Wednesday, April 20, 2016

It's been AWHILE!

Wow-- It's been awhile since my last post, but don't worry I won't bore you with what I've been up to in the last few years... Instead, I'll share my latest thoughts on a new trendy therapy that all the hipsters and professionals who can afford it are trying.. it's called floating...





I covered the story for a FoxNews.com piece I was producing for our Health section so I decided I should at least try it if I was going to write about it. Floating is exactly what it sounds like.. it's floating-- only naked for one hour in a water tank filled with body temperature water and a thousand pounds of Epsom salt. It's said to deprive you of all your senses in order to ease stress and aches.

Lift Floats in Brooklyn had two different types of pods for me to try... one was an egg-shaped capsule that looked way too claustrophobic for me... and the other was a more stylish suite with an extra large hot tub looking tank under a pretty sparkling ceiling made to look like twinkling stars..Oh yeah, and did I mention that they charge you $99 an hour to float in these things?

Now I do practice yoga about three times a week, so I have tried to "meditate" before, but honestly I never seem to be able to. I have way too many thoughts and to-do lists constantly running through my head for it to ever work. But floating, I was told, is supposed to have some magical power over your mind to quiet it instantly...So after my shoot I undressed and lowered myself into the luke warm water. I popped ear plugs in, turned off all the lights and tried to remain "calm."

Did it work?

Actually, kind of. Here are the notes I wrote in a journal on my subway ride back into Manhattan:

-Definitely relaxed after (well I'd hope so it was the end of my work day).
-Senses feel a little heightened; like street noises, the slight breeze in the air.
-Similar to the relaxing feeling you get when you get a massage, except you don't have anyone touching you and making your aches feel better so your mind is less distracted.
-Had no concept of where I was in the tank, at times an arm brushed against the side wall and I had no idea my position was shifting at all.
-When I opened my eyes in the dark I did "see" a few white lights, green lights, small like the end of long search light that would go in an out...a few images that looked like black puffs of smoke against the darkness.
-Didn't experience any "deep or emotional" memories. 
-I may have fallen asleep.
- I tried not to twitch even though I could feel a drip of water slowly entering my ear.
-I kept swallowing for some strange reason and the rumblings coming from my stomach were a bit distracting.
-Legs were definitely wobbly after, I had to hold on to the pole when I got up and out the little door to the main suite room where you rinse off.
-Salt in the ears for days!

I couldn't print this in my piece, but my friend who tried floating had the best line for it--
"It felt like an unattended baptism." 

Click here if you want to watch my video and learn more about it.