Curiosity killed the cat, and Instagram unlocked the answer: the sensory deprivation tank.
Not that I can give the app all the credit. I’d heard about the concept of sensory deprivation tanks before: my partner had an incredible experience with one, and my girlfriend had posted enthusiastically on social media about taking the plunge for her 50th birthday. So when an ad about the sensory deprivation tank at Still Point Wellness popped up on Instagram, I did what the post and my soul were telling me to do: I signed up for a session.
I’d taken the first step, and like they say, the first step is always the hardest, right? Actually, showing up to what was essentially the unknown was a far harder step. Before I knew it, I was entering the pool of darkness for one hour. The door shut behind me, and then there was nothing.
Well, not quite nothing. There was me, myself, and my incessant thoughts. All of them, alone for one hour. “OK, I can do this,” I thought. “Let’s start with breathing.” As my thoughts would enter, I’d check myself. “Just breathe.” But the intention to not think was quickly and incessantly replaced by the thoughts themselves. There was nothing to distract my thoughts, no technology to abate me, and so I floated. And I thought.
And then fear came to join my thoughts, reminding me of the failure I had experienced when I was in a sweat lodge. I was reminded of the overwhelming thoughts of suffocation and the panic that set in then, and it began to happen again. “I can’t do this…I’m going to die… I don’t know how to get out of here.”
I forced myself to pause.
Enter: inhale. Followed by present moment.
Leslie, what’s happening right now?
I am breathing.
I am floating.
I can wiggle my fingers and feel my toes.
I am breathing.
And finally, clarity erupted! Finally, I realized and accepted, “My thoughts...are just thoughts.”
I’ve heard this said many times, but it was when I was floating that my understanding kicked in regarding this truth.
I could finally be present in my reality. I was present right here, right now, and just fine. Safe, actually. I was peaceful. The thought of terror, for a moment, fled. I was connected back to the moment I was in and able to float with gratitude.
For a moment in time, I was given the gift of freedom.
Freedom from fear. Freedom and peace that surpasses my human intelligence. Freedom of the power I have to control my thoughts, my desires, my moment-to-moment realities.
Freedom to simply exist.
Suddenly, in a blink of time, there was a gentle knock at the door. My hour was up. Just like that, I had to slip back into the real world with lights, movement, and a new golden nugget of truth: I control my reality. I am in full control of my thoughts.
Thank you Still Point for taking a risk and making it a reality. What a gift!
A few things to know before entering the sensory deprivation tank:
The dark: It is just dark. There is no reason to fear the dark. You are safe.
Breathe: It is all you have. We came into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Rest in nothing.
Earplugs: Use them. They are truly the best earplugs ever!
About the Author:
Leslie Cunningham is a mother, yogi, writer, photographer, and loyal member of the Green Ridge Girls. She is also Vice President of Strategy at The Mann Group, a Weaverville-based, family-run, consulting company that helps businesses and their employees grow, both literally, in profits and scale, and figuratively, as leaders and salespeople.
