Into the Blue

On October 01, 2007

Let your troubles drift away in a salt water 'float'

Floatation

PHOTO BY SEAN HILLER>LA.COM

STORY BY MELISSA HECKSCHER>LA.COM

Just a few steps from Venice Beach's bustling boardwalk, inside an unassuming office of a beachfront mini-mall, the "flotation tank" I've come to try looks like either a very large metal coffin or a very small submarine.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect, even as Chris Rymarz, who owns the Floatation Location shop, opens the hatch to reveal the dark (but shallow) bath and skims the surface with a pool skimmer to make sure there's nothing unwanted lurking in the water. There isn't.

(Germ-o-phobes, rest assured: Not only is the tank filtered, drained and cleaned after every float, the more than 800 pounds of Epsom salts help maintain a bacteria-free environment.)

Rymarz points to where the underwater speakers will broadcast soft meditation music to mark the end of my 90-minute session.

Then he smiles and says simply: "Have a good float."

An altered state

In case you never saw the movie "Altered States" (a 1980 film in which a scientist uses a flotation tank and a host of hallucinogenic drugs to achieve altered states of consciousness), "floating" refers to bobbing inside a dark and soundless tank of water in an effort to wipe out all external stimuli.

According to Rymarz, who opened Floatation Location about two years ago, getting rid of such "distractions" allows the body to relax and the brain to focus inward.

"Gravity preoccupies the mind," he said. "From the moment you wake up, your mind is occupied. ... Remove gravity from the equation and it's like wiping your hard drive clean."

Here's how it works: The tank is filled with about 14 inches of water and infused with enough Epsom salts to increase the density of the water sufficiently to keep a person bobbing like a cork in a bathtub.

The water is kept at skin temperature and the hatch is closed to leave the "floater" in complete darkness.

"The idea is that it's a distraction-free environment," Rymarz said. "It's no panacea, but it does a lot for a lot of people."

Flotation tanks — also called "sensory deprivation tanks" or "isolation tanks" — were developed in the 1950s by Dr. John C. Lilly, a neurophysiologist at the National Institutes of Mental Health, who was trying to answer this question: If all stimuli to the brain is cut off, will the brain go to sleep?

The answer, of course, is no (though you can sleep in the tanks). Instead, floating generally produces a deep state of relaxation, with proponents calling one hour in the tank equivalent to about four hours of sleep.

Initially linked to government "mind control" studies, Lilly's flotation tank — which required the floater to be completely submerged and use an oxygen mask to breath — was made famous by "Altered States," which was very loosely based on his floats using LSD and ketamine.

Today's tanks can be found at spas and private "floating" centers across the country.

Floating has been found to have a host of benefits, including alleviating mental and physical stress, diminishing depression and anxiety, and relieving sore muscles.

"First of all, Epsom salts are good for you," said Mark Shriver, a Pennsylvania State University researcher currently studying the benefits of floating. "Even if you were just to soak your feet, it would benefit you."

Shriver said about 90 percent of the nearly 50 participants in his research study have reported positive experiences with floating. About 10 percent were indifferent to it, and only one person got out of the tank before the allotted time was up, he said.

"Just being in the tank for an hour is not a problem for most people," Shriver said.

As for claustrophobia — a natural concern for most people when imagining lying inside what is essentially a pitch-black, water-filled box — it generally isn't an issue.

"It's the exact opposite," said Rymarz, adding that many of his first-time customers come back for a second, third and fourth float. "You feel like you're floating through space."

Like drifting off to sleep

It's true. By the time I get myself into the tank and into a comfortable position (easy to do when gravity's not weighing you down), I get that floating-through-space feeling.

It's tough to explain, but it reminds me of the sensation you have just before you drift off to sleep, when you feel your body letting go and your mind slipping away.

"Most people come out so much more relaxed," Rymarz said. "It's a good way of decompressing from our society. It's like having a mini-retreat."

Melissa Heckscher (310) 540-5511, Ext. 329; melissa.heckscher@dailybreeze.com