Floating a Mills College Student

Floating meditation unique experience

by Kim Harris in Sports & Health

In the tank, my body bobbed in space. I couldn't tell where my limbs ended and the water began. Were my eyes open or closed? Was I drifting from side to side? After a while, I decided it didn't matter. I was floating. "It's sensory deprivation, but in a good way," said Allison Walton, co-owner of FLOAT, Floatation Center-Art Gallery in Oakland.

I too noticed an alleviation of my fears while floating. After the initial nerves wore off, and I was able to enjoy weightlessness, I noticed a very clear change in my thinking. I was no longer a separate entity from the water. I had become the water, and the skin-temperature water made it feel as if I was floating through space. The pain and tension in my back and neck melted away.

After my float, I felt the clarity that many clients describe. I was awakened to every sense. The hot shower was extraordinarily refreshing, and the cup of green tea that Allison had made was soothing and warm in my hands. I drank the whole cup in five minutes. The artwork in the gallery was more colorful than when I came in.

Just a select few select paragraphs from Kims entire story.