I have been interested for a while in trying out a flotation tank because I've heard they can be good for anxiety and good for people with joint problems, which I am both of. It can aid joint problems because you basically achieve weightlessness. I was apprehensive though because I don't like the dark, and I also wasn't sure how big the pod would be and as I'm a big person I was a little bit worried about it. I asked around if anyone had done it before, but I couldn't find many answers.
Then my friend Laura started saying she wanted to try it too. There's a company in Huddersfield that does it, so we talked about doing it together but then Covid happened so we never got round to it. But as things were opening up again I thought I would make myself an appointment. One session is £40 and I thought, well even if I don't like it, I can afford to lose forty quid on it. That session includes a full hour of floating and a relaxing drink afterwards.
So I made the appointment for mid August and set off early to get there for ten am. When I arrived I was a little bit apprehensive because the building didn't look open. But I went in and met the staff member working. He showed me into the room where the pod was, told me what to do, and left me to it. This was just before 10am.
I got undressed - you float naked - and showered under the shower in the corner. The room was darkly lit with colour changing bulbs and when the blue light was on the room was really quite dark. The pod also had a colour changing light. To begin with there was like a jacuzzi jet putting more water in, and then, the man explained, there would be fifteen minutes of music, then nothing, but the music would come on five minutes before the end of the hour so I would know to get out and get showered.
The jet stopped and I got into the water. It is saturated with Epsom salts which is what makes you float, and I have to admit that it felt really nice on my skin - it made my skin all slippy. The water is warm, too, so that is nice. The music started and it was like nature sounds, which I also like. However, I was having problems with the gel earplugs I'd been given. One went in fine but the other wouldn't go in properly meaning I could hear things around it and when I laid down in the water I was getting bubbles in my ear which was distracting to say the least. I tried to put it back in at least ten times but just couldn't get it right.
However, I pulled down the lid of the pod and tried my best. The pod was huge - I could have laid in it with someone else and still have had enough room. On one side there's a switch to turn the light off and at the other there's a panic button, although the man did tell me that no one had ever pressed it in genuine alarm. As I don't like the dark I didn't turn the lights off within the pod.
However, the lights went off in the room. I could tell because the light disappeared from around the edge of the pod lid. When I put the lid up, the lights clicked back on - they were obviously on a motion sensor. But that made me freak on that they weren't on; I didn't like it.
But I did try! The fifteen minutes of music stopped and I floated in the pod for about five minutes after that. My entire body DID float - my bum wasn't touching the bottom of the pod at all. It's a weird sensation but quite nice - my arms and legs were right up and even my boobs were floatinga bit! I didn't mind that. BUT the lights kept changing and again the blue was really dark and that freaked me out. Plus the earplug! That wasn't relaxing.
I tried sitting up in the pod for a bit - there's enough room for you to do that. That did help, but again when the light went off in the room outside I freaked out. I was just like, is this fun, am I having a good time? And the answer was no. I got up, got dry and dressed, and decided to leave. It was by this point 10.30, so I think I had given it a good enough go.
I said to the guy that I didn't like the lights and the darkness, and he said he had had to have around three sessions before he'd really relaxed into it and liked it. He said I didn't have to pay which I appreciated. I left and came home.
I think if the light in the room had been better, I would have been okay. I also think that if someone else had been there with me, I'd have been better. And maybe if my bloody earplug had worked, I would have been okay too. But all the things together just made me panic and I couldn't relax. So I got myself out of there, and that's okay.
At least I can say I've tried it now!
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