General: FloatWorks Floatation Experience

Quite a while ago now, I won a £100 voucher for Red Letter Days thanks to the friendly PRs at 3 Monkeys. Finally, I got round to using it and booked a floatation tank experience with FloatWorks. They have been going for over 18 years, so they must be doing something right!

It's pretty simple really - you are put in your own private booth where you strip off and take a shower. Then you put in some ear plugs (partly to block out any extra noises - but also to stop salts getting into your ear canal) - in my case, I also had to smear Vaseline over a large cut I have on my shin from a tumble I took a few days back on the Velo.

Once fully prepared - you step into one of these...

This tank contains about a 12-16" of water, mixed with Epsom salts. These allow you to effortlessly float in the solution. You get about 5-10 minutes to get into the tank with a bit of music, so you can adjust and get used to where the buttons are. Apart from the alarm, you have control over a dim red light, the ability to open the lid at any point, and a spray bottle of normal water.

I got in and closed the door straight away. Then I simply lay back and relaxed, allowing myself to float. After a while I turned the light off - but I must admit, there is something quite soothing about the light itself.

It's a very strange experience - probably the closest you'll get the weightlessness on the ground. The solution is at body temperature and once the lid is closed the air around it soon matches. With your eyes closed and the lights off, it's almost impossible to tell if you are in the water or not! It is, essentially, sensory deprivation.

The idea, is that when fully relaxed like this, you can truly let all the tension out of your body - muscles relax that never usually relax (even when lying in bed). And it's true - my body felt like it was doing very little work.

For the first 10-15 minutes, I really enjoyed it - especially when you start moving your body around like a fish, but all was not well.

Firstly - I found the tank a little on the small side. I'm only 5"10, but I found myself every few seconds touching a wall with either a hand or toe - not exactly deprived if you keep feeling things. This irritated me more than it probably should have.

Almost the whole time I got the urge to itch or scratch myself - often my face, but then I'm like that all the time anyway. The problem is, you can't get the solution in your eyes/nose/mouth area, so I was driven crazy by this. Eventually, I had to itch and inevitably, i ended up with it in my eyes and it wasn't fun at all. Even using the spray bottle, you are left with a stingy eye.

But the main problem for me is that after the first 10-15 minutes, I basically got motion sickness. Your body feels like it's moving when it's not and this made me feel really ill. No matter how long I sat up for, I never recovered and spent most of my hour sitting cross legged.

This wasn't the end of the world though as it was still a very relaxing environment and the solution feels nice on your skin, so I massaged my muscles and did a few stretches to make the most of my time in the box.

It was a really unique experience and I'd certainly try it again. I feel that I probably just need to get my sea legs, as it were, and then I'd love it!

If you're interested in giving it a shot - they are part of the National Rail's "2 for 1" scheme, so as long as you travel by train you can get 2 people for £40.

I'm not sure I'd take this up as a hobby (aside from the fact it's expensive), but I'd certainly recommend it to people as an experience!