Float On

I decided to give the anti-sensory tank a try in lieu of a massage a few weeks ago after I'd heard about it on the radio and did a little homework on it. I made an appointment with Zen Blend in south Austin (Zen Blend is tucked away in a neighborhood off Slaughter Lane). When I saw the set-up I thought my claustrophobia would get the best of me. Of course, I'm always up for a good challenge. I went in for an hour and a half.

I felt like I was climbing into a submarine as I pulled down the hatch closing out the daylight and the rest of the world. A slight waive of panic came over me as I lowered myself into the pitch darkness. The air was thick, warm and salty and my breathing felt labored. I couldn't clear my head. So far, the float was not as relaxing as I'd hoped and I couldn't believe I'd signed up for 1.5 hours. But, the salt water felt like silk and the soothing music pumping through the underwater speakers helped me fight through and focus my attention elsewhere. The realization of the pitch darkness no longer frightened me but rather intrigued me. I floated staring upward at the top of the tank and winked and blinked and closed my eyes always to see the same thing. Nothing.

By the time the music faded away so had my worries and I fell into the deepest state of relaxation I've ever experienced. The complete silence allowed me to hear the beating of my heart and the heaving of my chest sending me deeper into my subconscious. The only noise was the occasional splashing of water against the metal sides of the tank. The echo danced through the air and reminded me there was no cell phone ringing, no text alerts, no questions to answer or problems to solve. I might as well be floating in the middle of the Dead Sea lost to the world. It was an out-of-body experience I desperately needed.

I'm always the girl on the airplane that falls asleep and does that crazy jumping thing where the arms flail around or the book gets thrown in the air and startles my neighbor. I never fell asleep while floating, but I did my crazy jumping move four times. It was incredible.

If you need to get away and don't have time for a day at the spa, you can take it down a notch or two in a floatation tank. Of course, do it after work when you can keep the phone on silent and spend the rest of the evening in your own little world. Does it replace a great massage? Not a chance. But I discovered closing the hatch to the world and floating, suspended in weightlessness, does a body good.