As a first-time floater, I approached my floatation tank experience at Beyond Rest Moonee Ponds with a dash of mild scepticism. I wanted to be open to the experience, and to give it a real shot, plus we were just out of a lockdown in Melbourne and I was keen for some peace and quiet from the relentless noise of ‘remote learning’ and the special hell that is back-to-back online meetings.
I was met at the front counter by a woman who was calm and welcoming. And wow did she know her stuff – she gave me a fantastic run down on how to get the best out of my float, and tips on what to avoid ie. touching my face due to the Epsom Salt content of the water. The floatation tank was spacious, clean, glowing and beautiful. There was so much space inside the tank my fears about potential claustrophobia were quietened, and I was really interested to try it.
You have a quick cool shower and hop in naked. Meditative music plays into the tank for the first 10 minutes of your float to help you start to relax, and a soft blue light is on for the first 5 minutes or so. It is a relief to know there is a button to press to switch the light on at any time, and you can open the tank and hop out whenever you want. Still, the pitch black and eventual quiet of the tank is quite confronting. The water is kept at 34.5° which I learned is the perfect temperature to be skin receptor neutral – meaning when you are still, you are much less aware of your body.
It is fair to say I spent the first 20 minutes doing exactly what the brochure flags as likely for your first float - ‘exploring the tank.’ I was basically bouncing off the walls of the tank with my fingertips, trying to stay calm, be still and become relaxed in the enveloping dark and quiet of the tank.
It felt like a good portion of the first half of the float was a battle with my mind. I was determined to give it a go but also struggling with the sensory deprivation. Where the normal stimulation of our visual and physical lives usually distracts me nicely from existential dread, I found myself questioning “Is this what it feels like to be dead?” I was conscious but couldn’t feel my body or see anything, just… zero gravity, zero anything… floating. Then I spent some time confirming to myself that I would absolutely not cope with being trapped in a mine in the dark with no way out, and then had to spend some time calming myself from that thought. The reality was I could turn on a light if needed and could get out at any time. I pulled it together and hung in there.
Almost out of nowhere, I really started relaxing into it, and at the end of the float my mind and body had stilled and I was completely, deeply… calm. It was a really different feeling. I finished up the session feeling relaxed and very proud of myself for pushing through the initial discomfort, and leaning in to the experience.
Floating naturally raises your dopamine and endorphin levels, and that was certainly my experience. I felt good finishing the session but then truly fantastic later that day and for the couple of days afterwards, I was all aglow (in my mind anyway) even amidst immediately going back into lockdown the next day. It was like I was mostly unconcerned, still floating gently above it all.
So all that to say - I am a convert! Now come on and be done Melbourne lockdown #6097, I want to book in more sessions.
My Floatation Tank (notice how I’ve claimed it) - Beyond Rest Moonee Ponds