Anyone have any experience with sensory deprivation tanks?

I am becoming increasingly interested with the idea of spending time in an isolation tank / sensory deprivation tank. It seems like it would be an amazing aid in meditation and also perhaps a catalyzing agent for experiencing an increase in OOBE's. I was wondering if anyone out there has had any experiences with these tanks, and what that experience was like? I was thinking about constructing my own tank due to the high costs of purchasing a fancy one, and the relative difficulties associated with finding a place that actually has them. If anyone has ever done anything similar please pipe in here with any helpful info you might have on that.

Also, I'm not looking for any drug related sensory dep. stories - I'm looking for the natural benefits of these tanks since I'm not a drug user and this is not the place to discuss it at any rate.

To add to my questions about constructing my own sensory deprivation chamber, I was wondering if anyone knew of any inexpensive insulations or foams that would work for the purpose of soundproofing the tank? I don't live in an extremely noisy area, so I don't think I would need to drop hundreds of dollars on recording studio quality materials.

I remember starting a new temporary job at a large factory and the place they had me wait at was sensory deprived. It was underground, out of the way of all activity. Nothing but steel and concrete all around. I didn't expect to have to wait a few hours before someone came and got us. It was like suffering sensory deprivation looking at the environment. It would have been but what happened instead after 2 or 3 hours is that I ended up staring at the 4 girls I was down there with and they were staring at me. It was sensory depravation everywhere else. They were all staring at me and I was staring at them for probably over an hour or two. That did seem to be weird. We all stopped talking too so we were just staring constantly.

Maybe that's not what you were looking for but I found that underground steel and concrete environment to be sensory deprived.

reply to post by orionthehunter


Not quite what I had in mind, but interesting nonetheless. Was there any awkwardness with that exchange, or did everyone just seem to be staring at each other quite comfortably because that was all there was to do? I ask because I remember a scene from the movie Waking Life where one of the characters in the ongoing "dream" talks about the 'holy moment' which takes place after a certain amount of time of looking into someone else's eyes with no conversation. He said something about the waiting for the moment to happen, the anticipation of the moment, then the moment actually occurring, and then wondering if that was the moment. Anyways, I don't mean to ramble, but I guess just wondering what that type of situation was like on your comfortability chart.

reply to post by Grizzly Bear


Hi Grizzly,
I've spent some time in a sensory deprivation tank. It was definitely good for meditation. Very deep experience. I won't sensationalize. It was simply an incredible meditation experience that seemed surprisingly short.

reply to post by lifestudent


How long did you spend in the tank? I have read other places that an hour can feel like just a few minutes. I was also wondering if in the absence of sounds your mind contrived sounds of it's own? Sometimes when it's very very silent around me I hear my heart beat, but that fades away and then I hear a ringing in my ears, and that too fades away... then I hear what almost sounds to me like a radio broadcast! I don't think I'm crazy or anything, but I've heard it a few times when it's very quiet and it's kind of like a talk show sometimes, maybe it's just sort of like an in-depth daydream of sorts?


[edit on 23-2-2008 by Grizzly Bear]

I spend hours on end, day after day staring at this computer screen.

No sunlight or human contact penetrates my small dark apartment.

Neither the lukewarm spatter of water or soap touches my skin for days.

Solid foods my stomach knows not. Sunkist and Reeses Butter Cups sustain my primal brain.

A VHS copy of the Goonies plays nonstop in the background but I no longer hear it.

Follow this pattern and you'll be sensory deprived.

reply to post by ColdWater


An interesting system to be sure, sounds a lot cheaper than building a tank too. Notice any advanced meditative techniques as a result of the goonie ambiance?

I definitely felt a bit of unease to say the least. It was one of my first days on a good paying temporary job (at least I thought that at the time) and I thought someone stuck us down here because they didn't have the time to figure out what we were going to work on yet. We were all college students. I somehow ended up sitting opposite 4 or 5 girls. I felt like there was a bit of sensory depravation looking around at the concrete and steel after 2 or 3 hours. I started looking more and more at the girls. Then I don't remember at what point but no one was talking anymore. I got the impression we were thinking sexual thoughts because it seemed like the girls were all staring in between my legs while I was staring at some of their errr round curves. We were all wearing long pants though. Yeah, I felt a bit awkward. One girl was the plant managers daughter too so I wasn't about to get fired on my first day. Although that was where some of my thoughts were going. Except for knowing I was being watched. I thought that situation wasn't going to last but everyone just kept on staring for what seemed to be a long time.

Maybe I moved away from the one girl after she told this one story about her pet monkey she used to have. I don't know why she started talking about that story shortly after we were down there. She said something about her pet monkey had a growth between his legs and she thought it wasn't supposed to be there. So she got a knife and cut it off. Then she said she found out what it was and wished she hadn't done that. I think I moved away shortly after I heard that story. Yeah it was a little bit awkward just sitting there for hours. I think the rest of their conversation was less sexually related after that.

reply to post by Grizzly Bear


If you're still interested in more information you can go to floatforhealth.com or floatation-tank.com and you may sign up to yahoo group floattalk

I was soooo wanting to do that too! I was never able to of course - who knows where you could 'rent' one. Hm. Maybe one of those celeb spa's?

I too thought it would be a great meditation device.

But, I found an alternative meditation toy - self hypnosis. Give it a try - you can creat your very own deprivation tank.