Tag Archives: science

Floating and creativity

September 25, 2013About Floatingaltered states, benefits, creativity, experience, flotation REST, joe rogan, performance, sciencecolin

Peter Gabriel, the musical legend, says, “[My isolation tank] was quite useful, in the sense that you could get into a dream state, and I think that did allow…different thoughts and pictures to come through.”

Joe Rogan, the comic and MMA host, says, “The sensory deprivation chamber is the most important tool I’ve ever used for developing my mind, for thinking, for evolving.”

Matt Stangel of the Portland Mercury reports that after floating, “I began to write creatively for the first time in months, but with an uninhibited ease that I haven’t experienced in almost five years. In short, I was astounded by the changes I saw in myself.”

What’s going on here? Why does everyone seem to come out of the tank talking about peace, clarity, and cosmic oneness, or “colors — of cars, of buildings, of the sky — [being] more lush“, or achieving “profound, ecstatic nothingness“, or even “like a DJ had showed up to the party and started remixing my brain“? People seem convinced the tank increases their creativity, but does it really, or are they just tripping?

Continue reading Floating and creativity →

Floating and sleep

September 24, 2013About Floatingbenefits, flotation REST, insomnia, meditation, physiological, science, sleepcolin

One of the most common causes of insomnia is simple stress. And loss of sleep not only makes it harder to deal with the outside stress in your life, but it is itself stressful. It’s a vicious circle.

Float inspired art by Kevin Reynolds, from the Float On artist project

There are well-known remedies, but most have equally well-known drawbacks. Most drugs are actively habit-forming, or at least have diminishing returns if you rely on them. Meditation can be very powerful, but requires disciplined practice and focus to achieve, practice that becomes harder to do when stressed out and short on sleep.

Simply taking 90 min to stop and float, though, can help you break the vicious cycle. It triggers your relaxation response physiologically, so there’s no need for you to summon concentration when your brain is out of resources. And astonishingly, it actually shows increased effect with repetition. Continue reading Floating and sleep →

Fibromyalgia update

September 20, 2013About Floatingfibromyalgia, pain relief, physiological, sciencecolin

Last week I wrote about the Fibromyalgia Flotation Project and said “fibromyalgia is not well understood at all”. This week I found interesting new research, just published in June! Here’s a quick update.

Function of arteriole-venule (AV) shunts

For what I believe is the first time, a physiological mechanism for fibro symptoms has been found. This is important, and not just because it means that medications for the disease can now be contemplated. Fibromyalgia has been such a mysterious condition that many doctors have thought it might be entirely in the mind, or even faked. That at least should now be disproven, and a surprising new method of diagnosis is available.

Continue reading Fibromyalgia update →

The relaxation response and altered states of consciousness

September 17, 2013About Floatingaltered states, benefits, meditation, physiological, psychological, relaxation, science, stresscolin

Here’s a thing I’ve learned through all the reading I’ve been doing about floating: the body has a relaxation response as the physiological counterpart to the fight-or-flight response. I was surprised — I hadn’t heard of this before — and then that thought was almost instantly followed by “of course it does”.

Float inspired art by Diane Jacobs, from the Float On artist project

Fight-or-flight is well known, and had been extensively studied for almost a century. The body responds to perceived threat or danger with a reflex that releases hormones like adrenalin and cortisol, speeding the heart rate, slowing digestion, shunting blood flow to major muscle groups, and changing various other autonomic nervous functions. This gives the body a burst of energy and strength to defend ourselves under physical attack.

The shifts triggered by the adrenalin and cortisol are hard on the body — they’re supposed to be an emergency reaction, not the normal state of being. The body expects that after running or fighting, we’ll stop and rest and relax, giving it a chance to clean up. But unfortunately for us, the modern world frequently supplies stressful situations that trigger fight-or-flight where neither fight nor flight is a reasonable response, and where we also don’t get a clear time to stop.

Continue reading The relaxation response and altered states of consciousness →

Floating and stress-related pain

September 16, 2013About Floatinganxiety, benefits, cortisol, depression, energy, flotation REST, muscle tension, pain relief, prolactin, relaxation, science, sleep, stresscolin

One of the benefits you’ll most often hear claimed for float tanks is their powerful relaxing effect. Subjectively, people use descriptions like “I felt more rested than if I’d slept for 16 hours on a pile of tranquilized chinchillas,” or “the way you physically feel afterwards is like getting a massage, doing a full workout, and getting 8 hours of sleep all at once”.

We're Floating in Space, ©Felicia Simion — We’re Floating in Space, ©Felicia Simion

Many scientific studies have attempted to quantify this effect. Does it have measurable biochemical effects? Does everyone experience it? If a person has tension headaches, for instance, does this relaxation effect actually help them? And if so, how long does the effect last?

One study done recently in Sweden says the answer is yes, and the effects seem to last for months.

Continue reading Floating and stress-related pain →