Tried: Floating? better than LSD?

What is Floating?

Floating is a wellness trend that promises maximum relaxation with minimal effort. You lie in a tub with so much concentrated salt water that you do not go down, but drifting on it like in the Dead Sea. So should allegedly feel weightlessness, Water and room temperature and light are adjusted so that the body hardly perceives stimuli. All that should cause that Relieve tension in the body, creativity is encouraged and increased mental energy reserves become.

Rumor has it that Floating was invented as an alternative to LSD ...

(Here's more about floating)

Why did I try floating?

First: I just can not relax, Lie on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and do nothing? I have tried it several times and failed miserably every time. Somehow I have to do something constantly, I would like to switch off soooo ...

Second, on a scale of 1 to 10, it's my stress and strain Tension level currently about 7.

I have not had a vacation for six months
I mostly sit at my desk (due to my job), which makes me a bit of a junkie
Family is currently undergoing an extremely stressful change (my parents' house is sold ...)
It's still a bit up to my next vacation ...

From the floating I promised myself

finally able to drift away for a while
to reduce my stress level to at least a bearable 4 to 5

Therefore my registration at Float Hamburg.

My floating experience

foreplay

When I appeared in the inconspicuous float location Hamburg Neustadt for my appointment, there was the first time a pair of white feel-good flip-flops, what to drink? and a DIN A4 sheet with information and tips for floating, which promptly increased my stress level to 9, No joke!

Just to name a few examples of the listed items:

Take a shower both before and after the float, but before that only lukewarm, because otherwise the well-thought-out temperature concept does not work and you freeze
Wet a rag and put it next to the tub if you get salt water in your eyes
In the beginning, put your head under water, otherwise you may not be confident in the carrying capacity of the water and will be tensing your neck all the time to keep your head high
Use the provided orropax to prevent salt crystals from entering the ear canal
The best way to get in a seat
If there are any small wounds on the skin, cover it with ointment
And! And! And!

How should I remember all this? And What if I do something wrong? Seriously, I just wanted to drop me and not work off a rule catalog. By contrast, what must be considered as a passive part in a tandem parachute jump is a piece of cake.

After all, the sight of my cabin reassured me, which was supposed to be my realm for the next 90 minutes ...

Divided into a small area with toilet, sink and mirror? There are also bathrobe, towels, rags, Oropax and so on ready? and the centerpiece: An approximately four-square-foot tub with a spacious shower next to it.

After I saw that and locked myself in the cabin, it was mine Stress level again only at 8 ? the slip of paper was at least half forgotten.

Here we go

While I was taking a shower (and of course wondering all the time if I had set the right temperature to avoid freezing), was my tub filled with the miracle water? like Harry Potter. Quickly ragged wet, Oropax in the ears, in there and ... what can I say?

It feels like normal water!

Of course, one does not go under, but is carried. Similar to the sea, except that you do not have to do anything, but nothing at all, so as not to sink. But otherwise it feels like water, sounds like water when you rip it around, and looks like water. No idea why that disappointed / surprised me at first, after all it's water and I knew that.

But: When it really feels weightless, I find weightlessness pretty boring ? And give a plus point to the tandem jump, because the feeling of free fall is much more interesting.

But no matter, I was not there for astronaut training, but to relax! And I was determined to do that! Unfortunately, I was pretty cold? I had probably showered wrong.

The effect

Indeed: I have never been so relaxed and comfortable in my life as in this water! I could just hang myself, did not have to tense up a muscle? it was as if I did not really feel my body.In bed, I always lie on my stomach, because the supine position is animal uncomfortable for me, but in this water, I found it extremely comfortable to lie on the back / drive! My body really went down in a few minutes (I guess after about 15) like he never does.

Only I can not say that from my head unfortunately!

Is that bad that my ears are constantly full of water? (The Oropax have not brought anything first and secondly have floated it again and again)
Shit, why am I so cold? From because of minimization of irritation!
Am I right? Not that I'm going out even more tense when I came in!
How much time has passed?
Should I change the music or the light a bit?
Man, why can not I switch off !!! ??

About my thoughts.

I really wish I could say something else, but that's how it is: Mental could not switch off in this supposed weightlessness, After all: At the end of my session I did not care about my thoughts.

As always, they ran wildly through my head, but they did not touch me, did not make me restless, annoying or impatient as usual. And that was a real success for me! When the water began to run after about an hour, it got less and I was almost dry Would I even like to float a bit further? was really nice when everything did not matter ...

The Aftermath

After I left the tub and showered nice and hot (finally warm up!), I felt two things above all:

Extreme tiredness
suppleness

My body felt so soft and relaxed, how not, but I totally k.o. and squish.

But that's not all: The night after the Floating, I slept better than average and the next morning I awoke completely awake and energetic before the alarm clock ringing. Stress level this morning at 3, I would say.

Sure, it may have been coincidence and not necessarily related to my floating trip, but that was at least my observation.

My conclusion

Although I had promised more (probably too much), I was the result of my floating trip satisfied, Reducing the stress level by 6 points is a considerable effect (even if it did not last very long). Even with me, I have a very hard nut in terms of relaxation am ...

A full body massage or a half day in the spa with extensive sauna would perhaps not necessarily have been worse (at least I would not have frozen), but I think it would be good for me to float regularly. Who knows? Maybe then I would even learn how to switch off? and could it someday on Sundays on the couch ...