This is your mind – the monkey mind

Monkey Mind

I’m sure we can all relate to this. You lay down in bed wanting to relax / sleep but you mind is so busy you can’t stop thinking about a hundred things at the same time. An hour passes by and you still can’t sleep. Living in a busy world has its toll on our mental state. This toll is what the Monk’s call “The monkey mind”.

How to still your mind – Meditate

The single most effective way to still your mind (rid the monkey mind) is Meditation. Of course you can disconnect from society and go on a holiday but this doesn’t teach you how to manage the monkey mind rather temporarily escape from it.

Meditation is a great way to relieve anxiety, manage stress, and focus your mind.

There are many sites describing different methods (some overcomplicated) on how to meditate. The complexities scare the masses and they try to deal with it another way. The truth is that it’s very simple. Forget about those 300 page books and just do this:

	1. Find a quiet place away from all distractions. 2. Get into a Lotus sitting position. As shown to the picture to the left. This is the statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating in a Lotus position. 3. Close your eyes and start “deep breathing“. In through your nose and out through your mouth. It dosent matter to what count you do it as long as you are breathing properly – using your diaphragm. If you aren’t not sure how to breath deeply read my post on breathing here.
4. Focus on each breath. Imagine the air coming in as pure white energy which gives you life. Imagine the exhaled air as black posison leaving your body. Did you know that the respiratory system is actually responsible of getting rid of 70% of the body’s waste.
5. Keep on doing this over and over. Your monkey mind will soon cease the wilderness and come to a standstill. When you reach this stop, you will experience “inner peace”. A feeling that cannot be explained, only felt and experienced. Enjoy this state for you have found yourself.

At first, start with a 15 minute meditation session and increase this up to an hour or more only when you are comfortable meditating for longer periods of time.

Why this works?

In a previous post I said “conscious mind creates the belief and the subconscious mind then executes the belief”. If your concious mind is too busy with thoughts rushing in and out on s daily basis then how are you to send a consistent message to your subconscious mind on where you want to be in life and / or the level of success you are pursuing. Simple answer is you cannot. Your brain will filter all the noise and miss the key points.

Stilling your mind is the key here. So that you can conciously make clear and concise decisions and to tell your subconscious what you really want out of life.

Extra benefits – Bigger Brain!

The experts at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) have found that meditation helps build a bigger brain. Click here to read the article on this scientific finding. They used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of people who meditate and people who don’t and found that certain brain areas – specifically “the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus” – were significantly larger in people who meditate.

“We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior,” said Eileen Luders, lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging. “The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities.”

Because these areas of the brain are closely linked to emotion, Luders said, “these might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators’ the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way.”

This alone is a good reason to meditate. Gain a competitive edge today! … for free.

Let’s speed this up – how to make it work quicker

If you are impatient, like me, then you may be asking “Ernest, how do I speed this meditation process up?”. I too had this question and finally found the answer – Isolation Tank. After 20-40 minutes of floating in an Isolation Tank your conscious mind will come to a stand still and you will get to see and hear your subconscious mind. What does this all mean? – I explain in detail this natural wonder here:

• Floatation (isolation) Tank – fringe science?
• Floatation (isolation) Tank – indepth and upclose

There are also other methods like using the Silva Method to help with switching mental states. I will cover this in future posts and share with you free special audio to get you started instantly.

Here are other audio resources I use to get the extra edge

The Secret Universal Mind Meditation - This one is great to fall asleep to. As you sleep your subconscious mind will absord the positive messages. This is my favorite.

Brainwave Meditation – The easiest way to meditate during the day.

Awakening Kundalini – Kundalini is the name for the extraordinary powerhouse of cosmic energy that resides within you.

Until then, silence your monkey mind and enjoy the inner peace.

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Ernest

Floatation; there’s no doubt that this amazing therapy works – as a therapeutic, educational and entertainment tool it has powerful effects on a number of levels, including the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. But the question is why? Reading Michael Hutchinson’s book The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea (Consciousness Classics); Michael does a great job in exploring some of these questions in a number of distinct, though interrelated explanations.

In case you missed my previous posts on floating, I recommend you visit them 1st:

• Floatation (isolation) Tank – fringe science?
• Floatation (isolation) Tank – indepth and upclose

Among the most important explanations are as follows:

1. The Antigravity Explanation

The buoyancy afforded by the dense Epsom salt solution eliminates the body’s specific gravity, bringing the floater close to an experience of total weightlessness. Gravity, which has been estimated to occupy 90 percent of all central nervous system activity, is probably the single largest cause of human health problems – the bad backs, sagging abdomens, aching feet, painful joints, and muscular tension that result from our unique but unnatural upright posture. This theory asserts that, by freeing our brain and skeletal system from gravity, floating liberates vast amounts of energies and large areas of the brain to deal with matter of mind, spirit, and enhanced awareness of internal states.

2. The Brain Wave Explanation

Several studies at Texas A&M and the University of Colorado have shown that floating increases production of theta waves in the brain. Theta waves are associated with vivid memories, free association, sudden insights, creative inspiration, feeling of serenity and oneness with the universe. It is a mysterious, elusive state, potentially highly productive and enlightening; but experimenters have had a difficult time studying it, and it is hard to maintain, since people tend to fall asleep once they begin to generate theta waves. A study of Zen monks conducted by Akira Kazamatsu and Tomio Hirai, in which the monks’ brain–waves were charted as they entered the meditative states, indicated that the four meditative plateaux (from alpha to the more sublime theta) “were parallel to the disciples’ mental states, and their years spent in Zen training.” Those monks with over twenty years of meditative experience generated the greatest amount of theta. As few of us have the ability to spend 20 years studying meditation to achieve this sublime state it is useful to know that people who float regularly quickly enter the theta state while remaining awake, consciously aware of all the vivid imagery and creative thoughts that pass through their minds, and after getting out of the floatation environment, they continue to generate larger amounts of creativity–promoting theta waves for up to three weeks.

3. The Left/Right Brain Explanation

The two hemispheres or the neocortex operate in fundamentally different modes. The left hemisphere excels at detail, processing information that is small–scale, requiring fine resolution: it operates analytically, by splitting or dissection. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is good at putting all the pieces together. It operates by pattern recognition – visually, intuitively, rapidly absorbing large scale information. Just as in the sunshine of a bright day it is impossible to see the stars, so are the subtle contents of the right hemisphere usually drowned out by the noisy chattering of the dominant verbal/analytical left brain, whose qualities are the more cultivated and valued in our culture. But recent research indicates that floating increases right–brain (or minor hemisphere) function. Floating turns off the external stimuli, plunges us into literal and figurative darkness – then suddenly the entire universe of stars and galaxies is spread out before our eyes. Or as brain researcher Dr. Thomas Budzynski of the University of Colorado put it, “In a floatation environment, the right hemisphere comes out and says, ’Whoopee”.

4. The Three Brain Explanation

In a series of studies Paul MacLean, chief brain researcher at the National Institute for Mental Health (US), has produced convincing evidence that the human brain has three separate physiological layers, each corresponding to an evolutionary stage. In this “Triune Brain Theory,” the oldest layer is called the reptile brain, and it controls basic self–preservative, reproductive and life sustaining functions. Sitting atop the reptile brain is the limbic system, dubbed the visceral brain, because it generates all our emotions. The most recent part of the brain to develop is the neocortex, seat of our abstract, cognitive functions; memory, intellect, language, and consciousness. Unfortunately, there is insufficient communication and coordination between the neocortex and the two older levels. This results in a chronic dissociation between the higher and lower brains which we experience in the form of conflicting drives – unconscious and conscious, savage and civilised, lusty and loving, ritualistic and symbolicThere are times when the levels do act in harmony, as in peak experiences when body and mind unite in exhilarating moments of vitality, when our actions come effortlessly, spontaneously. Now there is evidence that suggests that, due to heightened internal awareness and decreased physical arousal, floating increases the vertical organisation of the brain, enhancing communication and harmony between the separate levels. Floating, it has been hypothesised, can provide us with peak experiences almost at will.

5. The Neurochemical Explanation

Neuroscientists have recently discovered the brain is an endocrine organ that secretes numerous neurochemicals which influence our behavior. Our brains secrete hormones that make us happy, anxious, depressed, shy, sleepy, sexy. Each of us creates different amounts of these various neurochemicals, and those who create, for example, more endorphins – natural opiates – experience more pleasure as a result of a given experience than those who create fewer endorphins. Tests indicate that floating increases the secretion of endorphins at the same time as it reduces the levels of a number of stress–related neurochemicals, such as adrenaline, nordpinephrine, ACTH, and cortisol – substances that can cause tension, anxiety, irritability, and are related to ailments such as heart disease, hypertension and high levels of cholesterol. One other neurochemical theory is the “return of the womb” explanation. Since pregnant women produce up to eight times the normal endorphin levels, the foetus experiences true prenatal bliss. When a floater is suspended in the dense, warm solution, enclosed in darkness, body pulsing rhythmically and brain pumping out endorphins, it’s possible that subconscious memories are stirred and profoundly deep associations called up. It is no coincidence that at least one commercial float centre is named “The Womb Room.”

6. The Biofeedback Explanation

Because of biofeedback research (including Johns Hopkin’s researcher John Basmajian’s conclusive study of subjects consciously firing off single motor–unit neurons), we now know that humans can learn to exercise conscious control over virtually every cell in their bodies. Processes long thought to be involuntary, such as the rhythm and amplitude of our brain waves, healing, blood pressure, the rate or force of heart contractions, respiratory rate, smooth–muscle tension, and the secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters are now thought to be controllable. The way biofeedback machines work is by enhancing concentration. By focusing on a single, subtle change in the body, which is being amplified by the machine, we are able to shut off our awareness of the external environment. This shutting–off of external stimuli is exactly what the floatation environment does best – almost as if in an “organic” biofeedback machine, in the float room every physical sensation is magnified, and because there is no possibility of outside distraction, we are able to relax deeply and focus at will upon any part or system of the body.

7. The Homeostasis Explanation

The human body has an exquisitely sensitive self–monitoring and self–regulating system that is constantly working to maintain the body in homeostasis – an optimal state of balance, harmony, equilibrium and stability. Considered in these terms, we can define stress as a disruption of our internal equilibrium, a disturbance of our natural homeostasis. Research now indicates that many of floating’s most powerful effects come from its tendency to return the body to a state of homeostasis. When we view the mind and body as a single system, it becomes clear that external stimuli are constantly militating against the system’s equilibrium, every noise, every degree of temperature above or below the body’s optimal level, every encounter with other people, everything we see and feel can disrupt our homeostasis. But when we enter the float room, we abruptly stop making constant adjustments to outer stimuli. Since there are no external threats, no pressures to adapt to outside events, the system can devote all its energies to restoring itself. The normal state, of course, is health, vigour, enthusiasm, and immense pleasure in being alive.

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Welcome back for more juice on Flotation Tanks. If you have not read my previous post “Floatation (isolation) Tank – fringe science?” then I highly recommend you go there first and read the introduction to understand what they are, the benefits of the experience and see some screenshots of tanks I’ve been in, in Sydney (Australia) and San Francisco (USA).

Let’s delve inside – how to temporarily turn off your 3 senses

• The tank is not airtight – it is designed to let air in via the roof.
• It’s pitch black inside. Used to disassociate your visual senses from the environment.
• The tank environment is humid – 37° celcius (99° Fahrenheit) – your body’s temperature. Helps with disassociating your kinestatic senses from the environment.
• Around 10 inches of water in the tank with 800 lbs. of Epsom Salt dissolved in it. When you lie back you will float like a cork. Your ears will be under water. All places I’ve been to provide you earplugs. Use them to cut out all remnants of noise. That’s how your auditory senses are disassociated from the environment.
• Keep the salt out of your eyes. Once inside do not rub your eyes or touch your face – the salt is very strong and even a small drop will sting. Make sure you have a towel near the tank to dry your hands before touching your face / eyes. The same goes for any cuts you have on your body. Make sure you cover them up with Vaseline or similar to stop the salt from entering the wound.
• At the beginning of each float set an intention for what you would like to accomplish during your float. Then enjoy the float – the rest of the journey your mind will take you through.

What to expect during a float

The following is based on my experience. Each experience varies but they all share similar stories.

1. First 20 minutes is calming down your mind and relaxing your body. First timers will find it strange to let go at first because being buoyant is a strange feeling and letting go of tension without touching anything in the tank is even stranger – yes you do float in the tank without touching the bottom or the side walls. When the tension pain is gone that’s when you have fully let go (especially neck muscles).
2. Concentrate on your breathing – in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try this approach, 4 seconds in, hold for another 4 seconds and 2 seconds out (I will cover breathing techniques in a future post and why doing it correctly is super important). Also try to resist moving or scratching an itch. During the start of a meditation session when your senses are slowly being turned off, your brain will send signals to your body to try to awaken them – this will come through as an itch or a muscle twitch. Resist it for couple of minutes and it will pass. Concentrating on your breathing will also help you with the fight against the “monkey mind”. The monkey mind are random distracting thoughts which rush in and out of your mind.
3. After 20 (or so) minutes have passed you will find yourself in an open minded state. Your mind should feel clear & open, your body free of tension. This is the relaxed state. Your mind will be in a frequency state called Alpha. A state which you can also use for accelerated learning.
4. After another 20 minutes (40 minutes into the float) you will enter Theta state. You will be conscious in this state and know when it comes. In this state your subconscious mind awakens and your concious mind will experience auditory and visual hallucinations. You will feel as though you have separated from your physical body and are pure energy, a part of something  greater. Monks practice years to reach Theta in a concious state. Do not resist. Do not get frightened. This state gives you access to insights, bursts of creative ideas – a key state for “reality creation” through vivid imagery.
5. After 1 hour of floating, soft music will start playing inside the tank. This is your queue that the journey for now has came to an end and it’s time to go back to the reality we call society.

With time you will want to float for longer and longer. I have floated for 2 hours before and even though it may sound like a long time there is no sense of time during a good float. John C. Lilly was known to float for up to 6 hours and trained himself to reach such high states that his experiences are what some people would call out of this world.

I would love to hear your experience in the tank. Please use the comments section below to share your journey in the tank.

Common questions & answers

1. Q: Will I drown if I fall asleep in the tank?
   A: No. You are always buoyant, floating on top of the water like a cort. Same as the dead seas. If you did roll over, the strong Epsom Salt in the water would instantly wake you up.
2. Q: I have a fear of being alone in the dark, drowning, not having enough air, claustrophobia, and others…
   A: For some the first time might be a bit overwhelming. You can go in and out of the tank as you please. You can use the tank with the door completely open, you can keep it partially open, or you can close it. There is no particular way to use the tank that is more correct than another. Any way you use it, that is comfortable for you, is correct. But once you relax and let go you will experience peace and tranquility and want to come back for more.
3. Q: I did what you said to do and nothing happened. What gives.
   A: Practice makes perfect. Like anything in life you need to immerse yourself in it and embrace the offering. I recommend you give it a go at least 3 times and each time be open and willing to let go.

Joe Rogan on Floatation Tank

This article on sleeping less and having more energy is now superseeded by my new blog post entry located here. It details how to sleep 5 hours per night and have more energy and vibe in every day – a step by step guide! URL: http://blog.ernestsemerda.com/2010/08/06/sleep-5-hours-night/

Time is precious and once you factor in sleep into a 24 hour day you realize that there isn’t that much time to do everything you want. What if you could recoup some of those sleeping hours and turn them into productive hours.

I started my search so that I could sleep less and hopefully have enough energy in the day to keep going without damaging my body or mind.

I came across a drug called Modafinil, meaning “good arousal” in Greek. It’s a stimulant that since its launch seven years ago has acquired a near-mythical reputation for wiring you awake without the jitters, euphoria and eventual crash that come after caffeine or amphetamines. However the more I looked into this I realized something like this could damage my body or mind. Crossed that one off.

Then I came across some research articles on sleep which questioned why humans need to sleep the standard 8 hours, provided depth into insomnia & common sleep issues, Melatonin (the power house of our cells) and light processing. I started experimenting on myself based on what I learnt and I think I nailed it. How to sleep less and have more energy.

First, a bit about sleeping

A good night’s sleep always starts with “deep sleep” for around 2-3 hours when more blood moves to your muscles to repair them and you “do not dream”. Your body is like jelly in this state. After deep sleep you move into REM which is a state close to being awake and is the state “you dream” as your brain “organises” all your memories. At the start of the night the deep and REM are longer states (see diagram below) and as it get’s closer to the day each state shortens.

Sleep Cycles

So how does one sleep less and have more energy? Here is my daily ritual:

a. Get at least an hour of sunlight per day

Your eyes need to process 10,000 lux of energy – the energy the sun gives out. For perspective, the light inside the office is only 300 lux and a dark room with a candle is 3 lux. People who do not get enough lux are more prone to depression and anxiety – which explains why so many office workers are depressed and unhappy in the office. 10,000 lux entering your eyes tells your brain “stay awake & full of energy”. In a darker room the eyes tell your brain to start increasing “melatonin” chemical which slowly puts you to sleep.

For the purpose of manipulating melatonin levels or timing, light boxes providing intense artificial illumination are effective.

The production of the hormone melatonin, a sleep regulator, is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness. To some degree, the reverse is true for serotonin, which has been linked to mood disorders.

If you cannot get 1 hour of sun each day I recommend you purchase a NatureBright SunTouch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp and use it at your desk. This and similar lamps push out 10,000 lux of light. I covered light therapy and how to lift your mood, stabilize your rhythms and invigorate your body in a post located here.

Sources:

• Light therapy – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy
• Differential effects of light wavelength in phase advancing the melatonin rhythm – http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118782571/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
• Seasonal affective disorder – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

b. Exercise to spike your core temp

Exercise each day (at the gym or power walking) to spike your core body temperature by a few degrees. The best night’s sleep occurs when you body core temperature drops by 1-2 degrees. Which is why people associate exercise with sleeping well and why it’s easier to sleep in a cooler room (your body temperature drops during a good sleep) then a hot room.

c. Follow a consistent “sleep time” and “wake time”

Try not to sleep less then 4 hours or more then 10 or you can die. The pattern of sleep time and wake time is important so your brain knows when to sleep and when to wake. You are basically building a “pattern” and will fall asleep within minutes once this pattern is encoded; while people who don’t have a pattern lay in bed pondering and turning. You will want to reshuffle your wake up time until you find the time when you are in REM (rapid eye movement) state. You know you were in REM when you woke up because you can recall your dream. REM is the closest state to being awake and when you get up in this state you will feel immediately awake. When you wake up in deep sleep you will feel groggy for an hour or 2 so best to go back to sleep until you hit REM again. REM is the longest between midnight and 4am and shortens to a 10-15 minute interval around 7-10am.

d. Power nap / meditate during the day

If you have successfully reduced your sleep to 5/6 hours per night make sure you power nap or meditate in the afternoon for no more then 30 minutes. You want to avoid falling into deep sleep hence the 30 minute limit. This will be a REM state benefiting your mind. Set an alarm for 30 minutes if you need to. I meditate in the afternoons to reboot my brain from the day’s stresses, recycle my energy and build umph in the hours ahead.

I have shared with you how I set my mind and body to “sleep properly” at night and “stay awake full of energy” during the day. This is no magic formula just a set of tools which you too can use to tweak your body & mind for maximum efficiency. Like all new tools you need to establish a new set of habits. If you need help with this I recommend you read my post on developing new habits located here.

Enjoy this new set of tools and let me know how it has worked for you.
Ernest.

Links mentioned in this post:

• Light therapy – lift your mood, stabilize your rhythms and invigorate your body:
  http://blog.ernestsemerda.com/2010/01/18/light-therapy-lift-your-mood-stabilize-your-rhythms-and-invigorate-your-body/
• 21 day challenge – develop new habits:
  http://blog.ernestsemerda.com/2009/11/17/21-day-challenge-%E2%80%93-develop-new-habits/
• NatureBright SunTouch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp:
  http://ernestblog.com/naturebright-suntouch-plus-light-and-ion-therapy-lamp
• Light therapy:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy
• Differential effects of light wavelength in phase advancing the melatonin rhythm:
  http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118782571/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
• Seasonal affective disorder:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

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This is my personal favorite – Floatation Tank. I have been floating from early 2008 and enjoy every session. 1 hour of floating is about the average you need to get the same as 6 hours of sleep. This 1 hour passes quickly, time doesn’t exist in the tank, and when you finish your session you will feel as though you just had a brain & body massage. The feeling is amazing and lasts for most of the day.

What is an Floatation (isolation) Tank?

A floatation tank (also known as isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank) is an enclosed chamber filled with approximately ten inches of warm saturated solution of Epsom Salt. A solution so dense that even the thinnest person floats supine with the entire body at or near the surface of the water like a cork.

Isolation Tank "Classic" model with Ernest Semerda

The buoyancy counteracts the effects of gravity, giving the floater a sensation of weightlessness. The chamber is pitch-black and silent. In the absence of sensory input to the logical side of the brain, the left side of the brain synchronises with the creative side (right side) and creates a free state, at peace. In this state, the brain releases vast amounts of endorphins. Most floaters report enhanced mental powers. Virtually everyone finds the experience immensely pleasant.

While the state of relaxation may be deep and profound, the individual’s brain stays dreamily alert. To get technical, the brain gradually shifts from its usual “alpha” state to generate theta waves, the state-of-mind that Buddhist monks try to reach through hours of meditation and years of training. You can achieve this in a matter of minutes just by floating! Best of all, the effects of floatation are cumulative – the more regularly you float, the better it gets.

Why float – the benefits

• Meditation
• Reduces stress & anxiety
• Reduces heart rate & blood pressure
• Reduces muscle tension
• Stimulates endorphin production (providing relief from chronic pain)
• Stimulates Alpha & Theta brain waves (associated with creative insights and meditative states).
• Relaxation
• Rest and Recovery – one hour of floating is equivalent to 6 hours sleep. Great for Jet Lag recovery!
• and in alternative medicine.

In more detail…

Promotes total calm & peaceful relaxation; eliminates fatigue and jet lag; improves sleep; alleviates stress (mental and physical); energises, rejuvenates andrevitalises.

Stimulates left/right brain synchronisation; shifts brain waves from Beta to lower frequency Alpha, Theta and even Delta; creates mental clarity, alertness;increases creativity, problem solving; heightens visualization; deepens meditation; expands awareness, intensifies acuteness of all the senses, accelerates learning.

Enhances hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis; increasesmotivation, diminishes depression, anxiety and fear; facilitates freedom from habits, phobias and addictions.

Improves athletic performance and helps prevent sports injuries, speeds healing process.

Decreases the production of Cortisol, ACTH, Lactic Acid and Adrenaline; increases production of endorphins; quickens rehabilitation and recovery; relieves pain – arthritis, migraines, injuries etc.; boosts immune function. 
Improves circulation and distribution of oxygen and nutrients; reduces blood pressure, pulse, heart rate and oxygen consumption.

The safe sensory isolated environment is naturally conducive to relaxation and peace of mind. Released to float in suspension without the body experiencing the effects of gravity and outside distractions, your entire being achieves levels of rest and higher state much deeper than you have ever previously experienced.

The man behind the magic – Dr John C. Lilly

The first floatation tank was developed in 1950 by the American neurophysiologist Professor Dr John C. Lilly while working at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Together with his associate Dr. Jay Shirley, Dr. Lilly became intrigued by the question of the origins of conscious activity within the brain. The question was whether the brain needed external stimuli to keep its conscious states active. Lilly and his associate set to work trying to devise a system that would restrict environmental stimulation as much as was practical and feasible. Lilly’s first tank was one in which the floater was suspended upright, entirely underwater, head completely covered by an underwater breathing apparatus and mask (now you know where the producers of “Altered States” got their ideas!). Over the years Lilly continued his experiments with floatation, simplifying and improving the general design of the tank. Dr. Lilly found that he could float in a more relaxing supine position, rather than suspended feet downward in fresh water, if more buoyant salt water was used. Other refinements, such as water heaters with thermostats sensitive enough to keep the water at perfect temperature, an air pump to keep the air in the tank fresh, and a water filter for the re-use of the Epsom salts, were added over the years. By the early 1970′s, Lilly had perfected the floatation tank in much the design used today.

Dr Lilly is also famous for the historical work with Dolphins which has allowed Dolphins to be treated as intelligent & protected creatures.

If you want to read more about Dr Lilly, his amazing journeys into the subconscious & work with Dolphins, check out his books:

1. The Scientist: A Metaphysical Autobiography
2. Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space

Places to float / experience the magic

Here are my 2 favorite floatation centres.

Sydney, NSW, Australia: Bondi Junction Massage and Float Centre – Flotation
Level 1 Royal Arcade, 175-181 Oxford Street
Bondi Junction, NSW, Australia, 1355
Email: info@massagefloat.com.au
Website: http://massagefloat.com.au/
Phone: 93877355

Isolation Tank Sydney

San Francisco, California, USA: Atha Floatation
San Francisco, Sunset District,
California, USA
Website: http://www.athafloatation.com/

Isolation Tank "Classic" model San Francisco

Where else will you find flotation tanks

In the Community: The Australian Institute of Sport, Hayman Island resort, Victoria University of Technology and many more.

In the Movies: Altered States, Fringe: The Complete First Season

Hungry for more? keep reading Part 2 – Floatation (isolation) Tank – indepth and upclose.

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