Yesterday I took a day off. In the afternoon I walked to Clapham, where I intended to work on my latest brilliant invention at a coffee shop. Which I did, but not before I got soaked to the bone by torrential rain. By 5pm I had finished my coffee, worked myself up into an hypomanic frenzy but still hadn’t dried out. So, cold, slightly edgy and with 90 minutes to kill before my Astanga Yoga class I happened to walk past the London Float Centre.
I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of floatation tanks so on a whim I went in and asked about it. I ended up buying an introductory deal of three hour-long floats and shortly after that enjoyed my first float experience. It was quite amazing. After showering, I climbed into the float room (it was a room about 8 feet high, 10 feet long and 6 feet wide, so not one of those claustrophobically small tanks. I placed the float pillow around my neck and leaned back…
For the first few minutes some slighty cheesy ambient music burbled away, but then the music faded out, the lights went down, and I was left, floating in the void…wow. At first I was kind of fidgety, awash with recently-imbibed caffeine as I was, but gradually a deep, pervading sense of relaxation crept over me and I felt the knots of tension in my back and shoulders start to ease up. I was quite hoping I might see some psychedelic-type visuals, but that didn’t happen this time (the girl I asked about it beforehand said that each time had been completely different for her - she seemed almost reluctant to go into detail…). However, I went throught a whole range of thoughts, feelings, sensations all pervaded by a profound sense of calm and peace.
Soon enough the session was over, and I had to head off almost immediately to make yoga in time (yes, okay, I’m clearly a hippy. Deal with it). It is recommended that one takes it easy and reflects on the experience afterward, and I hope to do that next time. After the session I felt absolutely great - like all the electrons in my body had been individually polished. I bounced along the road with a spring in my step and I can’t wait to try it again. (The helpful young man working there reported that the experience could be completely amazing with the addition of some magic mushrooms. Heh.)
They also do overnight floats, which must be amazing. The only thing I would change is that I would like to listen to my own music - maybe if I ask nicely I can jack my iPod into their amp - I’d rather listen to Vladislav Delay or Porter Ricks than whalesong and noseflutes. No wonder babies cry when they are born.
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