40th Float.

I started today off with a float before my night shift and was lucky enough to end my shift with my 40th Float at Float House and I experienced another intensely 'present' audio float.


It started off as I went through my mental clutter and as each thought emerged I fed it into the flame of a candle, which is a technique called The Flame and the Void that I learned while reading Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series and have found to be extremely using when meditating and within the tank.

Then I let go of my body and it was highly emotive to start off and I was overcome with waves of what I can only describe as bliss and compassion flowed around and through me as I listened to Time and Space. I could feel the music in my body and each note swept through me and caused a feeling similar to chills going down my spine and into my extremities through my nerves but instead of that creepy chills it was accompanied  with a strong positive emotion.

I Noticed that I was able to create waves of yellowish red energy of enclosing patterns by slowly closing and opening my eyes. 
This proceeded to then morph into a white and black pattern similar to the swirling designs seen often in porcelain.Then silence occurred and I became aware again of my breathing and started to practice the breathwork technique of in through my right nostril and out through the left.

Then Surface of the Sun came on it was an exhilarating sensation as I focused on the subtleties of the background sound effects of his heart beat and breath underneath the building piano and orchestra. Again, waves of bliss surged through me along with the notes and surges of the music.




When Pangaea started I began to reflect on how during all of the above emotional sensations that I just went through, I had very faint and sporadic visuals that didn't really focus upon my visual cortex. I tried using my gaze manipulation tricks with little result. I do feel that when I float after having taken my Concerta it does inhibit the visual and dream states that I do have when I float before my meds. But yet, this float was more emotionally focused. Is there a connection? Or is this just another variety of float? More must be read and experienced to find out.


It is these kind of differences that I have been noticing to be occurring within my own cognitive processes and consciousness while using the float tank and I am become more and more interested in trying to find out the relation to my own neurochemistry and endocrinology is definitely something I would lobe to pursue for a masters thesis.


When pink Floyd came on I could barely hear it so I just got out. 50 minute float felt like 2 hours of hiking my Mindscape and I as I exited the tank with laughter and a massive smile on my face.

Audio Float #3

First half was settling in with minimal visuals, there was a memorable experience of the whole tank illuminating blue light from beneath me and a radiating feeling of 'glow'.

After 2nd Crash Test Dummies song I became aware of the temperature of the water being a bit cool and got out. I ran the pumps and checked the gauges and found that one of them was slightly unplug so only 1 heating pad was working. Fixed this and watched best of Dune quotes and did a load of laundry. 

Re-entered tank @ 12:45. Started where I left off on the play list. 

I don't know where to start. I entered the void quickly and wisps of smoke and coloured patterns emerged. 

During the heavy beat of music I had a overly red hued vision of a group of men in ski masks opening the tank and grabbing me out by my legs. My heat rate increased and I immediately formed a small flame and focused all that emotion and energy into it, more images fueled the flame brighter and brighter. Faces of orcs, goblins, genlocks, and shades went into the flame and as it grew I was able to force the flame back down into the candle through my will alone. This then transitioned quiet well into Elegy where the stars opened up and I explored the nebula's and stars across time for a while. 

Then as the next song came on I was overcome with a quickening sense of stimuli as clouds of gas spun and millennia passed as a planet was formed from the star dust. This then lead to what felt like information overload as my eyes darted around and tho used of flashing images of nature and its beauty and cruelness was witnessed. As cities grew and crumpled across the land I zoomed out and saw a starship fire something at the planet and with a bang the atmosphere ignited and all life died as the planet burned. 

It was so much for me that when the song ended I was breathing heavily and I suddenly remembered the name of the song, Pangaea, and I realized I just witnessed the creation and destruction of a world with my minds eye. 

I then underwent a wide range of deeply emotional moments as Kara's Coordinates and Assault on the Colony played. There were obvious differences between the two dominant tones of mood through colour.

The more aggressive drum beats and musical pieces were always red hued and some images included a predator sitting upon a black carved stone throne on top of a vast pile of skulls. Hundreds of evil faces with vivid features flashed by from almost all recognizable lore and fiction that I can think of, which had a distinct anime feel to the images. The more pleasant pieces had me uplifted into the stars again surrounded in flashes of whites, blues, and greens. It was simply breath taking. 

As the surface of the sun came on I was immediately placed with a front row seat for a storm of solar flares across a star. This was from a window in a ship resembling the one in the Doctor Who episode 42. Also, during this I heard an arrangement of quotes from Dune going through my head with me chanting internally "the sleeper has awoken". 

Repeatedly throughout both floats I had reoccurring image of a direct front view of an owl and coyote. This were very distinct and overlaid many different parts of my visions. 

Then It's a Sin to Tell a Lie came on and I sang along and went through my 'wake up' movements and looked back upon my experience and laughed. I was suddenly alert and wanting to write down the experience. Subsequently the selection of Bach's cello suites was a poor choice because I often use it for background music while working or mentally focused on a task and was unable to slip back into the void. I emerged from the tank refreshed and full of laughter. 

Nude Beach Thoughts

First Audio Tank Experience

After work today I had my first audio tank experience.

I listened to Between The Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence. It was intense to say the least, yet also very euphoric. When a heavy part of the song would play my mind would race and ideas and thoughts flew by. Unfortunately, only a few held fast once out of the tank but all directly sorted and complete. I could respond by having my heart beat sync with the rapid tempo, and 'feel' the vibrations from the speakers flowing into my back and out through my chest.

During the melodic parts of the album I was able to sink deep into the void. Every time the piano kicked in I immediately saw a massive expanse of white and lightly hued stars with my eyes wide open and wide awake, and as I scanned from side to side, it was a feeling similar to when you hold and scroll within Stellarium. Flashing colorful systems and shooting stars began to shift following the flow of the music and then more concrete patterns started to emerge. I couldn't help but laugh.

One particular image set that stands out was a blooming white rose edged in bright blue. It then stared to shift into an albino Ankole-Watusi bull. This then raised its head upwards and slowly dissipated as the song again shifted. This occurred during the song Bloom.

All I can say is that I now have a new found reverence for the power of the mind and deeper appreciation for the album.