What Are the Benefits of Locking Yourself in a Tank and Floating in Room-Temperature Saltwater?

Pacific Standard:

“It’s almost better than therapy,” said the spa owner. We were sitting in the common room, which looked like a minimalist, high-class Chinese restaurant that prefers the word “cuisine.” Freshly washed and nibbling dark chocolate, I had just relayed a rather macabre vision from my first 90-minute “float.” My holistic spaman’s comment was not wholly appreciated.

Over the past few years, sensory deprivation tanks—you’re suspended in a few inches of body-temperature, epsom saltwater completely removed from light, sound, and touch—have gone quasi-mainstream. The goal is deceptively simple: Reducing external stimuli to an absolute minimum. Purposely striving for a state of purposelessness. Some say it provides a kind of natural buzz. Those who lack the dexterity for yoga and/or patience for sitting still in the lotus position say it helps them achieve a kenshō-grade meditative state. Others even suggest it has medicinal benefits.

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard