Did I just take the world’s most expensive nap? That was my first thought while exiting my futuristic looking float pod. Then I couldn’t find the light, so I splashed around the whole room with highly concentrated Epsom salt water in my mouth and eyes. I’m surprised I didn’t flood the place, TBH.
So, you may be asking yourself, what is floating? Well, let me tell you! Floating is a type of therapy that supposedly helps with anxiety, stress, insomnia, brain fog, and a plethora of other ailments. You enter a float tank, which is a large pod filled with Epsom salt water that is heated to your exact body temperature. It’s kind of like the dead sea, so you don’t have to put any effort into floating. The pod deprives you of all of your senses; it is pitch black with no sound. Lauren swears by it, so I thought I would give it a go with her.
The day of my float, I slept TERRIBLY! I felt awful all morning. I was grumpy, distracted, and I didn’t want to do anything. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to test out a float and see if it worked! We scheduled an hour-long float and a half-hour-long infrared sauna session at The Float Space in Maroochydore. The infrared sauna is supposedly good for detoxing and for your skin which I really need right now.
We arrived at The Float Space and had to watch a short instructional video and sign a waiver just in case you drown or get locked into your pod forever. The space was very quiet and peaceful. The only worker on duty whispered to us and walked around with no shoes on. We had our infrared sauna first. Lauren and I went in together. It seemed like the only difference between this infrared sauna and any other sauna was a small light on the ceiling. They had a guided meditation playlist on while we were sweating all of our toxins out and it was very zen!
Next, we had our float. Lauren went into her room, and the lady on shift showed me around my room. There was a small shower, a little table and hooks to put my things, and of course the huge float pod. I was directed to shower before the float, but I wasn’t allowed to use conditioner. The pre float shower is to clean off the oils on your body, so it made sense not to add oils to my hair with the conditioner. I took my shower and then put the provided earplugs in so I wouldn’t get the water in my ears. You enter the pod nude so you really have no sensation of anything on your body.
I hopped into my pod, feeling very much like Chris Pratt in Passengers. There is a button for the lights on the left of my pod and an emergency “Help I’m drowning please save me” button on my right. The water is about a foot deep, but you only really touched the bottom when you hop in and out. I pulled the lid down overtop of me, which is a lot less scary then it sounds. The lid never locks and it is so tall that you don’t ever feel claustrophobic. Music plays for about 10 minutes at the beginning and end of your float to ease you in and out. I turned the lights on and put my arms above my head in the “I surrender” pose (also called cactus arms in yoga). You literally feel like you are in zero gravity. When the music stopped, I just pictured myself flying through space. It was amazing. You can’t even tell that you are floating in water because the water temperature is so close to your body temperature. I tried pulling my arms out of the water and they felt like lead! The next thing I knew, there was a voice talking in my pod saying “Your float is now over” and a machine started filtering the water out. I was so confused. Did I sleep? Was I in a deep meditation? Where the heck is the light? I splashed around for a few minutes trying to find it, which resulted in me blinding myself with salt water and slurping up quite a few mouthfuls (it tasted absolutely disgusting. It did not taste like ocean salt water!). Finally, after wiping my salty handprints all over the walls, a motion light came on and I could finally see. I was in a daze. I took my shower, got dressed, and rehydrated with a cup of herbal tea outside my room.
I felt like I was walking on air afterward. I honestly felt high! It was so weird. We had to pick up some groceries afterward, and it felt like I was in a grocery store for the first time. Everything was so colorful! So shiny! I felt amazing for the rest of the day which was a complete 180 from how I felt in the morning. A fewhours after I had a burst of energy and went on an hour-long bike ride in the park. Normally I get bored after 30 minutes or so.
Needless to say, I would definitely spend $100 to float again. They say results get better if you float more often which could be a marketing ploy but I would be willing to test it out. I was a bit disappointed because my sleep wasn’t any better than normal that night, which I was really looking forward to. The few days after my float I still was full of energy and I definitely had the “post-float glow” that everyone talked about!
By Bailey Graf – https://thetrippydippyhippie.com
