens that I had acquired throughout my life. In this process of release I had experienced something extremely odd as well. I was brought to the polarities of my life, not just visually but emotionally as well, I had experienced the love from my birth that is naturally bestowed upon every human. This love was so naturally healing and comforting it was more than just the introduction of extra serotonin into my body (natural consequence of floating), rather it felt like meeting my egoic self, stripping away the armor that it holds so close to its chest and falling in love with the man behind the mask. I began to have a conversation with him, telling the self that I was proud of who he had become and that he is loved and worthy of love. Tears streaming down my face, I was shot back into the warp speed hallucination from before and was presented with myself on my deathbed. Surrounded by people whom I loved, friends, family, both of past and present, I expressed my acceptance of returning to the source and that I would be waiting for them.

As this cathartic experience came to a close, the familiar sound of soft ambient chimes signalling the end of the session reemerged into the background of the abyss. I emerged from the tank with great thanks. I learned how to surrender my mind to the source that day. I showered off all of the salt that was crystallized on my body and found myself bowing to the tank as a symbol of respect. Five years later and I still bow before and after every float session knowing that I am not the one in charge and succumbing to the surrender.