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This post is not sponsored – all content is my own experience and opinion.

In this post:

Introduction

Float tanks, or sensory deprivation chambers, as some refer to them were a bit of a trend a few years back. I remember seeing videos almost every time I logged into YouTube of popular YouTubers reviewing their experiences in them as well as weird things being said about what happens when you use one. While I, for the most part, ignored the stranger stuff (e.g. “omg I hallucinated and literally talked to aliens!!”), I still couldn’t get it out of my head that it might be something I want to try for myself.

If you’ve followed along with this site for a while or know me personally, you’ll know I’m someone who’s struggled with anxiety, overthinking and general high stress for most of my life. For me, it’s incredibly hard to switch off in the world we all live in – a world with doomscrolling, limitless information at our fingertips and the constant noise of what everyone else is doing, all of the time.

Float tanks are believed to have several benefits for both the mind and body. The location we visited lists stress reduction, improved mental clarity, better focus, muscle recovery, detoxification and enhanced sleep as the main benefits amongst others. Given this, I was both excited and curious about our visit.

Revival Floatation Centre, Cardiff

We chose to visit Revival Floatation Centre in Cardiff for our session as it’s relatively local to us. We parked nearby and walked over. The area in which the centre is based is unassuming – there were other businesses within the same building such as aesthetics clinics and a dance studio. On arrival, we sat in the main building waiting area for a few minutes until they were ready for us.

The centre itself has an incredibly peaceful atmosphere with soft lighting, textures and relaxing music playing. The owner was also very friendly and had the cutest dog he’d brought to work that day. He explained to us how our session would work and then Mike and I were shown to our separate rooms for our sessions to begin.

Float Tank Experience

The rooms in which the float tanks are located (2 rooms total), are completely private with a lock on the door. Within the space, there is also a shower, mirror, hairdryer and chair. Products are available to use after your session, should you need them.

Before getting into the tank, I took a shower to ensure all products and oils were cleaned off my skin. I chose to wear a swimsuit in the tank, but some people choose to go without. On opening the door and dipping my toes in, I was pleasantly surprised by how warm and cosy the water temperature felt. I was also immediately shocked by how dark it was inside the tank – in the dim light of the room, you couldn’t see how far it went back! Having read the website beforehand however, I was confident that there would only be 10 inches of water and the tank was 6’2” tall, 9’9” long and 4’9” wide so not claustrophobic at all in my opinion.

I carefully stepped fully into the tank as the salt content can make it slippery (there’s over 380 kg of dissolved Epsom salt in there!), taking the foam head halo with me so I could support my head while lying there. The first few moments were strange. It took time for my subconscious to understand the sensation of being able to effortlessly float on the surface of the water. I kept tensing my glutes and lower back in a way not dissimilar to trying to float in the ocean or a swimming pool. Once I felt fully able to let go, the only description I have is that there was nothing. By around this point, the 5 minutes of introductory gentle music had stopped so there was silence.

Without tensing any muscles in my body, it was like my tether to reality had disappeared – any sensations on my skin were masked by the water (which was body temperature – not too hot nor too cold). All light was completely gone. It was just me, my thoughts and my breath. There was the occasional moment where my toes would bump the edge of the tank, but I didn’t find this to be distracting – more anchoring into myself.

I’ve got a long history with meditation (originally started as a way of helping my anxiety but now more of an everyday practice) but this felt far more intense. In meditation, you return to the breath, no matter how many times your mind wants to carry you away onto other things. Your return is gentle, kind and understanding. In the float tank, my thoughts were so much louder and, for a while, I felt myself wrestling with them – telling myself that I’ve paid to be there so I needed to get the most out of it and meditate properly. However, after around 10 minutes, I realised this was futile and, for me, the more productive thing was to explore the noise in my head.

While there are some meditations that encourage you to watch your thoughts like clouds going by and to participate but only as a bystander, I’d never truly understood how that worked, until this float session. I watched as my brain chewed over surface problems I was having at work, things I needed to figure out in the next few weeks at home as well as deeper, longer term hardships I’d carried with me for many years. I came to several conclusions while lying there – obvious things like ‘life’s too short to worry about that’ but also more profound discoveries about long term issues like ‘why am I worrying about what they’re doing when this is my life and my story’. For me personally, some of these breakthroughs were akin to ones I’ve only ever experienced with a good counsellor in the past. As spiritual and woo woo as it sounds, I’m amazed that the answers were within me the whole time, I just needed to stop and listen.

The above experience happened within around 40 minutes while the session length I’d booked was 60. I’d forgotten to remove my watch, so I was able to light up the screen briefly to understand how much time had passed. While some might see this as a really bad thing for the session, for me, it was a way of staying slightly more grounded in terms of orientating myself with the concept of time. Strangely, this was the moment where I felt myself becoming increasingly restless. As I hadn’t moved my body at all since the start of the session, I could now feel myself becoming stiff. I spent the next 5-10 minutes body scanning while stretching various parts of myself. Interestingly, it was at this point that I noticed just how loud sounds were – a small click from one of my joints sounded like someone dropping a rock from height.

For the remainder of the session, I tried to settle back into things but found it difficult – I’d sat with my thoughts for longer than -I think- ever before so I felt oddly ‘done’ with it as an activity. I personally think that this feeling is a representation of our society – as humans, we rarely allow ourselves to feel bored anymore. Spare time is filled with responsibilities and when those end for the day, we turn to doomscrolling or TV.

Before I knew it, the music faded back in, signalling the last 5 minutes of the session. After another quick stretch, I exited the tank, showered off and dressed. Mike was already waiting outside.

On leaving the building, we both agreed how loud and bright the outside world seemed after an hour completely cut off from our senses. We also commented on how much we had to rinse our ears to completely remove the salt (I chose not to wear earplugs as I find the sensation distracting). My hair was also a little dry despite washing and conditioning it at the centre, but this was quickly remedied with a deep conditioning at home a few days later.

Float Tank Review

Both myself and Mike really enjoyed our float tank experience at Revival Floatation Centre. However, I feel it was for different reasons. Mike enjoyed the reset – being away from screens, other people and stimulation from everything around us was a welcome break and provided a type of restoration that is difficult to find in day to day life. For me, I found the experience both therapeutic and spiritual. It’s a difficult thing to sit and face complex thoughts and emotions head on, especially when all of the noise from life is stripped away in such a definitive way. Having experienced a place where there is no other choice but to explore what your mind is trying to tell you is a powerful and productive way of creating space to think and explore solutions you may already know but are too overwhelmed to discover.

Both of us commented that the experience would likely be different each time – this was something the owner also mentioned to us. Having completed several hundred hours of floating, he said many things can affect your experience, such as your mood and energy levels.

Overall, I’d recommend trying a float tank if you’re open to a new, unique experience. It may not be something everyone would enjoy, for example, if you worry you may end up in a negative thought spiral but providing you’re fit and well (emotionally and physically), it’s something worth trying at least once in your life. Revival Floatation Centre, Cardiff is also a lovely environment with a friendly owner, so I recommend this specific location if you’re in the area.

As I mentioned at the start, in a world where everything is constantly overstimulating, being able to access something like this is a stark contrast and a welcome change.