The Sensory Deprivation Tank Experience
The sensory deprivation tank as we know it today has reached its popularity thanks to the people who fell in love with it. In fact, these individuals have changed how we think about sensory deprivation tanks today, and helped us to evolve from where we once were.
When you think about Joe Rogan, “sensory deprivation tank” is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. After all, the original host of Fear Factor and the outspoken podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who is into practicing mindfulness and achieving a greater sense of inner peace.
In fact, Rogan has been dubbed the “Godfather of Floating” by those in the field, and his 2013 review of his float therapy experience is thought to be responsible for the rise in popularity that makes float therapy what it is today, even if he prefers the term “sensory deprivation chamber” to the more mild-mannered “float tank.” In that review, he made it clear how seriously he takes his time in the tank.
Says Rogan, “The sensory deprivation chamber has been the most important tool that I’ve ever used for developing my mind, for thinking, for evolving.” And while that may have been one of the first times he spoke his mind about sensory deprivation tanks, it certainly wasn’t the last--his semi-regular references to it during his podcast are a clear sign that floating remains a way of life for him.
Is Joe Rogan the Only “Godfather of Floating?”
He’s not the only one. Basketball player Steph Curry has professed his love for floating, and NFL quarterback and wellness advocate Tom Brady is a float fan as well. More and more, athletic programs are incorporating float therapy into their big-picture fitness regimens as a way of helping athletes achieve at a higher level on the court or field and recover more quickly after games or from injuries.
But a session in a sensory deprivation tank isn’t just for celebrities and elite athletes. Floating is accessible to all, with flotation therapy becoming increasingly available thanks to float spas such as Urban Float. Sensory deprivation tanks are popping up everywhere, from Seattle to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
So What’s All the Float Fuss About?
Although sensory deprivation tanks may seem somewhat new to the health and wellness realm, in truth, floatation therapy has been around for 60 years. John Lennon was reportedly a fan, crediting sensory deprivation therapy for helping him get his life back on track in 1979.
The process is fairly simple: A float pod, or sensory deprivation chamber if you will, is filled with 10 inches of purified water mixed with 1,200 pounds of Epsom salt, which is then heated to 93.5 degrees. This number is no accident: 93.5 degrees is the average temperature of human skin, the perfect setting for natural osmosis. You climb in and for 60 minutes, you drift, weightless and in a state of total relaxation.
With 60-plus years of history and evidence in the effects of floating as part of a wellness practice, there is science that links sensory deprivation sessions to a range of health benefits. Along with the documented role Epsom salt plays in muscle relaxation, brain-imaging studies suggest floating can help regulate the part of the brain that’s responsible for anxiety and fear, and have a calming effect on the nervous system. In other words, sensory deprivation tanks help you relax both physically and mentally.
Okay, but What’s the Difference Between a “Sensory Deprivation Tank,” “Float Tank,” and “Float Pod?”
We’ve used the terms “sensory deprivation tank,” and “float tank,” and “float pod” interchangeably here, and that’s because there is no fundamental difference between them. A sensory deprivation tank is a float tank etc. because our customers use the phrases interchangeably.
As advocates for mindfulness and meditation at Urban Float, we have evolved to the term, “floating,” because the name of the mechanism is less relevant to the benefits you receive.
To some, sensory deprivation means welcome relief, the ability to isolate from stresses and stimuli. To others, sensory deprivation feels vulnerable and alien. Perhaps this is what attracts the former Fear Factor host to sensory deprivation: a one-of-a-kind opportunity to have nothing around but the thoughts in your head.
As Rogan says, “Everybody should do the tank. You will learn more about yourself than any other way.”
