The concept of being submerged in a tank filled Epsom salt is not a new idea; as a matter of fact the idea has been around for eons with roots that can be traced back to the Dead Sea where it is nearly impossible to drown due to the high salinity of its waters.
However, on a smaller scale is the sensory deprivation tank which is a manipulated version of the benefits of the Dead Sea in a much smaller scale. The emergence of sensory deprivation tanks in Melbourne, Australia of late therefore is not anything new as the idea was conceptualised by Dr John C Lilly almost half a century ago during the psychedelic era.
However, the reason that its progress had been slow to emerge among mainstream consumer products is largely due to the fact that for the most part of the 70s, 80s and 90s, the idea was not taken seriously and deemed as nothing more than a contraption that afforded people a placebo effect.
As time passed and more and more people began to swear by the positive changes they experienced after a few sessions, the concept became hard to ignore not just for the medical community, but also raised the brows of businessmen and women everywhere.
Going to spas that are equipped with sensory deprivation tanks in Melbourne have become a common thing and those who actually attend two or three sessions a week all report the same thing! They feel better, they perform better at work, they have more energy and employers have started to look into this phenomenon as a means towards increasing productivity among their employees.
This idea of depriving people from using their sense for brief periods of time actually allows the individual’s brain to take a break from the constant signals that are sent to the unceasingly throughout the day, 7 days a week, 30 days a month, 365 days a year.
When an individual is left to float in these Epsom salt water filled chambers, the impact of gravity on the body is eliminated and the brain picks this up and the same with sight, sound, temperature and sound, the brain therefore is left alone from external stimuli which allows the brain to redirect these ‘unused resources’ inward and recalibrate everything inside us that is biological.
It is due to this reason that those who subject themselves to sensory deprivation tanks often report feeling energised and more focused for days after each session which typically lasts for about 90 minutes or less. The fact that this therapy is not invasive and does not involve the use of drugs of any sort has made it even more popular among Australians in general.
The fact that this therapy works has been asserted by medical professionals around the world who are just beginning to understand the science behind this phenomenon that they admit, they have a lot to learn about mainly because it involves the brain which for the most part is the biggest mystery for scientists.
As for now, what we know is that it works and how it works, is actually something we should not be concerned about for now.
