In a quest to alleviate (some of the) mental and physical aches and pains that come with middle age, I've been paying a bit more attention to my physical and mental fitness of late. The prospect of going to a gym doesn't fill me with much joy, so I'm restricting myself to a bit of stretching exercises and some quiet meditation time to attempt to tune down the annoying little twit that lives in my brain! Playing the sax also helps with the chill time too, I have to say, though I need an empty house for that!
By chance, I discovered last week that there's a relatively newly opened Flotation tank centre quite close to where I live, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's not in the most appealing of places - it's in a small Unit in a Business Park in the middle of the City, but hey, there's free parking and once you're inside..
The experience involves entering a small private room, painted nightclub black, which contains a white plastic clam shaped pod with a closing lid. The pod contains a foot of heavily epsom salted water (half a ton in one pod). You get in, close the lid and (if you choose to) turn off the neon blue lights in the pod. You wear ear plugs, mainly to keep the salt water out of your ears, but also to block sound.
And you lie there for an hour, floating in body temperature water in the pitch black. For the first ten minutes they pipe some gentle, relaxing music through under water speakers (not Kenny Gee) and then, it's total silence....The air in the pod is the same temperature as the water so it's difficult to tell what's in and what's above the tide line..
I've read some people enter very deep meditative states of mind during their session. I have to say, I didn't quite reach nirvana, but it was a very interesting and relaxing experience...
By chance, I discovered last week that there's a relatively newly opened Flotation tank centre quite close to where I live, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's not in the most appealing of places - it's in a small Unit in a Business Park in the middle of the City, but hey, there's free parking and once you're inside..
The experience involves entering a small private room, painted nightclub black, which contains a white plastic clam shaped pod with a closing lid. The pod contains a foot of heavily epsom salted water (half a ton in one pod). You get in, close the lid and (if you choose to) turn off the neon blue lights in the pod. You wear ear plugs, mainly to keep the salt water out of your ears, but also to block sound.
And you lie there for an hour, floating in body temperature water in the pitch black. For the first ten minutes they pipe some gentle, relaxing music through under water speakers (not Kenny Gee) and then, it's total silence....The air in the pod is the same temperature as the water so it's difficult to tell what's in and what's above the tide line..
I've read some people enter very deep meditative states of mind during their session. I have to say, I didn't quite reach nirvana, but it was a very interesting and relaxing experience...
Last edited:
