One of the strangest things you may ever do if you ever get the chance to do so, is float. Floating is a relaxing, scary, naked to the world, solitary, very funny feeling yet highly erotic episode, charged with all sorts of feelings that are at once contrary and you never knew you had. The biggest consideration to floating; it is unlike anything else you have ever done.
Ever.
Despite the fact that it takes place in what amounts to a half filled bathtub or something in the waters temperature or consistency may remind one of a whirlpool or a spa; it is not like a bathtub or a spa. Even though you may become aroused and begin to liken the experience to things, real or fantasized of being together with our sweetheart, bathing in candle light; it is not like that either. The facts are true that true floating is not like anything else that you’ve done before; there is no light, you are naked, you are alone, you are floating in a small pool of what amounts to salt water, you may become aroused, you probably will begin the experience freaked out, and, no matter your opinion of the space that it’s held in, or your feelings towards the experience going in, you will most definitely end the experience sooner than you would have liked and with the strong desire of wanting to go back.
Blue Light Flotation, based in Chelsea in New York City is the place where I had my floating experience. They are the longest running flotation business in Manhattan having been in operation since 1985. Before moving to New York I’d never even heard of “floating” as a business, but I read rave reviews of this somewhere years back and I’d kept the article, always with the intent of trying it out and spreading the good word to my close friends and family if I’d enjoyed the experience.
This experience, as described on the Blue Light Floatation Website (www.bluelightflotation.com) is compared to floating in space; “free from gravity” in a sound proof and light less environment. The brain is free from all the functions of interpreting and processing light, sound, temperature, and gravitational forces and sensations, leaving it open to expand into ordinarily inaccessible areas.
If you’re wondering how it’s done, floating is the experience of lying down on water that is piqued and kept at the human skin temperature (94 F) which is not hot, but definitely can leave you with the distinct feeling that you left your skin at the door. The water is one foot in depth and is treated with a high quality Epsom salt so that your body never touches the bottom; you’re floating!
While many people may be suspect or ask why, it is safe to say that an experience like floating can not be fully understood without actually experiencing it. It brings out a different kind of clarity, on par with meditation or what you might get in a spa, but it also follows you for hours after the fact. You gain a clarity on things that you probably didn’t have any insight into prior to your experience. It also allows you for an absolute sort of understanding and relaxation. More than any of that, if you just let yourself go and experience the experience, you’ll see that it’s relaxing but it’s also fun! You forget everything that’s urgent or pressing and you’re treated to an hour of just total Zen!
So float on, friends, and discover the benefits of floatation! Next time you’re in New York City and you’re feeling stressed or you’re feeling tense (who hasn’t felt TENSE!?) look up my friend Sam Zeiger at Blue Light Floatation; you’ll wonder how you ever didn’t before!
