The Art of Nothing

Before stepping into the float tank for my weekly float, I stand there and set an intention. I silently ask: “What do I want to get out of this?” and listen to whatever comes up.  I use, and trust, my intuition.

Typically it is the words “let go”, “relax” or “love”, but prior to last week’s float I heard crickets.  I stood there straining to listen a bit more closely.  Nothing, nadda.  A bit put-off, I stepped into the float tank, closed the door and laid back.

My floats all begin the same: I work on my breath, I work on fully relaxing my body, I listen to my breath, then my heart and then I tend to focus on the intention I set prior to entering the float tank.  As I floated there listening to my thoughts swirling around, the feeling of just following wherever my thoughts travelled – witnessing them – was what came naturally.  And that’s exactly what I did.

It was one of those floats where the moments passed without a real sense of time.  The lights and music came on in a flash and as I re-emerged from my warm cocoon, I wasn’t sure what to make of the past 75 minutes.  Just nothingness.  I sipped my tea and wrote in my journal in our lounge.  I sat quietly at home and just savoured the relaxed feeling that enveloped my being.  That feeling of warm safety stayed with me throughout the evening and upon waking the following morning, it came to me at once: that was one of the deepest meditative adventures I’ve experienced – ever.  It took some space to process and get a real sense of the experience.  You’ve likely heard us repeat: every. float. is. different.  We mean this! AND not all of the magic takes place within the four walls of the float tank.

Give it some time, relax and soak in all the experiences that take place post-float.  During your float, give in to the Nothing.  Just let go and go with the flow…