Why I float: Callum Fletcher

Quality of existence

The simple answer to why I float would be to say that it improves and fine-tunes the quality of my existence in this world. The benefits I receive from floating have changed as life has been unfolding; as I have been growing, learning, and entering new internal spaces.

Floating opened my mind

I first came across floating in the Summer of 2015 via a good friend and the Joe Rogan podcast, and went along with my mother for our first session around 6 months later. I was lacking a certain level of general consciousness, awareness and objectivity at the time, spending the majority of my time looking to the future, unsure as to what direction my life was going to take and perceiving this to be a problem. This first float experience complemented where I was at beautifully, as it was around the time I began to explore a more open-minded, spiritual path (I had previously been a fairly close-minded atheist).

I had naïvely intended to explore floating as a fast-track, no-effort method of becoming “spiritually enlightened”, and had anticipated an outer-body experience, trippy visuals, or a journey to the astral planes (based on what I had read/heard). Due to these expectations that I had built up around what I thought my experience was going to be due to someone else’s experience, I found my first time inside the pod quite underwhelming - I just lay there in darkness. There were some quite noticeable aches and pains, and I definitely didn’t go anywhere without my body. However, upon emerging from the pod, I could sense a palpable increase in awareness of myself, the space I was in and my body; a heightened sense of peace and mental clarity; and more in tune with the energy around me. These affects continued for days, so, regardless of my somewhat arduous experience inside the pod, I had gotten a glimpse of what floating could do for me. I wanted to try it again. Alas, I would not return for over a year, but I still knew to enter my second float free from all expectations, for by now I knew that they simply tarnish the ability to appreciate any given situation for what it truly has to offer. I was wholly open to the experience this time, whatever it may be.

My second float

I remember entering my second float feeling intensely tense, stressed, and off the back of an argument. The experience itself was this time far from underwhelming. My whole body and general being engaged in a vividly tangible decompression session, my mind was at ease. I emerged from the pod anew, calm, peaceful. I was in a state of absolute bliss. In the days following the float, I made the decision to overcome the resistance I always had in regards to how difficult I found meditating, and became rigid in my practise until I was able to understand it more.

My third float, the game-changer

The third time was early January, 2018. This experience was radically different, yet again. I was, by now, in the thick of a really rough patch in my life, trapped in between the juxtaposition of following my heart and my head. My mind was in a constant state of severe fogginess; I had no clarity around any thoughts, decisions or direction. My mentality had taken a turn for the worse, my confidence crumbled to dust, and I felt undeniably stuck and disconnected from the person I resonated with. As everything in the world around me seemed to be moving at a hundred miles an hour or more, I was left existing in a soul-sucking state of inertia.

And nothing could prepare me for the session I was about to experience.

Almost immediately after the initial 10 minutes of music faded out, problems in my life began presenting themselves. For the first time, I had the space to extract and analyse particular thoughts without any unwelcome input from the overwhelming noise and stimulus overload of everyday life. I could think objectively; my wild and untamed emotions of that time period inactive, observing rather than interfering. As the float progressed, solutions to these problems became apparent, and they were helping to pave the way to the understanding of the one major decision that needed to be made in order to move forward in a positive way. As the music gently penetrated the silence to signify the final 5 minutes of my session, I found myself smiling softly, weeping softly, accepting the reality of my situation for exactly what it was. I felt joy and I felt pain. I knew what I had to do, and what I had to do was the most difficult thing. I left the centre that day with a lot to think about, and with the headspace to think about it.

Callum today

Fast forward 1 year: January 16th, 2019. It’s been a wild one! Crazy ups, downs, downs, ups, downs, lefts, rights, wrongs and diagonals, the whole time maintaining razor-sharp focus on integrating float therapy as an integral part of my life. I have experienced a beautifully warm, welcoming 3 months at the Floatworks. The team is amazing. I have met countless amazing people, engaged in countless amazing conversations and heard countless amazing stories, full of wisdom and life lessons. Float as much as I like? Blessed. For 3 months now I have been floating once or twice a week, and I am noticeably more focused, objective and rational in everyday life. My experiences within the pod reflect that I am feeling and doing a lot better. They are now generally less introspective, less about thinking and more about clearing and cleaning the mind, meditations, breath control and tuning into true presence and essential nature. Floating at such regular intervals also serves to minimise the brain fog induced by my current out-of-control weed habit.

Fast forward to today: Sunday, 9th June 2019. I have become infinitely more active, and so now I sometimes float to relax the body and increase the rate of muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. I eat much healthier now. I feel much healthier. I feel sharp between the ears. I control my weed habit, it no longer controls me. I really, truly enjoy meditating, and do so with much greater ease. I love the effects of meditation. I now apply consistent, discernible presence in my life experiences, through releasing attachments to a future version of myself. I focus less on where/who I want to be and more on where/who I am now, in this moment - the only real, tangible moment there will ever be. I trust that life will unfold perfectly, exactly the way it should, even though it may not always feel that way. My understanding of my true purpose has deepened. My connection to my true self is stronger. I feel genuinely happy. I have flipped the script in my life. Floating helped to make clear how, and then it was me who did it. The only person who could. My perceptions have changed, and so with it, my reality.

I still have to apply copious amounts of effort to working hard on myself, and consciously direct more focus, energy and attention into other areas of my life. I can’t attribute all these improvements to floating alone. Floating is no fast-track, no-effort method of becoming “spiritually enlightened”, but it certainly helps ease the tension and make everything clear.

I float because It improves and fine-tunes the quality of my existence in this world. I am blessed to have access to such a tool. I am blessed to have met and to work with the directors Ed & Chris, and the rest of the fam; Tiago, Kim, Eugene, Murph, Dom, Ben & Viktor; as well as Kathy & Waze, who have each moved into their next chapters. I am blessed to soon be working alongside Lauren, Andrea & Jay, and whomever else will be joining us as we approach the Angel opening and continue to expand in the future. I am blessed. You are, too.

Follow Callum Fletcher on Instagram:

@fletchroast