Floating or sensory deprivation. Sensory deprivation: how to boost your creativity and clear your mind? Deprivation chamber

I have long wanted to get into the deprivation chamber, since I read from many authors about its effect, including Pelevin.
True, Pelevin's hero climbed into this bath under special kvass, so it was not a pure experiment.
But most floaters (literally - "swimers") are engaged in this procedure on an absolutely sober head, and nevertheless, they sometimes get a very interesting experience generated by the brain in such conditions.

Today, there are many centers in Moscow that provide such a procedure.
Basically, these are some centers of yoga or various esoteric movements.
But there are already centers that specialize in floating. I think this direction will develop, because, at least, this procedure relaxes all the muscles of the body very well, including the back and neck, which most of our fellow citizens have some problems with.
I went to the yoga center, which had good reviews, and where you can book this procedure for two hours (instead of an hour, as in most places).
I immediately assumed that out of ignorance and unaccustomedness, one hour would not be enough. And so it happened. But more on that later.

Most centers will offer you a special closed chamber, about one and a half meters by two and a half meters, filled with a dense saline solution that keeps the body afloat.
Sometimes there is also an option with a whole separate room with a bathtub filled with the same solution. This option is preferable for those who suffer from claustrophobia, or who simply do not have enough oxygen in a closed room.

I arrived, filled out a questionnaire, passed through a whole suite of rooms to some farthest corner of their center. They explained everything to me rather briefly and left me alone with the room in which there was this chamber, burning candles and a statue of the Buddha. However, Wi-Fi was also caught there. :)
The room also had a door to a regular shower room which was a very useful addition.

First, I looked at how the door to the cell opens and closes, and touched the water. It was really very warm (should be the same as the body temperature of a healthy person).
I was told that when the ozonation is over (a very noisy procedure), you can climb inside.
So I did.
When I climbed in, a small LED was on there, which could be turned off with a button.
This is a reasonable decision, because without light at all, not everyone will be able to lie down evenly at first. In addition, the complete absence of light frightens many.
I settled in the water (it turned out to be quite comfortable). However, I experienced the very similar feeling of lying on the water already at the Dead Sea.
And after that I turned off the light.
And here already the sensations completely ceased to resemble those that were at the Dead Sea.
I was promised to turn on the music at the beginning of the session, however, I did not hear anything. He tried to take his head out of the water, took out his earplugs - silence. I inserted the earplugs again, lay down in the water - silence ..
Thoughts began to come to my mind that I would not understand when the session would end, and strangers would come to wake me up in the cell. I didn't like this idea at all.
I became somewhat internally worried about this, and on the external plane I constantly bumped into the edges of the camera, because I was constantly moving from one edge to the other by inertia. The inertia gradually subsided (although much more slowly than in ordinary water), but I expected a little more space from the deprivation chamber.
I had to use a little effort to force the body to stop. After that, the "waves" that moved me also gradually faded away.
It became more interesting. I really actually stopped feeling my whole body, except for my face.
Finally, they turned on the music. She was very quiet at first, so at first I mistook her for an auditory hallucination)
After the music ended, my face began to itch terribly, and in turn in different places.
At first I tried not to pay attention to it, but then, it seems, my nose itched for a very long time, and I decided to scratch it.
This was my mistake. In this attempt, I got a drop of salt in my eye.
The eye began to burn very unpleasantly.
I had to get out of the bath and go to the shower to wash my eyes.
Then I again lay down in the bath, but while I was laying down, a drop from my hair again fell on my nose and in my eyes.
I had to get out and wash again, and my hair too.
After that, I managed to lie down again slowly.
But, after lying down for quite a long time, it became obviously more difficult for me to breathe.
I began to think that it was my problematic nose that was naughty. But no - it seems that there really is less oxygen!

My inner dialogue jumped from topic to topic all the time, without really stopping. I tried to drown him out by counting to myself and saying mantras, but he still wasn’t going to stop, unlike meditations on the light, for example!

The internal dialogue basically talked about all sorts of nonsense, and in fragments of thoughts.
For example, about why the Western tradition is so popular with us, even in typical phrases of people and in the course of thought?
Why are our girls waiting for a "prince on a white horse" and not a "prince on a white horse"?
We have in our heads such a terrible mixture inside of the post-Byzantine imperial and post-Soviet tradition and the belief that "everything is better in the West", that a significant number of people have a "roof going on".
People do not notice this, but very often there can be a set of contradictory statements in one head. Moreover, a person can convince you of both contradictory statements for a long time, being sure of the truth of both.

Then I began to reflect on the topic that we are all parts of God, and everyone in this world has been given some kind of task, and a quest for everyone is to discover this true task and purpose in this world.
And that there is no evil and good, it's just that this whole world revolves on these contradictions.
But in fact, none of us, in fact, no. For we are the processes running on this global computer to keep it running. A process cannot stop itself, it can only hang.

Sometimes I was able to briefly drown out my internal dialogue, and in these brief moments, it really sometimes seemed to me that I did not quite understand my position regarding the entrance to the cell.
It is difficult to say how much time has passed since my second dive into the camera (but according to my feelings - towards the end of the session) something made me laugh a lot. And I began to laugh, while my whole body "jumped" up and down in this water. A very funny feeling.

After that, some strange sounds, similar to knocking, were heard. Only I thought that now they are definitely auditory hallucinations! But it was not there. Judging by the sounds, I guessed that the cleaning lady just came into the room next door and rattled a bucket.

In general, towards the end of the session, I still managed to relax to a greater extent than at the beginning and middle. And even if there was an objective lack of oxygen, I practically stopped feeling it. I even started to like to lie like that. But as soon as I managed to settle down in this state convenient for me, the music with the mantra "Om shanti shanti shanti" sounded in my head, which all the time increased in volume. Then I realized that this was a signal that it was time to get out. He lay down for a couple more minutes and got out.
Thick salty water rolled down from me again, but this time I had the foresight to leave a towel right at the entrance to the cell. It helped me not to drip salt water directly into my eyes again.

When after that I went out into the street, where the grass was green and the birds were singing, I was very, very glad that I got out of there. Although there was no fear there.
And yet I think after some time to repeat a similar experience, only not in the "Samadhi" chamber, but simply in a large room with a salt bath.

Content

People who have been to the Dead Sea are familiar with the feeling of floating - diving into a highly saturated saline solution that keeps the body on the surface. During this position, the muscles relax, the mind rests. It is easier for a person to achieve a meditative state than from yoga. The weightlessness procedure has become available quite recently, and few people know about it. The essence of the new method is to relieve a person from the stresses of everyday life.

What is floating

Every person receives stress during his life, many of which he drives into the subconscious if he cannot or does not want to deal with them. Not only the psyche suffers from this, but also the body: muscle clamps are formed, places of constant spasm appear. The American physician and neuropsychologist D. Lilly noticed in the fifties of the last century that being in a saline solution relaxes the human body.

John conducted experiments by immersing people in salt water. The subjects were placed in an indoor pool with masks on to create isolation from all irritants. environment. The subjects relaxed, feeling the cleansing of the mind and consciousness. The attempts were very successful - so a new procedure appeared. Floating - this word is translated from English as "to float on the surface." This is the essence of the methodology.

Floating camera

After 1972, John Lilly designed the first sensory deprivation apparatus, today called the float tank. After several successful tests, they launched the production process of capsules, which were called "Samadhi". They were used for commercial and private purposes. A little later, scientists from a British university proved the benefits of exposure to a float chamber on the health of the human body.

What is the procedure? Floating capsule is a technique for quickly relieving a person of depression, nervous disorders and stress. The modern procedure is carried out in a deprivation capsule without sides and pillows for the head, completely protected from the penetration of light and sound. The float chamber is partially filled with a 30% saline solution, where the patient is immersed, who wants to get rid of experiences and get new emotions. The temperature of the saline liquid is 36.6 °C, which is equal to the body temperature of a healthy person.

The high concentration of salt allows you not to dive into the solution, but to lie on its surface. A person does not touch the bottom, although the salt layer has a thickness of 25 cm. This position creates a feeling of weightlessness. A comfortable temperature helps the visitor imagine being outdoors or in an open space. For relaxation, a light melody is turned on, which from the first minutes of the session helps to disconnect from the problems of the outside world and immerse yourself in weightlessness.

Indications for use

The activity of the brain proceeds continuously in the human body, but often, due to external stimuli, people cannot comprehend the signals that it sends. In a floating chamber, a person is at rest, but does not sleep. The state between sleep and reality helps to evoke unexpected associations, the solution of a complicated life task, the forgiveness of the offender. A person can understand information that did not want to be realized before.

The floating procedure is comparable to meditation, which, unlike any acquired technique, comes effortlessly, spontaneously. Since salt chamber sessions have a complex effect on the body, causing deep relaxation at all levels of perception, they are shown to many people:

• with muscle pain of unclear etiology;
• for recovery after serious injuries and physical exertion;
• during stress, depression, nervous or psychological disorder;
• to prevent premature aging of the skin;
• to remove toxins and toxins from the body;
• with chronic fatigue syndrome;
• to prevent the development of cellulite;
• at high loads on the musculoskeletal system;
• for relaxation and enjoyment of weightlessness.

Impact on the body

What problems does floating solve? When a person enters the float chamber, he receives complete oblivion and peace, a state of relaxation and peace. A pleasant twilight reigns there and a ringing silence, which is very rarely interrupted by the sound of water. In a capsule, a person forgets about everything, his muscles are in a state of complete rest, and endorphins, the hormones of happiness, enter the bloodstream. In this regard, the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol sharply decreases, which leads to the normalization of the mental state and the restoration of physical strength.

Just 1 hour in the float chamber gives the same positive emotions and strength, how much a person gets in 5-6 hours of sleep, that is, after an hour of a session, the body comes into working condition, as if after a two-week beach holiday. Not only nerves and muscles return to normal, but also the skin undergoes significant positive changes. After the procedure, a person achieves the following results:

• there is a complete relaxation of the muscles;
• dry floating is used for professional athletes, as this procedure improves reactions, helps to maintain physical fitness;
• stretching is prevented;
• mental state improves;
• sleep is strengthened;
• getting rid of phobias;
• treatment of panic attacks and fear;
• increases the productivity of any work;
• the process of blood circulation improves;
• emotional balance is maintained;
• brain activity increases.

During pregnancy

For many wellness procedures, pregnancy is a contraindication. With floating, the opposite happens. The procedure is not only safe for expectant mothers, but also shown to them. According to the reviews of pregnant women, the sensations during the sessions exceed even the best expectations. In the last months of pregnancy, a woman in a float capsule can even hear her baby's heartbeat.

Scientists have proven that the condition of a pregnant woman directly affects the development of the fetus. The fatigue of the expectant mother, which increases with the increase in the gestation period, is transmitted to the baby. For this reason, during this important period, it is necessary to avoid negative thoughts and emotions, so that the new little man develops normally. Floating, which gives weightlessness, frees a woman from gravity, relaxes muscle spasms, and gives peace of mind.

Doctors have identified another aspect of floating - the mirror effect. When the body of a pregnant woman rests peacefully in a capsule with a saline solution, the child inside the mother feels universal peace. Many women find that such swimming helps to deepen the emotional connection with the baby. During the procedure, pressing pains in the abdomen go away, the pressure of the fetus on the internal organs. During the third trimester of pregnancy, being in a float tank is often the only chance for a woman to get a good rest.

Kinds

There are two types of floating: dry and wet. They differ in that during the first procedure the body does not come into contact with water, and during the second it is completely immersed in it. Dry float sessions are very popular in spas, because you can dive into a bath with a high-density saline solution at home, so why pay money for it? In addition, this procedure can be carried out in conjunction with other manipulations: masks, body wraps, scrubbing and others.

Dry floating has no contraindications, unlike wet floating. The essence of the procedure: a person lies in a bath filled with water, but on top is a PVC sheet, designed to eliminate contact with water. This is done not only for convenience - dry floating is less expensive for the salon. It is ideal for all categories of citizens: business people creative people, practicing yogis, pregnant women, the elderly, athletes.

How is the procedure

Before floating, the patient must take a shower. During the session, quiet relaxing music is heard, which helps to relax the brain and body. After each procedure, the saline solution, to which magnesium sulfate (magnesia) is added, is filtered and sterilized. During floating, the most comfortable conditions are created for each visitor:

• the capsule and the room are completely isolated from external influences and irritants, so the person does not feel any extraneous sounds and smells;
• the solution is so concentrated that the visitor does not experience even the smallest load on the musculoskeletal system, his body is almost on the surface of the liquid;
• the spine does not have to support the neck, head, back;
• if a person has claustrophobia, then the lid of the capsule remains open, and the tightness of the room contributes to the success of the session;
• procedure time - 20-40 minutes;
• the stable position of the body provides the density of the saline solution, so during the floating a person will not be able to roll over or dive headlong into the liquid;
• while swimming, it is impossible to spoil your eyesight - the saline solution will not get into your eyes, even if they are open;
• so that the liquid does not get into the ears, the visitor is given earplugs;
• after the session, you should visit the shower to wash the salt off the body.

How to carry out the procedure at home

If you carefully consider the shape and size of the float chamber, you can see that it resembles a simple bathtub. It becomes clear that a wet floating session is easy to do at home. To get a good therapeutic effect, you must adhere to the basic rules of the procedure. In addition to obtaining the correct concentration of saline, the following nuances must be taken into account when floating independently:

• in the bathroom, the floors should be smooth and non-slip;
• good light, sound, heat insulation is important;
• the appearance of any irritants that can interfere with relaxation is excluded;
• air and water temperature must be maintained at 36.6 °C.

Floating carried out independently will be inferior in efficiency to a deprivation chamber. To really be on the surface of the water, you need about 60 kg of salt. It takes about 3 hours to dissolve this amount. It is not necessary to make such a solution at home. Enough 1 kg of sea salt, which should be dissolved in water. It is advisable not to eat any food for 2 hours before the procedure.

Contraindications

Floating is a unique procedure, comfortable and painless. It is indicated for pregnancy, pathologies of the nervous system, diseases of the skin and many other diseases. In order for the float chamber to bring only benefits, you must follow a few simple rules:

• it is impossible to conduct sessions for people suffering from epilepsy;
• patients with any infectious diseases;
• if the visitor is in a state of intoxication, then the session should be rescheduled for another day;
• with extensive skin lesions or open wounds on the surface of the skin, floating is not carried out;
• it is forbidden during the session to taste the water, touch the mucous membranes with your hands, wash your face, rub your eyes;
• since there is no auditory, tactile, tactile and olfactory information during the procedure, a person may panic during the first minutes, therefore, in order to avoid discomfort, you must immediately completely relax;
• for safety during the floating session, you can not make sudden movements and quickly get up after completion.

Price

As already mentioned, the floating procedure can be obtained at the spa. Prices per session vary depending on marketing policy establishments, professionalism of employees, quality of equipment. The average cost of floating sessions in the salons of Moscow and the region:

A couple of years ago I attacked the books of the American physicist Feynman, bought and read everything. In the book "Of course you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" in question about the containers invented by the scientist Lilly. There is even a Russian translation - http://www.lib.ru/ANEKDOTY/FEINMAN/feinman.txt (the book was included in the "jokes" section because of the word "joking" in the title, which once again confirms that idiots will never be translated ).

From the Altered States chapter:
"As I said, when I got into a container isolated from external
exposure, for the first time, I did not have any hallucinations, there were none and
a second time. However, the Lillys were very interesting people; to me they are very
liked very much. They often invited me to dinner, etc., and very soon we
already discussed some things on a completely different level, if you compare them with that
bullshit about light bulbs. I realized that other people found the container,
isolated from external influences, somewhat frightening, but for me it
seemed like a pretty interesting invention. I was not afraid because I knew that
it's just a container of water that contains Epsom salts.
When I came there for the third time, they had a guest - I met there
many interesting people - who called himself Baba Ram Das. It was
guy from Harvard who traveled to India and wrote the popular book "Be
here now." He told how his guru in India had explained to him how to survive
"experience out of body" (I often saw these words on the bulletin board):
concentrate on your breathing, on how the air enters your nose and
comes out of it as you breathe.
I thought that I would try anything to get
hallucination, and went to the container. At some point in the game, I suddenly
I realized - it's hard to explain - that I had moved an inch to the side. Others
In other words, my breathing, inhalation and exhalation, inhalation and exhalation, is not in the center:
my ego shifted slightly to one side, about an inch.
I thought, "Where is the ego really? I know that everything
think that thinking takes place in the brain, but how do they know that?" I already
read that it did not seem so obvious to people until there was
many psychological studies have been carried out. The Greeks, for example, believed
that thinking takes place in the liver. Then I thought: "Is it possible that children
find out where the ego is by seeing how adults touch their heads with their hands,
when they say "Let me think"? Therefore, the idea that the ego is
right there, maybe just a tradition!" I realized that if I could move
my ego one inch to the side, I can move it further. Here it is
was the beginning of the hallucinations.

The terrible Mikhail Weller also describes the salt water chamber in Samovar (http://lib.ru/WELLER/samowar.txt, chapter "Sensory Hunger"). Weller, of course, did not see the camera live, but he retold the horrors with all the necessary exaggerations.

“I think, therefore I am? Not yet.
There were such experiments. A man in a special suit dived into
a liquid of such density that it floats freely there - a kind of
he ceased to experience weightlessness, the feeling of earthly gravity. Storage tank
was in a completely dark cell, so it was impossible to establish where the top,
where the bottom, and nothing was visible. No sounds, no smells. Hands in special
gloves, each finger in a separate spacious cylinder, touch, too
was practically absent. All external sensations stopped coming. nowhere
does not press, the body is free, fresh air for breathing enters - no
inconvenience. Find yourself no one knows where and how and think as much as you like.
In a matter of hours, the subjects, young healthy volunteers with
stable psyche, began to go crazy. The hallucinations started
fears, blood pressure rose and fell, functions were disturbed
internal organs. The man was simply threatened with death. The scientists outside watched
followed by readings from the sensors on his body."

I have dreamed of lying in such a cell ever since I read Feynman. And he asked various acquaintances if they had seen anything similar in Russia (in other countries, cameras did not come across on the way).

Once I was lucky - a Buddhist friend said that this is called a "samadhi chamber". Past attempts to find through Yandex, where in Moscow to lie down in salty weightlessness, did not lead to anything. And then - bam! - the first link: http://www.embryo-float.ru/adress.php (one hour costs 2000 rubles).

Hurray, a sensory deprivation chamber has been opened in Moscow. I immediately called and signed up. The aunt did not want to book a session for 21:30 at first, but it was clear from her voice that she was just tired of leaving work late.

The place itself is some kind of yoga center. The room is very pleasant, although the discrepancy between Eastern spiritual matter and Soviet realities has always confused me greatly. So here - on the one hand, some right smells, tea parties, wood trim, and on the other - a security guard smoking on the porch, an aunt talking on the phone about aunt's problems, etc. And in general - I don’t understand how a person with a first name, surname and patronymic can achieve spiritual enlightenment.

There was no one in the center. The camera is at the end of the corridor. A large white coffin had the inscription vertically: Samadhi. It turned out to be the name of the company.

First you need to take a shower (it is in the same room), then climb into this coffin, close the lid, put out the light inside and start swimming. There are no sounds, no smells, the water is at such a temperature that one does not feel the boundary between the environments. Hanging out. Nice. You don't feel anything. Sometimes you push off with your finger from the left wall, and after a couple of minutes you moor with your right hand to the opposite wall, although the distance for swimming there is half a meter. Fifteen minutes later, my nose began to itch. I gently flexed my hand and scratched the bridge of my nose. But a drop of terribly salty water slipped from the finger and drove down the slope of the nose right into the corner of the eye. Fuck, fuck! Sensory deprivation immediately stopped - the salt began to corrode the eye. I had to get out and wash my face in the shower. I go again.

The session lasts an hour, which, apparently, is not enough to achieve the desired effect. But I did feel something unexpected. A couple of times left side the face was blown by the wind (which, of course, is not there). Once, somewhere there was a flash of light (which is also not there). Once, out of complete darkness, my own userpic came out at me (I'm not lying). It was the last thing I expected to see. An hour later, melodic bells rang in the coffin. I returned to the world of ordinary earthly feelings. Once again in the shower - and on the way out.

Tired of you for the hundredth time to repeat! - shouted the aunt to someone on the phone.

P.S. Perhaps I will ban those who write that this is an advertisement. Because the mold must be sprinkled with bleach.

I must say right away that most of the reviews make my eyes bleed, what is described there has nothing to do with floating and is a parody of the real procedure.

Let's talk about normal real floating.

So let's start with prices.

From 1700 to 2500 rubles per hour of floating in Moscow. I go to the embryo center "Prana"

What is floating?

In another way, the float chamber is called the sensory deprivation chamber, which fully reveals the whole point. The chamber is a sarcophagus with a tightly closed door that does not let in sounds and light. At all. The inside of the chamber contains a thick saline solution at body temperature, which keeps you on the surface of the water (like in the Dead Sea). The essence of floating is to turn off all your senses for a while, "reboot" your body and mind, completely isolate you from the world.

How to find a center with a real procedure?

1. Don't see each other low prices, the procedure is very expensive.

2. There must be a float capsule in the treatment room! Very often, scammers offer "floating" in the pool, shower, bath and other dregs. The main thing in floating is the capsule. Nothing without her. At all. Otherwise, you will pay a lot of money for swimming in salt water.

This is what the floating room looked like

My experience.

Before the procedure, you must

1. visit the restroom
2. Take a shower with a washcloth and soap, completely wash off makeup (this is very important, since the slightest ingress of foreign substances into the solution will worsen its quality). Makeup removers, shower gels, shampoo and conditioner must be in the shower, you do not need to take anything with you)
3. Remove lenses (very important!) and all-all-all jewelry, including "non-removable rings (wedding, for example)"
4. Lubricate with Vaseline (also in the floating room). Give this procedure Special attention, since getting the solution on the slightest peeling and scratches causes severe discomfort, and most likely you will have to interrupt the relaxation and rinse the wounds from salt. Therefore, examine yourself very carefully, apply petroleum jelly to each injury, if your hands are weather-beaten, then lubricate them completely.
5. Wear earplugs as your ears will be submerged under water.

That's it, you're ready to float!

For the first time, diving into the chamber is a little scary, since it is absolutely dark, it is not even clear what depth there is. but the fear will pass quickly, do not worry. Next, you need to close the hatch and lie on the surface of the water, close your eyes (however, with pitch darkness open) and do what your soul tells you to do. At first, most likely, quiet relaxing music will play under water, which will turn off after a while. At first it was pleasant for me to swim from the side to the side, after about 20 minutes I realized that it was most pleasant to do nothing and just lay the rest of the time.