Float tank anyone?, Has anyone tried this method of relaxing Options

I was wondering if anyone had been in a float tank, apparently it is another way to mindfulness, only it is done with sensory deprivation instead.

The person goes into a tank of water which has Epsom salts in it and they float, there is a choice of floating in the dark or leaving the lights on inside the tank.

This is said to stop overactivity on one side of the brain and balance both sides out allowing deep relaxation and the ability to reach parts of the brain that allow for creativity, imagination, self-visualisation and problem solving.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleeping_.gif)

Sensory deprivation helps to let the mind work itself out - only as long as you have it in short periods. It's relaxing, and generally good for improving your meditative skills.

Long periods in sensory deprivation can cause brain damage.

Long periods in sensory deprivation can cause brain damage

Really, that sounds quite alarming, why does it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fie.gif)

Actually, my father and I plan on building one such tank in our allocated "meditation room" (The joys of building a custom home--aside from paying for it until you're dead (IMG:style_emoticons/default/13.gif))

The only damage I've heard of done from sensory deprevation comes from being driven insane--since one has no concept of physical orientation any longer.
Kind of like how locking a person in a lighted room, with no clocks or windows to base relative time off. Allegedly, they go nuts.
I forget the name of the study done on this--back when ethics in human expermentation was less than strict.

Oh, well there's numerous reasons.

Humans are inherently social creatures - spending long periods in a float tank is equivalent to solitary confinement. People go mad from lack of interaction. This generally coincides with dendrite structures dying off (there's probably a causal relationship between the two - one direction or the other).

Also, there's the loss of orientation, as Seiko says, but the previous one is more important.

People need sensory stimulation, otherwise their brain can start creating its own (read that, hallucinations). Once out of sensory deprivation, one can also be very gullbile - an interaction-starved mind often accepts anything it's told (it's a common brainwashing method, as far as brainwashing can be said to work, but that's another issue).

So yes. 1 hour = good. 1 day = very bad. All in moderation.