Mom invited me to go with her to her deprivation tank appointment one morning. I had seen one, but I have never been in one. I packed some clothes and a brush at my mom’s recommendation and off we went.

A sensory deprivation tank aims to provide its namesake. It is a shallow tub of water at “skin receptor neutral” temperature, filled with over 800 pounds of pounds of Epsom salt. According to the business website that we went to, you float more than in the Dead Sea. There are a ton of benefits to Epsom salt, magnesium, and sulfates.

Epsom salt reduces inflammation, relieves muscle cramps, and prevents blood clots. Magnesium is essential for digestion, creation of new cells, and vitamin B activation, among many other things. Sulfates form joint proteins, eases headaches, and flushes toxins.

When my mom and I first arrived, we did some Lucia Light Therapy. This activates the Pineal Gland and regulates brainwaves. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really a fan. Flashing lights behind my closed eyes wasn’t really peaceful or relaxing, but a new experience is always good.

The flashing lights were all white, but your brain creates colors while your eyes are closed. I’m glad the experience we got was only 10 minutes. I might have had to open my eyes and turn around if it went on any longer. I liked the colors, but my eyes and eyelids felt like they were being lashed with the light, and it felt like my eyes and eyelids were just flickering uncomfortably.

I wonder if I am just a little more sensitive to light, because I can’t even close my eyes on car rides if the light is filtering through the trees, it stimulates the same “flickering” feeling. I was told that everyone has a different experience, and people either prefer the light therapy or the deprivation tanks.

Then, we walked down the hall to the tanks. Each tank is its own private room with a shower. You can watch the orientation video and learn more than I will share through the business’s website, here, where I have gotten a lot of information for this post! I’ll also provide a photo from the website.

I was given the how to by a worker, and then I was left to relax. First, I had to take a lukewarm shower head to toe with soap that was provided. The shower had to be about 5 minutes in order to get off as much oil as possible. This helps the filter system in the tank. The shower had to be lukewarm, because the tank’s water temperature is body temperature. Taking a hot shower and then getting in the tank would be a chilly experience for the duration it takes for your body to go back to it’s baseline 95 degrees Fareinheight.

I ended up taking a cold shower, and I was glad that I did because that meant the water felt really warm when I got into the tank. The lights in the room are on a timer, so after 5 minutes of stillness, the lights turned off. There is a light in the tank that you can turn on if you wish.

There is just enough water to float in, and I sat down, turned off the light, and when I leaned back the only way I can describe what happened was I “blooped” to the surface, instant floating! I spent some time adjusting to this new sensation. I sat up to dry my hands and rub my eyes and I didn’t dry them off enough. That BURNED, I should have been more careful. But soon the burn went away and I spent some time pushing myself from wall to wall just to experience weightlessness, and finally I did a big stretch.

That “zero gravity” stretch was amazing. My shoulders even popped. I decided not to have any music. They provide ear plugs as well but I went without those and just laid with the silence and my thoughts and the darkness.

They recommend the “surrender” pose as being the most popular, and you can see that in the photo with the girl in the tank. For me, just having my arms relaxed at my sides was most comfortable. I just thought about either nothing or how cool it was that I could barely feel the difference between the water and the air. It was truly just suspension.

A twitch brought me back to consciousness, and I realized I had fallen asleep! I’m not even sure how that happened. Another twitch, I had drifted off again. There is so much salt in the water that your head is completely “supported”, I later read that falling asleep in the tank is perfectly safe and is actually considered the “holy grail” experience. Seems like I was a pro on my first try, haha.

The entire session was an hour, and I had just woken up and was thinking about how I had slept in a bath when the light was turned on, signalling the end of the appointment. I got up and out of the tank, took a nice hot shower, and thoroughly scrubbed my hair to get as much salt out as I could. I felt refreshed after floating, not groggy as I often do after a nap. Most of all, I really did feel relaxed.

After my shower, I was glad that I brought my hairbrush and a spare change of clothes. Outside the private room was a separate station with hair dryers, natural spray deodorants, leave in conditioner, lotions, a whole munch of goodies. The employee also brought us a cold cup of water.

I sprayed on some of the natural deodorant, lotion, and felt refreshed after a cool drink. I met up with mom at the goodie bar and she said that the employee let us stay in longer than an hour. To me, it felt pretty quick. I did fall asleep, after all.

I would 100% recommend a sensory deprivation tank session. If you know what one is and have been on the fence about it, I would go for it. I would also recommend just a regular bath with Epsom salt, just for the muscle relaxing properties. You won’t be effortlessly suspended in the water with just a home Epsom salt bath, but there are still a lot of benefits.

Have you heard or tried either of the things I experienced that day? Let me know, and I will see you all soon!