Hacker News Reader

Comment by mxstbr | Hacker News Reader

Multiple of my friends have told me how much they enjoy floating, so I've been seriously considering giving it a try.

Has anybody here done it before? How did it go for you? Any bad experiences in particular?

The first time definitely has a novelty to the experience of getting in the tank, settling, then floating. Then towards the end of the first session you really start to feel comfortable. Second time around you really get the max relaxation. Floating like that really lets your muscles settle in a way that they never have before - usually I carry that relaxation for a week afterwards. I never was much for massage but floating is amazing.

I tried it once but it was too cold and my neck hurt. If the second time is better maybe I should give it another try.

I noticed in reading the reviews/details on many float businesses near me the newer ones emphasized infrared heaters in the pool and above the pool - makes sense - water is pretty hard to change temperature; lots of thermal inertia. Infrared would be a lot more responsive. So I will probably prioritize places that advertise that technology.

Especially since I am not a fan of cold water!

Never before, except maybe in your mother's womb

My shoulders relaxed 3-4 times. Each time I was like "wow, that's what they should feel like", then bam, more relaxation.

I've done it once and found it a very uncomfortable position and hard to relax.

Definitely don't see the appeal, though I would be interested to try it I'm zero gravity.

I did it a few times. Was interesting, but not what I’ve read. No out of body experiences, or other stuff like that. I took no substances, though, maybe they are necessary.

Maybe it’s also a question of quality of the tanks themselves, as I cannot say I was totally sensory-deprived during my time in the tank.

Still a nifty way to rest, I’d say.

Many of my friends highly recommend it too so I've been debating it!

One of my friends is super attached to his phones and notifications (he has two, one personal and one for work). He said it was a good experience, but weird because he kept feeling the buzz of phone notifications even though they weren't with it. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Phantom limb syndrom but with tech - At one point I realized that was happening and then I dialed back the notifications, especially on social media apps, big time. Horrible trap to fall into.

Oh yeah, that makes sense! I remember a point when I used to hear my phone vibrate somewhere in the room, but when I checked, there weren't notifications. I still feel like I have too many notifications in general, working on turning some off and not stressing it.

I found it very relaxing, which I attribute mainly to absorption of magnesium. I usually had a “good” meditation session, but never any experience of non-ordinary consciousness. I stopped going for sessions after contracting a serious case of bacterial dermatitis.

I've done it a bunch, no bad experiences. It's extremely relaxing and leaves me in a better mood, so I'll do it again even if just for that reason.

I had some interesting small visual hallucinations, but nothing too major.

I gave it a try couple of years ago. Did not experience anything special. All I remember was that it was very boring to just lie there for an hour without doing anything.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com