As she floats in dark, time and space are lost
I have never been in a black hole, but I imagine it would feel similar to lying in the emptiness of sensory deprivation.
When Steve Brown asked if I would like to try out the flotation tank at his home in East Bridgewater, I decided to take the plunge. He led me down a flight of stairs to his garage, opened the door to a small storage room housing the tank, handed me a set of earplugs and a few towels, and said he would be back in an hour.
When I climbed in the tank and closed its lightweight plywood door behind me, the first thing I noticed is that, because of the complete darkness, I had absolutely no perception of how large or small the space was that surrounded me. I could have been in a giant auditorium or a tiny box.
Then I noticed the silence. Because there were no external noises, my mind immediately began to focus on the internal workings of my body. My heartbeat and breathing became pronounced. My eyelashes made noise when I blinked.
As I tried to relax in the saltwater, which completely supported my body, I felt a weird sensation taking over. Suddenly it seemed as though my body was spinning -- apparently a common feeling among first-time floaters. I would compare the feeling to closing your eyes while swinging on a swing set or during takeoff on an airplane.
This sensation eventually was replaced by a heightened awareness of tension throughout my body. I could identify knots in my back that massage therapists have been trying to get out for years. My bad left knee hurt, and my sore right foot ached. But the pain was not intolerable, and it soon faded as my mind quieted and I moved into a deep, almost meditative, state of relaxation, which was interrupted only by Brown knocking on the side of the tank when it was time to get out.
I could have been in there for 10 hours or for 10 minutes. I completely lost track of time.
The saltwater was a little difficult to remove from my hair, which smelled slightly of dead seaweed for the next 48 hours from the Epsom salt in the water, but otherwise there were no side effects except that I felt extremely tired.
Driving back to Boston, all I could think about was how much I desired to sleep, but I don't think it was the tank that caused the fatigue. Instead I think it was the tank that made me aware of just how tired I really was and had been for a long time. My exhaustion had been wound up in physical tension and mental stress. Finally I let it go. 