Planning Motivation Control

Sensory deprivation bath. Sensory deprivation: how to boost your creativity and clear your mind? My impressions of floating at the Gravity Float Spa

You run, fly, hurry, stumble, run again - not a second without a phone - without stopping, headlong, you have no time to stop, exhale and consider the life around you. Eternal deadlines, meetings, stressful situations, conflicts, including those within myself ... Have I described your way of life over the past ... years? Congratulations, we're on the same team. I am the same. I catch myself thinking that the last time I was in full Zen with me was when I was pregnant. Then my hormonal background shifted the emphasis to some other, more important, goals, therefore, I was calm and balanced. Sometimes too much.

But after the birth of the child, it all ended abruptly. I plunged into work again, taking care of the baby was added, the time for rest simply disappeared. I began to notice on my own that I fell asleep for a long time, did not get enough sleep, that I was always twitchy, in anxiety and even began to smile less.

After another such sleepless night, I decided: something needs to be done urgently with this!

And then fate itself sent me Gravity Float Spa and familiarity with their float procedure, which made an indelible impression on me! For the first time in a long time, I was able to relax to my fingertips and forget about problems.

What is floating: a little about history

Imagine: you are lying on the surface of warm water in complete silence and darkness, your consciousness is completely calm and practically switched off, there are no extraneous thoughts, you feel every centimeter of your body, but you do not feel it in space. A state on the verge of sleep, such a pleasant bliss and half-asleep, which allows the brain to cast off all worries and just soar in weightlessness, without remembering the body shell.

This is floating.

Simply put, this is a procedure during which you immerse yourself in a capsule of strong saline solution, so that your body does not sink and remains on the surface throughout the entire session. Sounds and light are absent, immersion in complete weightlessness occurs - you can completely relax and lie down on the water, surrender to its warm embraces and forget about everything in the world.

Floating was invented by the American neuropsychologist John Lilly: in 1954 he began work on a study on the effect of completely isolating a person from external factors on the state of his brain and nervous system... He managed to establish that floating works wonders both with the physical and mental body of a person: there is a complete reboot of systems inside the body, the effects of stress and acute nervous conditions go away, sleep is normalized, the work of the cardiovascular system disappears, anxiety, phobias disappear, and creativity develops. , there comes complete relaxation and transition to meditation. Lilly managed to create a unique method of rebooting the brain: only in the chamber, under conditions of sensory deprivation, brain activity slows down to a minimum, which gives such a strong upgrade effect.

The first float camera saw the world in 1972 - and since then this procedure has gained widespread popularity all over the world, many manufacturers have appeared offering their analogues of capsules and pools where you can learn the therapeutic properties of antigravity.

Floating: how it works

When you enter Gravity Float Spa, you will be met by a pleasant administrator: she will do everything to prepare you for the procedure and, most importantly, teach you how to properly relax in the capsule itself. Compulsory tea drinking before the procedure will allow you to exhale after the trip, calm down, listen to the administrator's recommendations and prepare for the dive.

“The capsule pool contains 550 kg of salt: it keeps you afloat. When you are in the chamber of sensory deprivation (isolated from external factors. - Ed.), When the lights and music are turned off, you are left alone with yourself. You don't know where you are. You don't feel your body. This is complete relaxation! In the first 10 minutes of the procedure, while the light music is playing, I recommend that clients throw their arms and legs, splash, get comfortable in the capsule, feel the water, feel that you are not drowning, relax your neck, explore the space so that no fears arise. If you set yourself up for maximum relaxation, you will even be able to fall asleep, ”says the administrator Olga.

Who is floating for? For all! Everyone will find benefit for themselves in this procedure. If you go in for sports, it will help to relax your muscles as much as possible and get rid of muscle tension, if you have sedentary image life - forget about back and neck pain, if you are constantly stressed and cannot sleep - with regular visits to the capsule, you will become calmer and sleep will normalize.

The effect of floating, of course, depends on the equipment and the salt that will be dissolved in the water. In Gravity Float Spa, the capsule is from the certified British manufacturer i-sopod, which has been producing since 2009 high quality cameras for floating, supplying their premium spas to the USA, Europe and Australia. The water in the capsule undergoes automatic filtration for 15 minutes, silicification and ionization: up to 45 cycles per day. Every two days, 5-6% of new water is added: the entire pool is gradually replaced. The balance of important indicators of water in the capsule and the operation of the filtration system itself is monitored by a separate technologist. The water temperature should be at least 34 degrees. The depth of the pool itself is 31 cm. The capsule is equipped with light and music, an alarm button, there is a bottle of water (to wash off the salt from the face, for example) and a light switch on demand.

To fill the chamber in Gravity Float Spa Epsom salt (Epsom salt) is used - this is a large molecular salt with a low level of penetration into skin cells. It is a mineral rock extracted from salt springs near the city of Epsom, in the English county of Surrey. It contains magnesium and sulfate, which help detoxify and relax the whole body. In addition, Epsom salt cleanses the skin of toxins and has an anti-cellulite effect - so by systematically visiting the capsule, you will also look prettier!

Before the procedure, you should remove all jewelry, take a shower, remove makeup from your face and wash off styling from your hair. To do this, Gravity Float Spa provides you with a full range of hygiene products and accessories, as well as professional cosmetics of European brands. After floating, which lasts 50 minutes, you will receive a personalized massage according to your wishes and needs.

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Floating: are there any contraindications?

Hardly ever. The procedure is indicated for absolutely everyone, without age restrictions - and even for children, but from the age of 11. Floating can be visited by both women and men. Pregnant women are also advised to undergo floating, but only after examination and consent of the doctor who leads the pregnancy.

Do not drink alcohol before and after the procedure: only herbal relaxing tea. Relax only!

How to properly relax in a capsule?

An important question that worries everyone who decides to float: due to the inability to relax and unprofessional instruction, you may not feel the whole thrill of the procedure and remain dissatisfied. Olga, administrator of Gravity Float Spa, is a real guru and guide to the world of floating relaxation! She knows all about it and will help everyone to relax:

“Visualize your relaxation. Feel your every organ. Listen to your heart, concentrate on your breathing, release your body - you will not drown. There is no light here, no music - just you and your body - no irritants. The world revolves around you and your senses. Imagine: let your imagination draw the most enjoyable pictures that will set you in the right mood. Engage your brain with some pleasant abstract thoughts, go on a virtual trip, think about how good your body is now, it is completely relaxed. As soon as you distract your brain, you will fall into a "waking state". You will be somewhere on the verge of dream and reality. "

To wake you up, 10 minutes before the end of the session, the light in the capsule will turn on again and music will play: you will smoothly come to your senses and tune in to the subsequent pleasant massage with oils and flickering candles.

Of course, one procedure is not enough to achieve maximum effect and stabilize it. It all depends on the general condition of the person, his nervous system and how quickly he can learn to relax. Olga recommends visiting floatation regularly - once a week or as soon as you feel the need for relaxation. It should be a good habit to make you healthy and happy.

My impressions of floating at the Gravity Float Spa

I do not know what to say. Probably the fact that after floating I came out calm, with a smile, without haste and panic, with which I ran to the salon. I wanted to smile and did not want to go anywhere. In the capsule, I almost fell asleep. I felt so good ... as if I was in my mother’s tummy again and there was no other world around me but this enveloping warm universe.

I was thinking about something of my own. I fantasized that I was in space, where there was nothing but flight, endless flight and air weightlessness. It's a brain reboot. Thoughts become clear, somehow everything becomes unimportant. Even deadlines and some, as previously seemed, urgent matters.

I drank some warm tea. I sat in the lobby of the Gravity Float Spa. No phone or social media. It's amazing that in just 50 minutes you can so effectively rest, relax your body and reboot your brain! In our time, when everything should be with the "express" prefix, floating is probably the most quick way relax in the conditions of life in the metropolis.

That evening I fell asleep like a baby. And in the morning, for the first time in a long time, I felt that I had had enough sleep.

I think I will come here all the time. And not herself, but with her husband. In order to experience all this buzz from floating in a couple - to relax the body and refresh the head. And by February 14, you can give your beloved a certificate for the procedure, presented in the assortment in

IN recent times It has become very fashionable to attend sensory deprivation sessions, which are often offered in yoga studios and fitness centers. People quickly became interested in the new product, but advertising rarely tells us about the side effects of this type of practice, although they are.

The deprivation capsule is a compact cubicle with a square or streamlined shape to accommodate a person in a horizontal position. The zero gravity effect creates a dense brine solution of water and Epsom salts. The water temperature in the capsule corresponds to the body temperature, there is perfect sound insulation and complete darkness.

Sensory deprivation- This is a partial or complete deprivation of one or more sense organs of external influence. As you know, a person has 5 senses - these are eyes (vision), ears (hearing), tongue (taste), nose (smell) and skin (touch). The term is derived from the English word to deprive - to deprive, take away, take away, and in the meaning of depriving something very important and vital, which is what feelings for us are, with the help of which we are used to living in the world around us.

People who have impairments with certain senses become more sensitive in other areas. For example, blind people have strong hearing and touch, and dumb people have vision and touch. The lack of one organ is compensated by another. So in the case of deprivation, a person has a need to express himself through something else. During a deprivation session in a special capsule, the so-called sixth sense is activated - intuition. Of course, this is possible if you have been very intuitive in the past and have dealt with the discomfort that causes fear. Fear, by the way, is practically a necessary companion of this procedure. A body in an unfamiliar environment? cannot immediately recognize whether this state is safe for him or not. A person who is prone to self-reflection and observation of his thoughts and emotions quickly copes with the first discomfort and the resulting fear of the unknown. But individuals, more often young girls with a delicate and “nervous” nature, with vegetative-vascular dystonia, who have a tendency to unexpected panic attacks, can endure unpleasant moments, akin to torture. So do not give such gifts to your friends without first knowing their opinion on this matter, otherwise you will get the exact opposite effect.

When the first fear is overcome, the relaxation phase begins - for this deep effect this capsule exists. A person lets go of all thoughts, every muscle of the body relaxes and experiences a state of weightlessness and soaring. Sometimes during a session, people even fall asleep, but it is better to spend this time more productively, for example, turn your gaze inward, ask your subconscious mind - what is bothering him and how to help him? Hearing yourself can be very useful, and even if you do not receive an answer right away, it may suddenly appear within a few days, the main thing is to be very attentive and careful to yourself, not to splash a state of peace, to listen even to very weak signals.

During a session of deprivation, hearing, deprived of its usual work, can reproduce sounds and even harmonious melodies. It may seem to you that an orchestra of virtuosos is playing in your head, yogis call this the music of the spheres, which they hear during deep meditation (and it is also deprivation).

In half-sleep, visual images can arise - mystical, metaphysical, or highly artistic. Such procedures are often useful for artists - their imagination is capable of generating amazing compositions, which can then be transferred to the canvas.

The body becomes very sensitive, which can help people with sexual problems. After the deprivation sessions, the excitement from the partner's touch comes easily and naturally.

Walking outside after an hour of relaxation in a capsule, you will find that the world has become very bright, precise and radiant. Such a striking difference may surprise you greatly, and it is also the result of temporary deprivation.

In general, deprivation is one of the ways to enter an altered state of consciousness, but without help drugs, hypnosis, or excessive blood oxygenation (holotropic breathing). And since this state can lead to euphoria, turn off fear and precautions, then you should be prepared for the fact that after the procedure you will not go to work, will not get behind the wheel, and someone will accompany you on the way home. The state of extreme lightness and carelessness will naturally subside by the end of the day, and you will again begin to adequately assess the reality and the dangers that accompany it, for example, car traffic.

So, knowing all the pitfalls of this procedure, you can reasonably decide - if you have a need and an internal request for this kind of "entertainment". It is worth remembering that working with the subconscious is a very delicate thing that should not be touched unnecessarily.

I would advise you to consult with a psychologist on this matter, who will be able to determine with certainty whether it is safe for you to get acquainted with an altered state of consciousness.

Be vigilant and take care of yourself.

On Saturday I visited the sensory isolation chamber, now I will tell you about this unusual experience for me.
This activity is also called floating - from the English word float - to float. Moreover, according to the sensations, the word float does not refer to a floating person, but to watercraft, such as a ship, or to cute whales, dolphins, and other creatures with a built-in sea navigator.

How to feel like a dolphin or a person in zero gravity? That is, somehow turn off or switch consciousness for a while? Perhaps such questions were asked by the American psychoanalyst and neuroscientist John Lilly. And in the middle of the twentieth century, the sensory deprivation chamber was invented.

The chamber is a reservoir of water, about 25-30 cm, 30% salt solution in water. Such a high concentration allows a person to freely stay on the surface of the water practically without feeling his body. This cabin is also isolated from light and sound. Rather, the cell where I was is isolated from the light, there is no special soundproofing, but the room is already completely silent.
As a result, we have an attempt to completely isolate ourselves from external influences - light, sound, even the sensation of gravity. What will happen to the human brain if you get into such conditions?

I arrived at Akademgorodok, the "Integrity" floating center is located not far from Technopork. Yes, there are outstanding brains visiting this booth, but let's see what happens to me.

This is me before the dive, why is this kind of stupid? I forgot to take off my glasses, but the owner of Integrity, Alexey, took my glasses from me, closed the lid and I plunged into darkness for an hour.


You need to completely relax your muscles and try to turn off all thoughts. If you have problems in the cervical spine, then lying in such a bath is the very thing, after a while it will by itself be able to relax the muscles of the neck and not control the position of the body. To do this faster, I recommend opening your mouth and relaxing your jaw. If you look closely, runners of a hundred meters do this at a distance - they relax all the muscles that are not directly involved in running, and the body's energy is redistributed.

I read that astronauts are placed in such chambers before preparing for a flight. How much time a person can spend in an isolated bath depends on his psychological state. They say that astronauts adapt to weightlessness in one day, but it's harder to get used to loneliness in limitless space.
Yes, the Ren-TV channel reports that weightlessness is a native state for humans, unlike walking on Earth, that we are all aliens and so on. I don't know what mushrooms are given to people on TV, but while I was lying in the dark, thoughts suddenly came to my mind about the difficult fate of the dogs that were sent into space, how the poor fellows endured all this, etc.) Then I began to look for a comfortable body position ... I folded my hands under my head, then on my stomach, pushed back and forth (bath length 2.4 m), then pressed my head against the side, felt that there was a ventilation hole somewhere nearby.
Then I remembered that this was a place for meditation. She closed her eyes and tried to get rid of thoughts, partly it succeeded. I don't expect any altered states from myself - is that good? Either skepticism, or excessive secrecy.

Try it, you may be able to reset all the thoughts in your head.

In general, I spent an hour normally, claustrophobia did not happen, the long-term feeling of hovering in the water is very pleasant. In general, I love to swim and feel in the water. By the way, if you have a fear of the dark, confined spaces, or you can't swim, it's definitely worth a try. An hour in the water in a closed box - and some of the fears must go away. Because it is clear that nothing bad will happen, again you are hanging in the water, but there is no chance of drowning.
I love to swim, I'm not afraid to swim far away, but the elevators in other people's houses strain me, I try to walk. Let's see if this fear passes or not.
The only thing is that the water temperature +35 degrees is too high for me. + 30-31 would be fine.
But here everything is individual. The purpose of the camera is to smooth out the difference in environments. Skin temperature +35. But remember, when the outside is +35 and the humidity is 100%, then not everyone considers such an environment comfortable and invisible.
But +30 is the most comfortable and inconspicuous water temperature, even though the air temperature around is +22, at least +40, at least +30, I remembered different cases)

About the center and preparation for the procedure. You should take a swimsuit, towel and slippers with you. By the way, girls, if you do not put on the upper part of the swimsuit, no one will notice, unnecessary pulling elements are useless. Before diving, you need to wash yourself, there is a comfortable shower with a bunch of shampoo. After that, by itself, you need to wash yourself, wash off the salt, you will feel that the skin has become smooth.

Everything is very clean - both the room and the cabin with water.
After each visitor, all the water is passed through a filtration system, which ensures complete purification. Actually, in such a vigorous salt solution, bacteria, in principle, are difficult to survive, ask at least the cucumbers in a jar in your refrigerator. Although cucumbers have a solution of only 6%, if memory serves.
UV filter.

Floating tank. Samadhi chamber. Whatever they call it. I saw her in The Simpsons, Lisa and Homer went to the holist, to strengthen the relationship:

He did not attach much importance to the fact, but when Dmitry Levushkin aka tapakah2001 began to surface on the Internet with his psychological hobbies (even before Turbosuslik), someone (Wad, I think) told me that tapakah had built a sensory deprivation chamber himself. It was then that I read in more detail what it is. In short, you shut off your senses by immersing yourself in a sound-insulated capsule and swimming in saturated brine (with Epsom salts). Then I had a dream: be sure to try this miracle. The day before yesterday it came true!

I found the camera through informal circles, the service is not officially advertised in any way, a person bought it 20 years ago and uses it calmly. The camera is almost the same as in the top picture of the Russian Wikipedia article, called Pathfinder (of course, there are more features in the new models on the site):

The owner built a separate building for the camera, with a pre-bathing control center, and a rather large room in which the camera stands + there is a shower and toilet. In the MCC there is a panel where different parts of the system are turned on, a computer that controls the swimming program (different camera parameters + video and audio broadcast, if necessary) and a mixing console with a microphone.

In the cell was the entire gentleman's set in the form of a light switch and a panic button (the siren is cut in). But in general, the owner sits at the remote control, and monitors whether something happened to you there.

Before the dive, I was tormented by three questions:

  • what is the form of clothing, maybe you still need some glasses, or something else
  • what to do with the head, well, she won't swim so well, she is not floating
  • will you turn over on one side

It turned out that you swim naked, your head swims perfectly, sinking into the water with ears, which gives excellent sound insulation, and the body is very stable due to its shape, a person is not a log after all. A funny moment: when you sit down in the capsule and try to slide the lid, you start to swim a little while sitting.

Many people ask: “How did you feel there? Any special sensations? " Unfortunately, four points did not allow to completely relax:

  • the light insulation was not good enough, there were several holes in the lid
  • the head warmed wildly, this is my personal problem (the water temperature is equal to the body temperature), by the end of the session it almost hurt
  • the head was thrown back strongly due to stoop, next time it is necessary to dive with an inflatable pillow (at the same time, the pillow insulates the head from heating)
  • hands in a relaxed state bent at the elbows and touched the torso, which annoyed, by the end I almost found correct posture: palms up, as if sitting in lotus position

Only the legs were completely relaxed. Nevertheless, after the procedure, lightness was felt, the colors played, the mood was elevated. The second time, everything would have been clearly better.

The camera can be combined with a bunch of different practices. As I said, you can play music and video in the camera. It was interesting for me to completely turn off the sensations, which this time I coped with 50%. If you have fewer bodily problems, it will be much easier for you to relax.

I look forward to your questions!

I have long wanted to get into the deprivation chamber, since I read about its effect from many authors, including Pelevin.
True, the Pelevinsky hero climbed into this bath under a special kvass, so it was not a pure experiment.
But most floaters (literally - "swimmers") are engaged in this procedure on an absolutely sober head, and nevertheless, sometimes get very interesting experience generated by the brain in such conditions.

Today, there are many centers in Moscow that provide such a procedure.
Basically, these are some kind of yoga centers or different esoteric currents.
But there are already emerging centers that specialize in floating. I think this direction will develop, because, at least, this procedure very well relaxes all the muscles of the body, including the back and neck, which most of our fellow citizens have some problems with.
I went to a yoga center that had good reviews, and where it was possible to order this procedure for two hours (not an hour, as in most places).
I immediately assumed that, unknowingly and out of habit, one hour would not be enough. And so it happened. But more on that later.

In most centers, you will be offered a special closed chamber about one and a half by two and a half meters, filled with a dense saline solution that keeps the body afloat.
Sometimes there is also an option with a whole separate room with a bathroom filled with the same solution. This option is preferable for those who suffer from claustrophobia, or who simply do not have enough oxygen in an enclosed space.

I arrived, filled out a questionnaire, walked through a whole suite of rooms to some farthest corner of their center. They explained everything to me rather briefly and left me alone with the room in which there was this chamber, burning candles and a statue of Buddha. However, the Wi-Fi was also caught there. :)
The room also had a door to the regular shower room, which was a very useful addition.

First, I watched the door to the cell open and close, and I touched the water. It was really very warm (it should be the same as the body temperature of a healthy person).
I was told that when the ozonation is over (a very noisy procedure), you can climb inside.
So I did.
When I climbed in, a small LED was on there, which could be turned off with a button.
This is a reasonable decision, because without light at all, not everyone will be able to lie down evenly at first. In addition, the complete absence of light scares many.
I settled down in the water (this turned out to be quite comfortable). However, the very same sensation of lying on the water I experienced already on the Dead Sea.
And after that I turned off the light.
And here the sensations completely ceased to resemble those that were on the Dead Sea.
I was promised to turn on music at the beginning of the session, however, I did not hear anything. I tried to take my head out of the water, took out my earplugs - silence. I put the earplugs in again, lay down in the water - silence ..
Thoughts began to occur to me that I would not understand when the session would end and strangers would come to wake me up in the cell. I didn't like this idea at all.
I began to feel a little internally about this, and on the external plane I was constantly bumping into the edges of the camera, because I was constantly moving from one edge to the other by inertia. The momentum subsided a little (although much more slowly than in normal water), but I expected a little more space from the deprivation chamber.
I had to force the body to stop with a slight effort. The "waves" after that, which moved me, also gradually faded away.
It became more interesting. I actually stopped feeling my whole body except my face.
Finally, they turned on the music. She was very quiet at first, so at first I mistook her for an auditory hallucination)
After the music ended, the face began to itch terribly, and in turn in different places.
At first I tried not to pay attention to it, but then it seems that my nose itched for a very long time, and I decided to scratch it.
This was my fault. In this attempt, I got a drop of salt in my eye.
The eye began to burn very unpleasantly.
I had to get out of the bath and go to the shower to rinse my eyes.
Then I lay down in the bath again, but while I was laying down, a drop from my hair again fell on my nose and eyes.
I had to get out and wash again, and so did my hair.
After that, I managed to lie down again on the sly.
But after lying down for a long time, it became clearly more difficult for me to breathe.
I began to think that it was my problem nose that was playing naughty. But no - it looks like there really is less oxygen!

My inner dialogue kept jumping from topic to topic, without really stopping. I tried to drown him, counting to myself and reciting mantras, but he still did not intend to stop, unlike meditations on the light, for example!

Internal dialogue mainly talked about all sorts of nonsense, and with scraps of thoughts.
For example, why is the Western tradition so popular in our country, even in the typical phrases of people and the train of thought?
Why are our girls waiting for a "prince on a white horse" and not a "prince on a white horse"?
We have such an eerie mixture inside our minds of the post-Byzantine imperial and post-Soviet traditions and beliefs that “everything is better in the west”, that a significant number of people have “the roof”.
People do not notice this, but very often in one head there can be a set of conflicting statements. Moreover, a person can persuade you for a long time in both conflicting statements, being sure of the truth of both.

Then I began to reflect on the topic that we are all parts of God, and everyone in this world has been given some task, and a quest for everyone - to reveal this true task and purpose in this world.
And that there is no evil or good, just on these contradictions the whole world revolves.
But in fact, none of us, in essence, do not exist. For we are the processes running on this global computer to make it work. And the process cannot stop itself, it can only freeze.

Sometimes I was able to drown out my internal dialogue for a short time, and in these short moments it really seemed to me sometimes that I did not quite understand my position regarding the entrance to the cell.
It's hard to say how much time has passed since my second immersion in the camera (but according to my feelings - towards the end of the session) something really amused me. And I began to laugh, while my whole body "jumped" up and down in this water. A very funny feeling.

After that, they listened to some strange sounds, similar to knocking. Only I thought that now they are definitely auditory hallucinations! But it was not there. Judging by the sounds, I guessed that a cleaning lady just came into the room next door and rattled a bucket.

In general, towards the end of the session, I still managed to relax to a greater extent than at the beginning and in the middle. And even if there was an objective lack of oxygen, I practically ceased to feel it. I even started to like lying like that. But as soon as I managed to settle in this comfortable state for me, music with the mantra "Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti" sounded in my head, which was increasing in volume all the time. Then I realized that this was a signal that it was time to get out. I lay still for a couple of minutes - and got out.
Again, streams of dense salt water rolled off me, but this time I had the foresight to leave a towel right at the entrance to the cell. It helped me not to drip salt water directly into my eyes again.

When after that I went out into the street, where the grass was green and the birds were singing, I was very, very happy that I got out of there. Although I did not experience any fear there.
And yet, I think after a while to repeat a similar experience, only not in the "Samadhi" chamber, but simply in a large room with a salt bath.