Isolation Tanks

[MBanks]

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone else here has used or uses isolation tanks? I read a book a few years back by John Lilly about his experimentations with then and it has interested me ever since. I have used them a couple of times and I find them beneficial for relaxation and I was just curious if any other freedivers use them? Here is the website for the london based floatation tank company for those interested:

http://www.floatworks.com/

Martin

 

[Oldsarge]

Good grief! Talk about Shades of One's Youth, I haven't heard about isolation tanks in . . . 20 years? 30? I didn't even know that anyone was still using the things. Shoot, even Eselen up in Big Sur has gone corporate seminars and and here you tell me isolation tanks still exist. Makes y'wanna roll up a 'J' and let your hair grow . . . those of you that still have any, of course. Martin, you sure know how to make a man feel old, don'tcher?

 

[Lockedin]

Does sitting on the crapper with the lights out count?

 

[samdive]

I tried it (at Floatworks) after my brother gave me a session for my birthday a few years ago and I HATED it with a passion - the salty water stung every little nick, graze, bit of shaving rash and every inch of my skin

Apart from that, it was incredibly dull, kind of weird being in the dark silence in a really busy part of london... and I tried to do static in it (with a mask on) and it KILLED my face.....

I got out before half of my session was over....

S

 

[naiad]

I have always been scared of floating on my back, I will do it if I have to, but I try to avoid it as far as possible. I also try to always do static holding onto something, or at least very near the side of the pool. I find the feeling of floating around is scary and not relaxing, because for the whole time I am thinking "How am I going to get up? Will I slip?".

Maybe it would be different in an isolation tank, if it is not too big, I don't know.

Lucia

 

[trux]

I tried it (at Floatworks) after my brother gave me a session for my birthday a few years ago and I HATED it with a passion

I hope your brother doesn't read the forum

 

[MBanks]

lol, tried to do a static face down! roflCommon sense told me not to even try and think about doing that with all those salts in there!

I'm suprised at your response, and for someone who freedives, and practises statics, to find it dull, I wouldn't have guessed that too. Sounds like you had too many ambitions/expectations before you even go in. I take it you didn't use the vasaline on you cuts and grazes either, that tends to stop the stingning. The best thing to do, I find, is to go in and just take the opportunity to relax and do nothing...easy peasy. I find it a great way to remove yourself from most of your senses.

 

[samdive]

did use the vaseline - but it turns out I have a whole lot more cuts than I thought... I do have ridiculously sensitive skin so maybe that's why

I'm not the kind of freediver who does it by removing myself from my senses, never been any good at that

and as for common sense....

 

[Lil Dragonfly]

I'm not quite sure what an isolation tank is, what it does, or how it works...

 

[Lazuli]

Ever seen the film "Altered States" by Ken Russell? Lots of pseudo-scientific isolation tank hokum in there rofl

 

[shoutatthesky]

As someone with an interest in meditation I find the concept of an isolation tank very interesting. They were even featured on the Simpsons a few years ago - I think Homer started hallucinating!

I have been toying with the idea of making one out of an old freezer - insulated and sealed.

I think it would be a great concept for reaching really deep meditative states. Maybe it would be quite useful for visualisation?

Isolation Tank | Floatation Tank | Floatation Therapy


"The floatation (also known as the sensory deprivation or isolation) tank was devised in 1953-54 by Dr. John Cunningham Lilly, at the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, Maryland). Floating in a 10-inch deep box of water (93.5 degrees Fahrenheit), enriched by 800 pounds of dissolved magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), Lilly's original goal was to explore how solitude affected the mind, and the neurophysiology of consciousness. The unintended result was a powerful tool for transcending self-limiting beliefs, helping usher in humanistic and transpersonal psychology." - [::..gondolatok egy izolációs tartályban..::]

I like the name of this one - 'The Womb Room'