Last week I was surprised to hear from Glenn at FLOATNC that my float was free. I wondered why. He told me it was policy to receive a free float when one completes their 100th float. Wow, how time flies.
Every week for over 2 years. It seemed like an important milestone and one that gives me a chance to talk about regular weekly floating. I first floated about 2 years ago. One float and I was hooked. I immediately scheduled myself every Tuesday for 2.5 hours and to this day, whether I want to go or not I go. I float. It’s that simple. Like most things in life that we do religiously, there are always times that we wish we could bail. But for me, it is not about whether I’m in the mood or not but what floating does for me. That is hard to express but worth trying.
When I began floating I knew immediately that this was going to be life-changing. It was pure and simple. It was an invitation into the deep black silence that one rarely encounters in our busy lives of today. It was also an invitation to embrace that silence and allow it to guide me deeper and deeper into myself. I used to run and swim with my headset, listening to music to keep myself from the boredom of the blue line in the pool and the endless miles of running. Once I began floating I decided to go Cold Turkey into the silence. Initially, it was a bit daunting. How do I be with myself for an hour or more staring at the blue line in the bottom of a pool? How do I “amuse” myself while running? It turns out that this was an issue in my mind but in reality a non-issue. Our Being loves silence. Our Being craves silence. Our Being is at home in the silence. Our usual self is often not. It is so used to being bombarded with life’s constant activity and stimulation that it seems to fear the endless silence. It took some time to drop more deeply into the silence and allow it to penetrate.
An adjustment and the body clears itself of imbalances. In the float tank, my body knew exactly what it needed. Almost immediately it began what I have come to call “unwinding.” I have no words that really describe what happens other than to say I am there, lying quiet and still and then from somewhere very far away, in some other body, not yet physical, I feel subtle sensations of movement, inner movements, not yet physical. It is as if the body is twisting and turning in clearly orchestrated and purposeful directions, but more subtle than the physical body. Eventually, these inner movements and patterns reach the surface and the body moves. Often there is an “adjustment” as the body clears itself of imbalances. It is as if the body and Soul “healer” knows where I am out of balance and the session in the tank clears them and then leaves me in a deeper more profound alignment and silence. And on and on, Tuesday by Tuesday the process continues to unfold. I am being worked.
It is about letting go. Long ago I learned not to question or try to understand. It is about letting go of my ideas, thoughts, and beliefs about what is happening; letting go of knowing. What I do know is this is important. What I do know is that the dark, deeply quiet warmth of the tank is healing. My connection with the inner stillness grows incrementally each time I float. I carry that connection with me in each moment of my life outside the tank. I return to it when life gets overwhelming or when I feel spun out. I know that I am that stillness.
I think when the time is right for Silence you will feel the pull. Each of us who float has our own experience. We each take to it in our own way. We each find our rhythm with the dark silence. My experience is mine. Yours is yours. I wish I could convince everyone I know to float but for some, it is not appealing. It is probably all about timing. I have meditated “on land” most of my life and yet the floating allows my meditation to go to a very different place. Without the discomforts of gravity, we are held in the substance we all come from, the dark salty liquid holding of the womb. This is where it all began for every single human on the planet. To return there is to return home.
Onward to the next hundred!
Thank you Float NC.
