As you know, I love trying new practices that allow me to prod my unconscious 🙂  While researching what next practice to try, I learned that FloatWorks offer floating  in a sensory deprivation tank (ok, pod) in London and I dived straight in 🙂  This is what the pod looks like: 

It is a strange experience – you are left in a room by yourself with what looks like an alive (water filter is on) giant jacuzzi with a lid. Once the session begins, all goes quiet. You get in a pod and try to get comfortable while naked in a small but very buoyant volume of room temperature water. Relaxing music plays for 10min, then everything goes quiet, very quiet and once you switch off the light, very, very dark. 

I am slightly claustrophobic of which I was reminded instantly when I closed the lid and switched off the light. In the end I had to leave the pod lid ajar. It took me a while to get comfortable with the complete silence and darkness, stop fidgeting or trying to control the environment and instead surrender to it and trust the water. I alternated between feeling like I was in space, in a giant womb and buried under ground. I tried calming down by meditating but this did not work, my adrenaline was too high from fear and anxiety. 

Then I heard what I call my soul voice. It told me to let go of fear and trust the process (in that moment and in life in general). I finally relaxed and was at ease, feeling like I was held by the Universe. I was reminded of my priorities and what to focus on, the importance of love and trust. Then I got a drop of water into my nose (they dissolve half a tonne of Epsom salt in the water so it is extremely salty) and nearly choked 🙂  Before long, the music started playing, the light came on and it was time to pop in the shower. 

As we sipped on the lovely Positivitea in the relaxation area with my friend, we reflected on the experience. She did not know about the psyche exploration/ spiritual dimension and so had a relaxing spa like experience. We watched a guy complain at the reception that all he did was float in the dark for an hour. No meaningful experience at all. I guess as always with such practices it is all about the intent. And of course one could argue that our experience is coloured by our experience… 

Have you tried floating before? What did you think? At £55 an hour I am not going to be doing it any time soon or regularly, but I would recommend to try it at least once for sure. If anything, it is relaxing and very unusual. Anything to quieten the mind, am I right?