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Many of us are aware of the term sensory deprivation and its association with Float tanks, but is this term accurate to describe the true float experience? Firstly, let’s look at the definition of ‘Sensory Deprivation’ taken from the Collins dictionary, ‘An experimental situation in which all stimulation is cut off from the sensory receptors’. Sensory input is greatly reduced during a float session, no light, no sound, we can’t really smell much nor taste anything in the float environment. In addition to this, once we lose sensation of water around us then our tactile system or sense of touch diminishes to a degree. These all form part of the five basic sensory systems, 1. Visual 2. Auditory 3. Olfactory (smell) system 4. Gustatory (taste) system 5. Tactile system But you also have the following: 6. Vestibular (Sense of head movement in space) System – The vestibular system contributes to balance and orientation in space. It is the leading system informing us about movement and position of head relative to gravity. The vestibular system contains three semi-circular canals, which are approximately at right angles to each other: the horizontal canal, which detects rotation around a vertical axis (as when you do spins in ice skating), the anterior semi-circular canal, detects movement in forward/backward plane as in a nodding movement. The posterior canal detects movement in a frontal plane as in when doing a cartwheel. The canal on each side has an almost parallel counterpart on the other side. Each pair of canals works in a push-pull fashion: when one is stimulated, its partner is inhibited. Together the partners allow us to sense rotation in all directions. 7. Proprioceptive (Sensations from muscles and joints of the body) System – The proprioceptive system senses the position, location, orientation and movement of the body muscles and joints. Proprioception provides us with the send of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and effort used to move body parts. 8. Interoception – The eighth, often neglected sensory system is the Interoceptive System. Interoception refers to sensations relate to the physiological/physical condition of the body. Interoceptors are internal sensors that provide a sense of what our internal organs are feeling. Interoception detects responses that guide regulation, including heart rate & respiration. Interoception works the vestibular and proprioceptive senses to determine how an individual perceives their own body. Well-modulated interoception helps the individual detect the proprioceptive and vestibular sensation normally. Interoception is associated with autonomic motor control and is different to mechano-reception (The ability to detect and respond to certain kinds of stimuli – notably touch, sound and changes in pressure or posture – in your environment) and proprioception (in the muscles and joints). Interoception creates distinct feelings from the body including pain, temperature, itch, muscular and visceral sensations, hunger, thirst and the need for air. Essentially, we have both external and internal senses, during a standard float session the sensory input for your external senses is minimised as we already know. What we now know is that once these senses have been dampened, we become more aware of our internal senses through interoception. Let’s break it down and look at the different stages during a float session and how this affects your different senses. *This is based on a 60 min float session with 10 minutes of music at the start of the session and 5 minutes at the end, 45 mins of silence and with the lights in the pod off and the lid closed, water temperature is 35.5 degrees Celsius. The first 10 minutes: Music will play to help ease you into the session, at this point your auditory senses will be active. 10 – 20 minutes: You will initially be aware you are in water as you are trying to get into a comfortable position and allowing the water to settle around you. At this point your tactile system will be active. From here on in things get interesting…. Assuming you have the lights off in the pod and no music. 20 minutes – 55 minutes: Now, around the 20 minute mark you will hopefully have settled into a comfortable position and the following will have happened. All five basic sensory systems will have had their input greatly reduced. 1. Visual – No external light source, the only light source being produced from phosphenes inside your eye. A phosphene can be defined as the perception of light with no light actually being present. This entoptic (within-eye) phenomenon can include the perception of colours, flashes of light, and dots of light and dark that are not physically present. 2. Auditory – No external sounds, but there are other sounds which I will discuss below. 3. Olfactory (smell) system – You shouldn’t be able to smell anything in the clean, neutral environment of the pod. 4. Gustatory (taste) system – Unless you have eaten or drunk something with a strong taste you really won’t be tasting anything. 5. Tactile system – The reduction of the other sensory inputs is quite apparent, whereas the reduction of the tactile system is subtle. This is where you lose sensation of being in water, as your skin temperature and water temperature are the same. Once the tactile system is blissfully unaware it is in water, your internal senses kick in and you become more aware of your body’s internal processes. Let’s break these down into the different parts so we can get a better understanding of what is going on. During this period many people report the sensation of spinning around, drifting towards the left or right and on occasion the sensation that they are floating downstream. We have even had a few people state that they felt they were standing up during their Float session. This is all whilst they are lying still in the water, why does this happen? This is all down to your vestibular system and proprioceptive system; we know the vestibular system contributes to balance and orientation in space and the proprioceptive system senses the position, location, orientation and movement of the body muscles and joints. Astronauts experience similar sensations of disorientation during their first few days in the microgravity of space. A floater will not experience the same microgravity in a float pod as gravity is still exerting a force on the body, but the dense Epsom saltwater places the body in a balanced state. With the sensation of being in water removed and the action of floating on the water this confuses the vestibular system and proprioceptive system, with both systems trying to work out which way the body is orientated and the position of the arms, legs and head as they are not moving. The sensation of spinning does not last long, but the feeling of floating or being suspended continues and there is a smaller amount of disorientation which adds to the sensation of floating. We have briefly touched upon the vestibular and proprioceptive systems in relation to our physical position within this weird and wonderful alien environment of the float pod. The final sensory system and probably one of the most important is the interoceptive system, as I stated earlier ‘Interoceptors are internal sensors that provide a sense of what our internal organs are feeling.’ Some researchers believe that our perceptions of wellbeing, energy and stress are based on sensations representing the physiological condition of our bodies. They suggest that interoception is a foundation of subjective feelings, emotion and self-awareness. There is evidence that the anterior insula-cingulate system may integrate interoceptive information with emotional salience to form a subjective representation of the body. The question is how does interoception help us? Interoception has a big impact on how we feel, in our busy, stressed-out world we have lost the ability to do this subtle but important body check. We have stopped taking the time to check in with ourselves and see how we feel. By ignoring this hardwired impulse, we are missing an opportunity to feel better. When you start to become more aware of your body and how it feels you can start to impact your body’s functioning for the better. Everything from decreasing respiration to lowering your pulse to reducing the stress you carry in your body is possible with a higher sense of interoception. This is what happens during a float session, we become more aware of our breathing and heart rate slowing down. This in turn helps us to greatly reduce stress and anxiety, being more aware of internal processes helps us to understand what our bodies need to feel better. Interoception can have a huge impact for those suffering with anxiety. Dr Justin Feinstein, one of the leading experts and researchers in floatation therapy from the Laureate Institute of Brain Research has produced research about the benefits of floating and interoception. (1) In this study it was hypothesised that, ‘By removing exteroceptive sensation, Floatation-REST would enhance awareness for interoceptive sensation.’ It was found that, ‘Floating significantly enhanced attention regulation (ability to sustain attention on body sensations) and self-regulation (ability to regulate distress by attending to body sensations such as the breath).’ It appears that the Float environment seemed to increase the intensity and attention to the interoceptive sensations related to the breath and heartbeat. This is more so than experienced meditators who show poor interoceptive awareness with regards to the cardiac sensation under resting conditions. (2,3) The study shows how the float environment could help anxious individuals by helping them to anchor their attention onto internal sensations such as breath and heartbeat. This happens as a result of the extreme filtering of all external sensory distractions and stressors, this in turn enhances the interoceptive feeling of the heartbeat and the breath. We know the float experience minimises visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and tactile sensory signals. We also know that during a float session our internal senses such as the vestibular system, proprioceptive system and our interoceptive system are enhanced. Enhancing the the interoceptive system also aids in effective emotion regulation. Effective emotion regulation involves the ability to accurately detect and evaluate cues related to physiological reactions to stressful events, accompanied by appropriate regulation strategies that temper and influence the emotional response. There is compelling evidence demonstrating links between poor or disrupted awareness of sensory information, or interoceptive awareness, and difficulties with emotion regulation. (4) Therefore this makes the float tank the perfect tool to increase interoceptive awareness with minimal effort and maximum benefit. Not only are you reducing the amount of tension, slowing your heart rate and breathing you are enhancing what I would argue as being one of the most important systems in your body when dealing with stress, chronic pain or trauma. Yes, you may be reducing the input into your basic sensory systems but what you gain is a major positive sensory enhancement through interoception. This is why I steer clear of the term sensory deprivation, as it is not a positive term and only focuses on what is taken away and not what you gain. Next time you float, just listen... You never know what you will learn about yourself. 1. Justin S. Feinstein, Sahib S. Khalsa, Hung Yeh, Obada Al Zoubi, Armen C. Arevian, Colleen Wohlrab, Marie K. Pantino, Laci J. Cartmell, W. Kyle Simmons, Murray B. Stein, and Martin P. Paulus (2018): The Elicitation of Relaxation and Interoceptive Awareness Using Floatation Therapy in Individuals With High Anxiety Sensitivity. Biological Psychiatry 3:555–562 2. Khalsa SS, Rudrauf D, Damasio AR, Davidson RJ, Lutz A, Tranel D (2008): Interoceptive awareness in experienced meditators. Psychophysiology 45:671–677. 3. Khalsa SS, Lapidus RC (2016): Can interoception improve the pragmatic search for biomarkers in psychiatry? Front Psychiatry 7:121 4. Cynthia J. Price, Carole Hooven (2018): Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT). Frontiers in Psychology 9:798

Floatation Therapy or Floatation REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique) has been around for many years, since 1954 when John C. Lilly an American Neuroscientist built his first upright tank to study the effects of reduced sensory input on the mind. Instead of turning off, the mind stayed on and continued to have experiences independent of external sensory stimuli. The floatation tank is a place to minimize the information coming into the sensory processing channels of the body, to be isolated from the stressors that await in the outside world. It can be used as a tool to re-programme our behaviour and improve our mental & physical health. Floating is now being used by many top athletes and teams, including Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Novak Djokavic, Tom Brady (New England Patriots), The Australian Institute of Sport, The British Rowing Team and the US Navy SEALS among a number of others across the globe. Here are 7 reasons why you should float, 1. Stress Reduction Stress can have a huge impact on our lives, when we experience an abnormal amount of stress we can suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, decreased self-esteem, irritability, compromised immune system and impaired performance. In our fast paced society stress management is of the utmost importance. Floatation therapy has been used successfully in clinical stress management and has been found to reduce blood pressure, cortisol levels, and other stress-related neuro-chemicals such as norepinephrine, adrenaline and ACTH (Turner & Fine, 1983; Turner & Fine, 1991; Dierendonck, 2005). These neuro-chemicals are known to trigger the fight-or-flight response, which is great if we need to react quickly to life-threatening situations. But not when our body overreacts to stressors that are not life-threatening, such as traffic jams, work pressure, and family difficulties. By eliciting the relaxation response, floatation therapy puts us in a calm, unshakable, steady, balanced, and totally concentrated state of mind that allows us to manage stress effectively. 2. Anxiety Relief Previous research has presented floatation therapy as a tool to help reduce stress and increase relaxation. Although, many studies have used healthy subjects, only a few studies have surveyed floating for people with anxiety. Recent research published in PLoS ONE by Dr Justin Feinstein (2018), specifically noted how floating affects people with signs of stress, depression, and anxiety. The study included 50 participants indicating a wide variety of stress-related symptoms and anxiety disorders such as social and generalized anxiety, panic, and post-traumatic stress. 30 healthy individuals also involved in the study offer context. After experiencing floatation therapy, 47 out of 50 patients felt floating could be an efficient intervention for minimizing levels of anxiety. As well as this, every participant requested to try the treatment again. Therefore, the study suggests that floating may be successful treatment for anxiety since after just one float participants mood improved and anxiety was reduced. Floatation therapy has the ability to trigger the relaxation response in the body. The relaxation response, which is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response, impacts the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, and slowing breathing. 3. Pain relief and pain management There is a significant amount of evidence that suggests that float therapy is a useful option for people who deal with chronic pain. It can be an effective, all-natural treatment for many different types of pain, including muscle tension pain. For individuals managing muscle tension pain, the study ‘Effects of flotation-REST on muscle tension pain’ by Kjellgren et al. (2001) showed how floatation therapy drastically reduced the most acute perceived pain in patients, while those who had very low perceived pain saw no results. Participants also experienced lifted optimism, a better night’s sleep and a reduction in the degree of depression and anxiety due to treatment with REST therapy. Athletes struggling with post-workout pain may also benefit from floatation therapy. After rigorous physical training, athletes often have trouble coping with pain caused by an increase in blood lactate. In a study by Morgan, P.M. et al (2013) which involved 24 college students, they observed how float therapy encouraged faster recovery and less pain after physical training by reducing blood lactate levels. 4. Sports recovery For recreational exercisers and performance athletes it is incredibly important to recognize how to balance training, stress and recovery time. As it stands, there is no standard agreement on the amount of rest needed between training sessions. Nonetheless it was found that 1-2 days’ rest between sessions for the most untrained and trained athletes should be ideal. Floating lowers the amount of recovery time needed decreasing lactic-acid levels, increasing blood circulation, and relieving the pain of injuries. Blood is free to circulate easily by relieving gravitational pressure reaching tendons, joints, muscles, and ligaments that may be tender or injured. This improved circulation enables your body to carry biochemicals and waste away such as lactic acid – a toxic by-product of glucose metabolism. During strenuous physical activity lactic acid gathers in the muscles and can cause cramping, tightness and pain. As well as minimizing the quantity of negative biochemicals and increasing the good ones, floating can help athletes with pain relief. Floatation does this via the release of endorphins, alongside greater awareness of painful areas holding knots and tension; allowing athletes to heal in good time and conquer fatigue. Morgan et al. (2013). Floatation therapy offers undeniable health benefits by reducing recovery time and stress in an extremely relaxing environment, floating provides strong advantages to both high-level athletes and recreational exercisers. 5. Performance For a long time, researchers have known that an athlete’s mental game plays an enormously crucial role in their performance. A study by Richardson (1998) effortlessly explains why floating works so positively to improve an athlete’s mental training. Richardson states: “Floatation-REST works to enhance athletic performance because it provides a profoundly relaxing experience in an environment conducive to greater amounts and better quality of sports-related imagery, planning strategic thought processes than possible in other environments”. The tank guides the athlete to control each aspect of the sought-after athletic experience. The individual can go through the motions of match or technique, fully absorbed in visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory imagery. In the study by Suedfeld & Bruno (1990), it was found that the true key to effective imagery is deep relaxation. Suedfeld also discovered that float tanks increase the clarity, intensity, production, and controllability of mental imagery. For athletes determined to step up their mental game, clearly, floatation therapy is needed to enhance performance. 6. Creativity Floating can be great for creativity and for those who are having a mental block and need space to let their mind be free to formulate new ideas or to gain a new perspective on a particular issue. In 1987, the University of British Columbia performed a research study on psychology professors who self-reported their own creativity. The tests were performed before and after floating, and they rated their ideas in a blind sampling 6 months later. The study found that professors came up with more ideas after floating, and that those ideas were generally more creative. Suedfeld, P., Metcalfe, J. & Bluck, S. (1994). Studies were also done at the Karlstad University in 2008, showing a marked change in post-float brains in the areas of consciousness, cognition, imagination, and personality, Kjellgren, A., Lyden, F. & Norlander, T. (2008). Floating resets the mind, in a sense, and makes it easier to concentrate and stay productive. These effects can last for days, helping you make creative leaps and stay on top of your game. 7. Altered states of consciousness Floating can help you to access altered states of consciousness in a safe way with minimal effort required. In 2008, Kjellgren, Lyden, Norlander from Karlstad University ran a study focusing on the subjective experience of floatation and the extent to which an altered state of consciousness is part of this experience. They interviewed subjects from previous floatation studies to understand their view of their experiences whilst in the tank and their perceived after-effects. They found a number of common experiences that regular floaters had experienced during the float sessions including, changes in their perception of time, visual and acoustic changes in perception, dissolution of body boundaries, increased creativity and transpersonal experiences (an experience of unified connectedness beyond the ego level). The float tank provides the perfect environment to reach altered states of consciousness and explore your mind on a totally new level. Whether you need mental & physical recovery, looking to improve your performance or need time to de-stress then I highly recommend giving floating a try. The UK/ROI Float Directory is a great place to find float centres near you. It can take a couple of sessions to get into it but once you do you will be hooked. Statements included above taken from: 'Effects of Relaxation Associated with Brief Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) on Plasma Cortisol, ACTH, and LH' - John W. Turner, Jr., and Thomas H. Fine, Medical College of Ohio (1983) 'Restricting environmental stimulation influences levels and variability of plasma cortisol' - John W. Turner, Jr., and Thomas H. Fine, Medical College of Ohio (1991) 'Flotation restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) as a stress-management tool: A meta-analysis' - Dirk Van Dierendonck & Jan Te Nijenhuis, University of Amsterdam/ Leiden University (2005) 'Examining the short-term anxiolytic and antidepressant effect of Floatation-REST' - Justin S. Feinstein, Sahib S. Khalsa, Hung-wen Yeh, Colleen Wohlrab, W. Kyle Simmons, Murray B. Stein, Martin P. Paulus, Laureate Institute of Brain Research (2018) 'Effects of flotation-REST on muscle tension pain' - Anette Kjellgren MSc, Ulf Sundequist MA, Torsten Norlander PhD, Trevor Archer PhD, Karlstad University Sweden (2001) 'The Acute Effects of Floatation Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique on Recovery from Maximal Eccentric Exercise' - Paul M. Morgan, Amanda J. Salacinski and Matthew A. Stults-Kolehmainen, University DeKalb, Illinois (2013) 'Imagery, progressive muscle relaxation and restricted environmental stimulation: Enhancing Mental Training and Rowing Ergometer Performance Through Flotation REST' - Sean Oliver Richardson, The University of British Columbia (1995) 'Floatation REST and Imagery in the Improvement of Athletic Performance' - Peter Suedfeld and Talino Bruno, The University of British Columbia (1990) 'Explaining the effects of stimulus restriction: Testing the dynamic hemispheric asymmetry hypothesis' - Peter Suedfeld, G. Daniel Steel, Alistair B.C. Wallbaum, Susan Bluck, Nigel Livesey and Lorianna Capozzi, The University of British Columbia (1994) 'Sensory Isolation in Flotation Tanks: Altered States of Consciousness and Effects on Well-being' - Anette Kjellgren, Francisca Lyden, and Torsten Norlander, Karlstad University (2008)

I felt inspired to write about the importance of kindness because of the BBC Article Why being kind could help you live longer - By Lauren Turner BBC News, Washington. I was fascinated by some of the findings in this article relating to kindness and how engaging in kindness has its own therapeutic benefits. Columbia University doctor Kelli Harding has been examining the phenomenon in her recent book, The Rabbit Effect. She says: "It helps the immune system, blood pressure, it helps people to live longer and better. It's pretty amazing because there's an ample supply and you can't overdose on it. There's a free supply. It's right there." The Domino Affect This type of thinking made me reflect on my personal float journey. My younger years included a lack of self-care and awareness towards allowing myself time to reflect. I think I knew what I needed but did not necessarily have the tools to put this into practice. Once floating entered my life it felt like a whole new world started opening up for me which made me healthier, happier and kinder. I suppose you could describe it as a classic domino affect; being kind to yourself leads to kindness towards others. Being kind may come naturally to some which is brilliant and something the world needs more of. Yet, in an age of increasing pressures, financial insecurity, and an overall faster pace of life (without sounding too bleak) perhaps kindness does not range very high on one’s list of priorities. Is that why we have to dedicate a day to ‘World Kindness?’ Or write such articles like the one I have referenced or the one I am even writing? Do we need to be reminded of how to be kind to one another? This brings me to my point about self-care and why we may need not just want a self-care routine. Self-care routine We are commonly told how important it is to ‘be kind’ to ourselves, slow down and relax. Some of us get caught up in work and taking care of others that we neglect our own needs. We forget that we are not super-heroes and we deserve if not need to Rest and Recover. Here are a few of my personal tips on how self-care may lead to kindness: - Listen to your body’s needs and you may find you are listening attentively to others. - Allow yourself to become open-minded; it could open you up to people you never thought you could relate to. - If you experience negativity and unkindness around you then remind yourself, it is less about you and more about the other. Reflect on your own actions and choose to respond in a way that brings you peace of mind. - Enjoy being alone through meditation, walking or floatation therapy because this is where you discover peace which lends its hand to kindness. Floating as an act of kindness Everyday Michael and I feel fortunate to run a centre in a beautiful village that values health and well-being. Our clients come from near and far to float, rest and learn new ways to enrich their health. It’s the small details that made us realise how much of a difference floatation therapy has on our clients. After floating, we noticed how neatly our clients would stack towels ready for us to wash and collect, bring back their mugs and sorbet jars (even though its their time to relax.) Or talk to us about a certain friend, family member or partner who would enjoy the benefits of floating. They are eager to spread the joy that they have just experienced to as many others as possible. For us this is true kindness to become so content in yourself that it shows not only in words but actions. Your thoughts…. As we come to the end of the year, some of us will look back and wonder what we achieved in the year. We may make bigger plans for the months ahead, realise what we need more of in life. Whatever this time for reflection brings up; let us hope that ‘kindness’ is given a thought. By placing kindness at the forefront of what we do it could be life-changing. Or it could just mean you have a better relationship with yourself. Having a better relationship with yourself is pretty powerful in its own right. So spare an hour for yourself, doing something you love and the kindest thing you could do is to share that with someone.

In the last blog post I explained why a number of people report seeing colours and patterns during a float session. In this post I ask, Why do some of us have visual hallucinations during a float session? Before I answer that question, I thought I would give you a few examples of visual experiences that some of our clients and myself have had. It is worth noting that this is not as common as people think it is, some people are more susceptible than others, but it is not truly known why. One client stated they saw a small red dragon flying around inside the pod, another saw the most beautiful cat they had ever seen. They have all been positive experiences and childlike and intriguing in many ways. To date I have had 5 extremely vivid hallucinations during a float session, this has been over a period of 8 years with around 800 hrs of floating. There is one particular float session that stands out for me, I floated in the early evening with music at the beginning and end of the session. I am not sure how long I was in there before the magic started to happen. This was the fifth time that something appeared, I knew something was going to happen when I had the sensation of someone shining a bright light on my face (My eyes were closed at the time, the pod light off with my head away from the lid). This had happened on the previous three visual experiences, so I was aware of the sign so to speak. I could see the pink of my eyelids where the bright light was shining on my face. In my mind I knew it wasn’t there, but I let go of that thought immediately and then opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was that the I could see the room lights on through the lid of the pod, it was as though the outline of the top half of the pod was like a forcefield (imagine the forcefield on the Death Star). The lines of the pod were shimmering with some sort of electrical energy, the strangest thing was that the lights in the room were on. The lights were definitely off when I started the float session. I looked down and could see the shower in the corner of the room, I felt as though I was drifting down very slowly. As I was falling, I looked up and could see the walls of the room bending inwards (Think Inception). The more I fell the more the lights on the ceiling started merging together as the walls literally began folding in on themselves until the lights disappeared and all that was left was darkness. I closed my eyes and next thing I know the music came back on and it was the end of the session. I don’t know how long the visual hallucination went on for, it may have been 30 seconds or a minute, time doesn’t seem to exist in the pod. It was definitely the most vivid visual I have had to date, I would like to add that this was just from a float session. Since then I have had a few minor visuals, colours and shapes mainly. You are probably wondering why, I had the same thought after the float. I think part of the reason was that my mind accepted it and just went along for the ride, if you start focusing on a visual for too long during a float it will disappear. There are a few reasons that may explain why this happened which I will explore below. Upon reflection, the key aspect with all these experiences was the fact that I was overly tired prior to the float session. In the earlier days of starting out and working ridiculous hours to get the business up and running combined with the extra stress of maintaining the business, floating was needed! Hence the lack of sleep on a number of occasions. It is well documented that a common side effect of sleep deprivation is hallucination, as evidenced by, but not limited to, long distance swimmers, ultra-marathon runners and overly ambitious university students. According to one Stanford researcher, at least 80% of people will hallucinate if severely sleep deprived (severe meaning anything from getting only a few hours sleep in a single night to going for days without sleeping). Given such a high frequency, there must be a physiological basis for those induced visions of things not really there. Lack of sleep disturbs visual processing, which results in false perceptions that can manifest as hallucination, illusion or both as I found out. Your brain is constantly making up its own reality whether it receives actual reality-driven input from your senses or not. It works because your brain tries to fill in the gaps when it’s deprived of sensory stimulation. Basically, your brain constantly wants to find patterns in things. So, when you have an unstructured stimulus, like a uniform field of light or white noise in your ears – or both you’ll potentially start to hallucinate because your brain is trying to fill in those gaps, convincing itself that it is actually seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. Beyond a doubt, we ‘see’ with more than just our eyes. And what we see is affected by, among other things, by how much we have slept. This is also the case in a sensory deprived environment. In a study called, ‘Cognitive factors in source monitoring and auditory hallucinations’ by Morrison and Haddock, 1997. It was found that short term sensory deprivation was found to lead to increases in perceptual disturbances. Hallucination prone participants experienced greater perceptual disturbances than non-prone participants. This result can be interpreted as supporting a source monitoring explanation for the generation of hallucinations in the absence of external stimuli. Essentially this means that these unusual perceptions arise out of an abnormality in the brains’ inferencing mechanisms such that new evidence (including sensations) is not properly integrated, leading to false prediction errors. In the absence of external stimuli, perceptual distortions are presumably internally generated by the individual, and in addition are misattributed as external in origin possibly due to an abnormality in updating one’s experience of the world with this new data. You may be wondering why some people can have visuals and have a deep float experience whilst others just have a relaxing time in the shallows. There are a number of factors, some of which I spoke about in this blog and the previous post. Are there other factors exclusive to the individual? How can someone best approach their float to increase the chance of having a profoundly deep positive experience? Setting ‘Setting’ is comprised of the details of the space that you’re in physically, at the float centre the physical setting is already set up for you. There is a clean space with relaxing music and all the necessary amenities. All you really have to do is walk in, get in the float room, get naked and float. What we are responsible for is how we interact with that space i.e. Have you arrived in a calm manner or did you rush to get to the centre? If you rushed, then it can take you a lot longer to really get into the session. Being in the right frame of mind before you arrive will help you get the most out of your session. You may have a specific intention you want to focus on such as reflective practice or just a simple intention to relax and refresh. The biggest difference between those that have ‘deep’ and potentially visual floats & those that have ‘light’ floats is in their concept of the pod itself, this can be interpreted as a reflection of how one views themselves. Is it just our physical & mental self that enters the pod or something much, much more? There’s a great difference in viewing the float pod as a large salty bath to help you relax and a microscope to explore the unknown mysteries of consciousness. The key lies in our expectations, these directly influence the outcome. Even more so in an environment that involves our private mental world. So, the float pod is only a vehicle. You simply have to open yourself to it, there may be mental resistance or ego boundaries at play that limit the potential of visuals and consciousness exploration. If you enter the pod and are only concerned with comfort and psychological security, then once you lower the lid you are not only shutting out the outside world you are also shutting out the unknown from your experience. By letting go you are potentially inviting significant insight, spontaneous moments of ‘no-mind’, ideas and possibility of vivid visuals. Once the physical self is merged with the water, only then is the mind truly free to explore. It is the fear of losing a firm grip on the situation that holds us back, relinquish control and trust in the security of the pod and your mind. Just go with it and feel the moment. What you will experience could well be profoundly significant in many ways. When we relax the mind and our fears of losing control (which we never truly had), we create a space within and without, which allows the fresh and vibrant to arise.

My first float was something else! I entered the float tank with child like curiosity, something I had not felt for a while. I had questions running through my mind, will I fall asleep? am I going to enjoy it? how am I going to get the most out of the session? What is going to happen? I didn’t fall asleep as such but entered a deep meditative state akin to NREM sleep. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that I became a member! I got the most out of the session by having no expectations, going with the flow and surrendering myself to the float. Apart from feeling totally relaxed, serene and as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had an extremely animated and visual experience with my eyes closed and open. This included shapes, colours, patterns, faces and symbols. This was 8 years ago, since then I have had varying degrees of visuals whilst floating. From travelling through tunnels, hieroglyphics to colours and shapes. A number of people that have floated with us have had a range of visual experiences, this has mainly been different colours. On the rare occasion some people have seen more detailed visuals. Now this raises a few questions, which I will answer over two parts! Why do we sometimes see colours with our eyes closed during a float session? Those mysterious blobs and patterns that bedazzle the backs of your eyelids during a float are no illusion. What you see is real light and it’s coming from inside your eyes! As you settle into your float session, close your eyes and begin to enter a deeper state of meditation, you may notice the colourful light show happening inside your eyelids. The lights suddenly intensify, and bursts of bright colours appear all across your field of vision. A few seconds later, the colours settle down again. While you might appreciate the floatation entertainment, in the back of your mind you’ve probably wondered what you’re even seeing. These strange blobs you see have a name; they’re called “phosphenes,” and researchers believe that actual light may play a role. But not ordinary light — this light comes from inside your eyes. In the same way that fireflies and deep-sea creatures can glow, cells within our eyes emit biophotons, or biologically produced light particles. “We see biophotonic light inside our eyes in the same way we see photons from external light,” said István Bókkon, a Hungarian neuroscientist who works at the Vision Research Institute in Lowell, Massachusetts. Biophotons exist in your eyes because your atoms constantly emit and absorb tiny particles of light, or photons. This photon exchange is just a part of normal cellular function. Your eyes can’t tell the difference between photons from outside light and the biophotons emitted by your own atoms. Either way, your optic nerve simply relays these light signals to the brain, which must then decide if it accurately represents the real world around you, or if it’s just a phosphene. Our eyes actually produce far more biophotons than we end up seeing as phosphenes. Almost all of the biophotons you see are the ones both emitted and absorbed by atoms in the retina — the part of your eye responsible for detecting light. Inside the retina, millions of tiny cells called rods and cones collect light and convert it into electrical signals. These signals travel through the optic nerve to a part of the brain called the visual cortex. Here, the brain reconstructs an image using the information received from the eyes. When a reconstructed image looks like nonsense, the brain is quick to label the image as unreal, or a phosphene. Depending on where a phosphene originates, it can take on a variety of shapes, patterns and colours. Different atoms and molecules emit photons of different wavelengths, which is why we see different colours. A phosphene with an orderly geometric pattern like a checkerboard may have originated in a section of the retina where millions of light-collecting cells are arranged in a similarly organized pattern. Researchers have also found that different areas of the brain’s visual cortex create certain specific shapes of phosphenes. In the 1950s, the German researcher Max Knoll at the Technische Universität in Munich came up with a classification scheme for phosphene shapes. He studied phosphenes in over a thousand volunteers and came up with 15 categories, including triangles, stars, spirals, spots and amorphous blobs. Most phosphenes occur spontaneously when the atoms in our eyes exchange their biophotons. So next time you jump into a float pod, close your eyes and admire the phosphenes. Now that you can appreciate the visual effects in a whole new way, you can just lay back and enjoy the show. In part 2 I will be exploring the more detailed visuals a small number of us see during a float session.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that people experience at a particular time of year or during a particular season. It is a recognised mental health disorder. Most of us are affected by the change in seasons – it is normal to feel more cheerful and energetic when the sun is shining and the days are longer, or to find that you eat more or sleep longer in winter. However, if you experience SAD, the change in seasons will have a much greater effect on your mood and energy levels, and lead to symptoms of depression that may have a significant impact on your day-to-day life. Many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Floatation therapy can help tremendously, especially during the beginning and middle of winter when weather is harsh. What Is SAD? SAD is a disorder that strikes most often during the change of seasons. SAD causes depression, usually at the onset of fall and throughout the winter season. SAD sufferers report a decrease in energy and an increase in moodiness. Other symptoms include oversleeping or problems sleeping, trouble concentrating, change in appetite, and feelings of worthlessness. Some people are more susceptible to SAD, including women, younger people, those diagnosed with bipolar disorder or clinical depression, and anyone with a family history. People living in locations with harsh winters are also at increased risk. If you suffer from any of these symptoms, seek help. You do not have to live with depression. The most common forms of treatment are light therapy (phototherapy), medication, and psychotherapy. However, floatation therapy is showing positive results for combatting SAD. How Floatation Therapy Helps Floatation therapy diminishes SAD symptoms through Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST). Floating removes gravity, light, and sound from the user. By removing all stimuli, including the cause of depression, the mind and body are free to focus on other things. It may seem counterproductive to remove light from a person with SAD, but some researchers feel SAD is less about lack of sunlight and more about the prohibitive nature of cold weather. Brain-Generated Stimuli Without external stimuli, the brain instantly begins generating a multitude of stimuli. Shapes and patterns appear and morph in the person’s mind. The visual cortex becomes highly active. These hallucinations are not limited to visuals; many experience auditory stimulation. Sounds may drift near and far and transform into music. Essentially, the depressed brain enjoys a break from the constant influx of negative sensory stimuli experienced with the change of season. This break has many positive, lasting effects on the person’s state of mind. Transition to Creativity Another common result of floating is an increase in creative thinking. This happens because the body and mind are relaxed. It slips into a deep meditative state, encouraged to explore new ideas. Body rejuvenation and weightlessness free the mind from physical discomfort and negative stimuli. Creative thinking combats depression by boosting energy and positivity. It also improves self-esteem and motivation, which fights depression. Ruminating on creative thought patterns for a short period has long-lasting effects. Most people who use floatation therapy report how the positive effects last for a long time after they finish a session. Some individuals with extreme depression and other mental illnesses find that their conditions are resistant to conventional treatments. However, the deep relaxation, sense of timelessness, improved sleep, and feeling of wellbeing following a float are effective for treating some of these conditions, such as PTSD and anxiety disorders. Those suffering from depression and SAD should consider floatation therapy as an alternative to drugs or for use in tandem with other treatments. While every patient will likely require a unique solution, the benefits afforded by floatation therapy are undeniable. There are no negative side effects, so contact us today for information and to schedule your appointment at Floating Point Float Centre.