SAMADHI WOMBS AND DIY TANKS
“Depriving us of all the sensorial inputs, making us float on an empty realm alone with our brain releasing endorphins, deprived from any outside noise in what might be the closest we have ever been to a womb after born.” -John C.Lilly
John C.Lilly an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer, and inventor wished to experiment, a way to find out the answer to what happens to a brain and its mind in the relative absence of physical stimulation
As obvious as it seems we are in constant Physical stimulation whether when we are awake or asleep, we are in constant stimulation, only in the womb we were once deprived of all the physical stimulation.
With this outcome, John Lilly granted a way to isolate experiences with psychedelic substances, in order to have a true, unbiased, experience. This way he invented the first Float tank in 1954, firstly the tanks were soundproof with warm salt water and the users would need to wear masks for full body immersion.
One of the several examples of this practice was D M.Turner the author of books such as Salvinorin: The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum and The Essential Psychedelic Guide who drown to death in December 31, 1996 using a DIY float tank made out of his Bath tub while injecting an unknown dosage of Ketamine intramuscularly.
When it comes to floating itself, it is a different experience for every single person, users have claimed it to be extremely beneficial and unrevealing, making a better version of themselves when they get out of the what is so called the “Ultimate Trip” of our first float, the only experience we ever get of being alone with our mind.
Since then, several users have experienced isolating many other psychedelic substances with their floats.
DIY Float tanks:
Can one make a DIY sensory deprivation tank?
Is it possible to have a sensory deprivation tank at the comfort of your house?
Theoretically yes, one can create a DIY float tank from their tub and not have the same ending as DM.Turner, one of the hypotheses of the cause of his death was that he got unconscious at some point and submersed himself to death. To create a DIY sensory deprivation one can even use a bathtub as long as it’s long enough, the only reason why people don’t often have these Mind portals at their house is the price of the Epsom salts, as an Average Float tank has approximately 300kg of Epsom salt and 700 liters of water. Of course, if by any means one would create a Float tank from their bathtub the quantity of Epsom salt would be far less, yet it wouldn’t be quite profitable, as 1 liter of water would contain approximately half kg of Epsom Salt which costs around 10€ (14$) per Kg, one standard Bathtub holds approximately 150liters, therefore, it would mean one would spend approximately 1,500€ per float while using their standard Bathtub keeping in mind that most likely it would be a one use only experience.
However, that is not what we will be covering today.
Each person prefers different environments for their float, some people enjoy their water warm, some people prefer to have their lights turned on or to float in an open environment to avoid panic attacks caused by claustrophobia or anxiety.
Having all these doubts of whether should I float with the lid of my Samadhi tank closed, should I consume any sort of Psychedelic substance to put me in the zone, I headed off to seek help from the owner of a Float Lab in Florida Floatuniverse.
My first thought when I stepped into the direction of the I-sopod (often considered to be the Ferrari of floatation tans due to their high-tech filtration systems, LED lights and inbuilt speakers) was somehow nervous/trembling, I’ve slowly started stuttering over the words of the employee that was describing to me how to use the tank which made her re-question me if it was my first float to which I quietly said yes quivering my lower lip even though that the room temperature was highly increased (which will be a part of my further evaluation to this specific flotation center) the employee left the room with a smile on her face saying have a good session I’ll catch up to you later. I’ve been reading about float tanks, and their usage over the past couple of years as well as experiencing many psychedelic states, after telling a float center owner from Florida that I’d be having my first float he advised me to go sober even though many people advise me otherwise. I went sober on a fairly empty stomach. I took a fast cold shower since I was told that the tanks should be equipped with a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius or 98.6°Fahrenheit, being the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to stumble upon a tank I THOUGHT the tank would be fairly cold as most of the people say (in the back of my mind I knew that the tank most likely would be warm since I’m used to take cold water showers) the first step inside the tank I was compromised with a warm water and a warm temperature on the room. All left alone floating 10 minutes in I began to feel truly floating my brain had shut off and stopped feeling the water even if I was considering it warm.
The next 40 minutes were a feeling filled with sensory deprivation I no longer had control of my limbs, if, I tried to move my legs my limbs were fully immobile, and feeling numb almost as if I was being held by some somatosensorial entity carefully disabling my nerves from the experience. After stopped feeling my limbs in the emptiness of the visual and auditory field I began to feel some auditory experiences almost close to binaural beats. Listening to it reminded me of the tantric experience I’ve previously had on holotropic breathwork. This type of beats started increasing and spreading onto my body making it tingly close to the first states of DMT. I had small distorted visuals whenever I’ve tried to open my eyes and an almost cartoonist visual stimulation whenever I had my eyes closed. I keep my eyes closed as the tingle augmented and crawled up my pineal gland. The visual kaleidoscope fully took over me making me enter a complete bliss losing the perception of time and place. I’ve proceeded to open up the lid a few inches so the heat produced by my body got out while opening the lid I have a faint image close to what it seems to be an elk face. Notions of ayahuasca, San Pedro, and ketamine flow thru my mind. I go back on losing my senses as soon as my body immerses in the Epson containing water. I now have the sense of time and partially the memory of how I got into this sensory deprivation tank. After a few seconds, I heard an obnoxious loud noise mixed with vibrations that went drilling my ears as well as a bright light. The session was over. I can say that I fully am lucky to be able to have experienced what they call the best psychedelic state that is your first float.
After the float, I’ve noticed that I was having a big difficulty communicating as well as getting off the tank since I’ve been in true silence and making no effort at all. Few hours have gone by and I start to notice that I haven’t checked any of my social media or any articles that caught up to my attention. I was ignoring all those technological devices and just living life ignoring all the types of evolution.
For the first time, I could say that I have done a successful subway trip without even checking my social media text messages or any technological device.
Could psychedelic experiences help us on a social level and to get back on a non-virtual communication?
