The experience was customizable, which was nice. If you're a little claustrophobic, you can keep the lid of the tank open. And if you're afraid of the dark or want to ease into the complete sensory-deprivation thing, there's a knob inside the tank that lets you adjust the light to your liking. Just don't press the button and immediately let go of it. Because you will lose that button forever, and the darkness in the tank is thicker than black velvet.
The water in the tank felt slippery—a bit like Johnson's baby oil. And the taste, well, it put all the bowls of ramen in the world combined to shame. So avoid accidentally ingesting it at all costs. And most importantly, do not put your hands on your eyes because that will sting. A lot.
But after sorting myself out, I managed to lie mostly motionless, floating nearly gravity-free for an hour. The sensation of being completely weightless was hard to grapple at first. I kept trying to force myself to touch the bottom of the tank but kept bobbing back up like a pool toy. Eventually it became second nature—womblike, if you will.
After emerging from the tank after an hour (an automated Siri-like announcement within the chamber alerted me the session was over), my skin felt softer than it does after my weekly vigorous salt scrub. And my back felt lighter and more pain-free than it had in months. I also felt clear-headed, as if I had just swam hundreds of laps in a pool.
I drank two big bottles of water immediately following, and that night, I fell into the dreamiest sleep I've had in recent memory.
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