Meditation boost: sensory deprivation tank
Deep inside your mind
Benefits of meditation have been examined many times in our blogs and podcasts here, here and here. There are various ways to do this and the easiest is obviously simply at the comfort of your own home on the floor, chair or bed. However there are always at least some external stimuli that might disturb your meditation session such as external sounds, kids, light, movement and so on. One awesome way to completely remove the external stimuli is to do your meditation in a sensory deprivation tank or isolation tank as it is also called. This is a tank filed with water which is enriched with large amounts of epsom salt which allows you to float effortlessly in the water. When you close the lid it is pitch black with little to no outside sounds.
In order to start my holiday relaxation and year-end wind-down process I decided to go and test out a sensory deprivation tank experience here in Singapore at Palm Avenue Float Club. I have been doing meditation for a few years now but never for a full hour as is the standard floating time at the club so I was excited about this new experience.
The lounge area at Palm Avenue Float Club is soothing and relaxing with tall windows and views to the nearby greenery.
The experience starts with a quick shower to ensure good hygiene before going into the float tank. They offer earplugs for added comfort and noice blocking which I gladly accepted also to prevent water going into my ears. I was thoughtful before the experiment simply because of the time I would be spending inside the tank - a whole hour.
After the shower I was ready to jump in. I turned off the room lights and hopped into the tank which was glowing blue with the mood light inside the tank. The water was nice and warm and very buoyant due to the high salt content. I closed the lid and turned off the mood light inside the tank and just relaxed myself to listen to the subtle soothing melodies which were playing for the first 10 minutes and the final 5 minutes of the experience.
I felt deep sense of relaxation and calm due to the weightless feeling I had in the water. I started to focus on my breath first as the music faded away after the first 10 minutes, clearing my mind of any thoughts and distractions. I felt airy, light and weightless.
About 20 minutes into my experience I changed my meditation to include my mantra which carried my mindfulness moment longer. However after a while I found it harder to keep focused as random thoughts started to invade my mind. I then did a quick reset by breathing fully in and out for 10 times which cleared my mind again from distractions and was able to continue my meditation for longer. Something which I would suggest had an impact into my restlessness was probably the fact that I had been fasting for 2 whole days at this point which changes your alertness levels quite a bit. Especially I felt that all my senses were heightened by 2-3x and that obviously goes against the purpose of the sensory deprivation tank.
At times I was deep into my meditation and suddenly was shaken by my toes or my hand touching the walls of the tank as you tend to slightly move in the water. However I was quickly able to get back into my meditation by turning my concentration again to my mantra or breath.
Towards the end of the experience I could not help thinking when would the final 5 minute music kick in again which took the calmness away from the final part of the float. This did not hamper the experience, however, as I felt completely relaxed and the constant noice of thoughts and stimulation inside my mind was gone.
When the music eventually did start I turned the mood lights in the tank on and opened my eyes. It was a magical moment as the glow of blue together with the soothing melodies topped my sensory deprivation experience.
A quick shower to wash off the saltwater and my float experience was done.
For the rest of the day I felt calm and collected. Any different than after my normal daily meditation? Perhaps not but I still thoroughly enjoyed the experience and added sensory deprivation.
So what is the verdict then? Go and try it out! Especially if you have already started your meditation practice. The sensory deprivation tank provides a different set of tools to take your meditation experience to a whole new level! It is relatively expensive so I will likely do it only occasionally for now but I will definitely go there again.
Happy floating!
Niko
