Men’s Journal is a monthly lifestyle magazine focusing on gear, health & fitness, adventure, style, food & drink, and travel — subjects that address the presumed interests of modern men. It publishes articles with titles like “The one trick that instantly upgrades your pushups,” “Caribou Crossing Single Barrel is an unexpected whiskey gem,” and “The best cuts of meat you need to try grilling this year.” Recently, it also published an account of floating: “The Hype Over Sensory Deprivation Tanks Is Real. Here’s Why.”
It’s a first-person story, and it describes the floating experience vividly: “Completely void of external stimuli, here I am forced to rely only on what my body is telling me. Each inhale that expands my lungs sends shallow ripples in the 96-degree water. Each exhale echoes throughout the chamber. I literally feel my heart thudding inside my chest. My mind feels like it is moving in slow motion. They may call this sensory deprivation, but in the absence of outside chatter, all I experience is sensory enhancement.”
Julia Savacool, a very well respected writer in the industry interviewed experts and sought out studies to learn the proven benefits of floating. Here are six of these benefits altogether in the article:
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- Floating is a unique opportunity to be alone with your own thoughts.
- It reduces stress.
- It can help in recovery from an intense workout.
- It has been shown to relieve anxiety in some people.
- It has enhanced creativity in others.
- It provides the benefits of meditation but with a warm and soft sensual overlay that is almost erotic.
I think you realize the benefits of floating most dramatically if you find it difficult to be still, whether from disposition or the circumstances of your day-to-day life. In a floating session, you cannot answer or consult your phone. There’s no television playing cable news. Nobody is trying to get your attention. You are so comfortable that you don’t even move very much. In a way, your life disappears for an hour. But don’t worry. For better or worse, it will be there when you come out of the pod.
If you want to know what true quiet is really like, book a float pod session at Peak Recovery & Health Center.
