Tuning into your Inner Perception through Floating

Glenn Stokoe • November 17, 2022

Touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste are what most people immediately think of when asked about the human senses. While these five major senses get the most attention, there are numerous, often-overlooked senses of the body that can add a great depth of information about what is going on inside of us: for example thermoception (sense of temperature), nociception (sense of pain), and equilibrioception (sense of balance). One of these lesser known senses is interoception, or the sense of the sensations inside your own body, like your heartbeat and your breathing. “It’s like an inner selfie,” Dr. Sahib Khalsa, floatation researcher, says in his 2016 Float Conference talk.



Interoception can be compared to other forms of bodily sensations such as exteroception, which deals with sensations outside the body through stimulation of the five major senses, and proprioception,which deals with your spatial awareness. Together, these senses work to help the brain determine the answer to “how do you feel?” Through knowing where you are spatially, what is in your immediate environment, as well as what is going on in your body, you can identify how you feel, and what you need to do to correct anything that feels off. When one of these pathways for sensing our inner and outer worlds isn’t functioning properly, it can become challenging to articulate our feelings and emotions.


Research has shown a link between how we regulate our emotions and our level of interoceptive awareness; a lower ability to recognize what is going on inside our bodies leads to a more difficult time working out our emotions, which in turn can make us more anxious. Interoception has been shown to be a basis for our emotional regulation – if you know what is going on inside, you’ll likely be more in tune with your emotional states.


There is an evolutionary explanation for this, the more connected our ancestors were to their bodies, the more quickly they could act to solve a problem. Were they hungry and needed food? Or cold and needed shelter? Being able to decipher these messages sent to the brain in a fast and efficient way allowed ancient humans a better chance at survival.

The disconnect between what the body is feeling and what the brain is perceiving can slow us down, causing us to have trouble acting on our internal feelings, often bringing out feelings of distress and anxiety. Not knowing how to describe what you’re feeling leads to confusion as we are lost in describing what we feel. Previous research has shown that floating can increase the awareness of inner bodily sensations, especially when in the tank, when a beating heart suddenly becomes more prominent in the otherwise empty environment. That feeling of body-connectivity can carry on outside of the tank as well. This has led to current research looking at how floating can be used to help people with anxiety who struggle to connect their inner sensations to the proper emotions.


Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) is described as the fear that one will experience anxiety symptoms and sensations, specifically ones arising from inside the body, and is an underlying contributor to many forms of chronic anxiety. AS can be a large factor in anxiety levels for someone in their day-to-day life, and can have a variety of effects ranging from impacting how their immune system is functioning to being a cause of random panic attacks. Is it possible that getting people with high AS and low interoception into a float tank could help them get more in tune with their bodies through the reduction of all the outside stimulation? Dr. Justin Feinstein and Dr. Sahib Khalsa set out to answer that in a 2017 study.


The study took individuals with high AS and other forms of anxiety and looked at how floating might be beneficial for interoception compared to another relaxing treatment (watching a nature documentary). After floating (compared to the documentary) participants reported lower states of anxiety, while also having reduced blood pressure and muscle tension. Participants who floated also had an increase of sensations from the cardiorespiratory system – their breath and heartbeat became easy to focus on with all other stimulation swept away. Interestingly, participants found it easier to detect their heartbeat all throughout their body, including areas on the face, head, and on the back.The ability to regulate their focus on internal bodily sensations was also increased. The findings indicated that floating helped these participants see a reduction of general anxiety as well as increased interoception, specifically through the heartbeat and the breath.


Many anxiety disorders stem from a disconnect between the mind and body, lowering levels of interoception. This disconnect can cause other forms of anxiety, as emotions can feel out of sync, leading to internal confusion. Having a higher interception allows for someone to be more attentive to their emotions, as they can process internal stimulation quicker and more accurately gauge how they are feeling. While more work needs to be done, the results are promising, and early studies show that floating could be beneficial to increasing interoception, specifically within highly anxious individuals. There appears to be a strong connection between floating and heightened recognition of the heartbeat and breathing, making you more in tune with your body, and fostering a better understanding of the connection between your physical and mental states.

Ready to work with Float North County?

Let's connect! We’re here to help.

Send us a message and we’ll be in touch. 

Or give us a call today at (858) 925-6069

Agency Contact Form

More Marketing Tips, Tricks & Tools

By Glenn Stokoe February 21, 2023
The ideas of altered states of consciousness, mystical experiences, and voluntary self-isolation often bring with them images of shamans, spaced-out hippies, geometric art, and vibrant … The post The Science of Floating and Mystical Experiences appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe September 30, 2022
Similar to many float enthusiasts, if you ask us what floating is good for, our first answer is often, “What is it not good for?” … The post Latest in Float Research appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe June 7, 2022
Although the environment for floating is carefully constructed and controlled, it doesn’t stop every float being its own unique experience. This is true, not only … The post Some Things Never Change appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe April 8, 2022
Creativity and convergence If humanity defines itself by anything, it is by our capacities to think critically and to adapt through our creative abilities. Although … The post Creative Notion from the Silent Ocean appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe March 24, 2022
  Imagine yourself – who are you and where are you REALLY going? What do you truly know about yourself? You’ve found your parking spot, … The post Improve Thyself: Betterment by Buoyancy appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe January 7, 2022
As you consider what changes you want to make in your life for the new year, it’s worth also spending some time thinking about how … The post Floating: The Ultimate Wingman for New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe November 11, 2021
In many ways, our culture has fostered an unhealthy relationship with time spent alone. Even the words that we use to describe alone time are … The post Happy to be Alone appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe October 6, 2021
You’ve probably heard of our fight or flight response – when we’re presented with stressful or threatening situations (like being chased by a hippopotamus), our … The post Fight or Flight . . . or Float? appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe September 17, 2021
From helping with anorexia nervosa, to regulating the immune system, to reducing general and acute anxiety, new findings on floatation continue to flow out from … The post New Research in to Floating for Anorexia Nervosa appeared first on Float North County.
By Glenn Stokoe August 17, 2021
As a vehicle for both relaxation and recovery, float tanks are fairly unparalleled. There are lots of studies and anecdotes about the benefits that even … The post Powerful Stories from the Tank appeared first on Float North County.
More Posts
Share by: