Why your first float may not be your best
Hopping in the tank for the first time can be a wild experience… but sometimes the first float is a strange experience!
Okay, we know what you’re thinking: “The float centre is telling me that I need to do it more than once to really feel the benefits.” Pfft… sounds like a shifty marketing pitch, doesn’t it!? The truth is, no matter how you were first introduced to floating, it’s nearly impossible to feel the full effects after just one float.
A whole new world
In our experience, first-time floaters generally fall into two different groups: those who have put in the hours of research beforehand, and built up an expectation of what will happen, and those who come in as a blank slate with no prior idea of what floating can do for them. Both mindsets present their own challenges: the first group may find themselves underwhelmed when they don’t reach a blissful nirvana in that first hour, while the second might find it hard to verbalise the experience afterwards.
In any case it’s a new experience, and much like exercise, meditation, learning a new skill or language, you get better at it with practice. It sounds funny to say – how can you get better at just lying there – but the more you float, the quicker you’ll relax and enter that deeper state of mind, and the more ways you’ll be able to use the tank to your advantage. There are a range of different ways people use floating to tune in to their bodies and focus their minds – body scans are useful for identifying points of stress or pain, while creative visualisation and meditating in the tank can help with sorting through your cacophony of thoughts. And all benefit from repetition and practice. The more you float, the more floating can do for you.
I need to remember to blog about my first float tank experience before the memory fades. I liked it a lot and hope to do it some more.
— Jason Coleman (@jason_coleman) 19 July 2017
The after-effects
For new floaters, it’s easy to fall into the ‘is that it?’ trap. But of course anyone who floats regularly will know that the hour inside the float tank isn’t what it’s all about – many of the benefits kick in once you’ve finished your session.
Whether you’re a light sleeper, suffer from insomnia or just have trouble regulating your sleeping patterns, that first night’s kip after your debut dip can be a lifechanging deep slumber. Many people find this holds true for several nights after a float, and yep – you’ve guessed it! – floating regularly can help increase the number of blissful night’s sleep after each session. The research backs this up, too: floating has been shown to reduce activity in the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for the fight-or-flight response, which in turn reduces the amount of stress hormone cortisol in the blood, making it easier to sleep.
went for my first float with little to no expectations. came back completely relaxed. considering a monthly membership now…
— helloricecake (@helloricecake) 18 July 2017
And of course, there’s that post-float glow. First-time floaters often comment on how relaxed and stress-free they feel after that first session, and it often lasts right up to bedtime, and even continues in the following days. But again, regular sessions help elongate the time that state of calm and relaxation sticks around!
The after after-effects
Once you’re in the regular routine of floating, you start to reap the rewards exponentially. And as many of our customers will confirm, once you’ve dipped your toe in the world of floating, it can very quickly take over… in a good way, of course!
By having a regular session booked in, it will help regulate your brain’s production of cortisol outside of the tank, which in turn means you will be a happier, less-stressed person all round! And once you develop one good habit, it encourages you to develop others and shake off the shackles of old, bad habits. When we asked some of the Floatworks team whether they can pinpoint when floating kick-started a change in their life, we heard the same answer: floating came hand-in-hand with taking better care of themselves in general – exercising more, eating better, meditating and so on – so the proof is in the pudding on that one!
If you have any questions, or need some advice on your first float, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook. Or pop in to see us in Vauxhall – we’re always happy to help!