HOW OFTEN SHOULD I FLOAT?

The most frequently asked question we hear after a float is: “How often should I float?”

The answer is not that simple, but the right one lies within you.

Floating is a practice very similar to meditation, as each session leads to new sensations and insights. You should not expect everything to happen overnight, since the pace of adapting to the environment and recognizing the effects depends on several factors. Floating is the very opposite of today’s addictions and fast-paced life. Floating encourages us to discover who we are without the physical body and to look within.

Where to begin?

If you are looking for a change in your life and are genuinely curious about how floating can help you, we recommend starting with a few consecutive floats to adapt to the unique environment of the floating room.

Dan Engle is a psychiatrist and neurologist who works in functional medicine and integrative psychiatry. In the book “Tools of Titans”, Engle suggests starting with “2 to 3 floats within one month.” Engle found that anxiety, insomnia, and mental distress improve significantly between 3 and 7 floating sessions.

It is hard to set a floating schedule in advance, since how you feel is what matters most. That is why it is best to book your sessions a day or two before floating, when your body senses the need for this kind of relaxation. You will recognize this feeling immediately, because floating addresses a specific problem in the body that we call stress. We do not perceive stress in the same way, nor are we equally susceptible to it, so how often you float is an entirely personal decision.

When stress is frequently present at work or in everyday life, the frequency of visits can be higher and the sessions can also be scheduled more precisely, since the therapy is carried out cyclically as a preventive measure against excessive stress. An athlete has different needs than a businessperson, so their floating schedule is different too. In this case, the frequency of floating increases during the preparation period or the competitive cycle. Pregnant women, who are drained both physically and mentally by the baby, keep a calm mind wonderfully well with the help of floating. For pregnant women with a normal pregnancy, floating is completely safe and an excellent way to relax, both for the mother and the baby.

Once you have gathered some experience with floating, you will feel for yourself how floating is changing you. It is a process. At first, the effects of floating appear as calmness, better concentration, and clarity of mind.

How often do others float?

Glenn Perry and his wife Lee, together with Dr. John Lilly, created the first commercial floating center more than 50 years ago. I cannot imagine how many hours they have spent in floating tanks over the years, which is why I always love listening to their advice and experiences!

For Mr. Perry, floating is not just a spiritual and physical therapy; he treats it as a religion, where every float is like a prayer.

A few years ago, he took on a challenge and floated every day for two weeks straight, which brought about a shift in his consciousness and his daily routines. His life changed. Such an intense floating schedule is not easy, but it seems to provide a deep introspective experience that enables changes for the better.

My own floating!

As the owner of a floating center, I have the opportunity to float every day and to observe the effects and changes in myself and in my behavior. Because the sensations during floating are connected to the state of our mind and the stress we carry, every float is different. When I started floating, I enjoyed it immensely, as the reduction of sensory perception overrides the disturbances that arise during floating. These are mainly disturbances of awareness. Once I got used to the environment and began to understand floating, I started expecting something more, or something different. But those expectations sometimes brought disappointment, because floating was not pure pleasure but hard work on myself. At that point, my desire to float waned a little, as I was afraid of bad floats, which later turned out to be turning points after which change and progress emerge. After a year of floating, I can say that I have changed. My perception of situations is now more complete, and my decisions and actions are considered and calm. I used to be known for reacting in the heat of the moment, but those reactions are no longer present, as I recognize them immediately and stop myself.

I now float 2-3 times a week, which is ideal for my personality. This is how I maintain the state I built up through intensive floating over the course of a year.