These misconceptions are reinforced through movies and TV shows. When float tanks make an appearance, they are often shown portraying people emerging from the tanks having a full-on-psychedelic-hallucination, or having gone mad from being alone for too long. They also tend to portray floaters having a spiritual experience in what looks like a drug-induced state, giving the often no-so-subtle implication that drugs are needed to achieve these states. Stories passed on through friends-of-friends often lead to misremembered details with an extra emphasis on the “wild” parts that then skew the view of the experience.
As many who have emerged from the tank can attest, it is often a much more dreamy, ethereal, and calming environment than is typically conveyed on screen. In the tranquility of the float tank, the mind chooses to slow down and relax instead of going into panic mode. While the environment of the tank can be foreign at the beginning, that feeling fades as the warm water becomes more welcoming, and the dark closed-off environment expands in the vastness, feeling more open than it appears. Although this is quite different from an automatic and uncontrollable plunge into a psychedelic-like state, the experience is still profound and impactful, and offers many benefits that do not require an intense experience to receive, such as anxiety reduction and body pain relief.
So, what exactly are mystical experiences and altered states of consciousness? And how do they relate to the floatation experience? With all the differing tales being told, defining these experiences can be very murky. We have documentation of early mystical experiences and traditions for at least as long as people began to settle and transition from a nomadic life. Many of these seem to stem from ancient religions, with mystic sects searching for methods to connect in a more spiritual way with gods and spirits.
Cultures from all corners of the earth have practiced ceremonies to achieve these states. These experiences have been described by philosopher and religious scholar Alan Watts as growing the understanding that all beings are connected as one with the world around them. This common theme of finding a unity between all life is well-documented across many who have had mystical experiences, both historically and in modern studies.
Another common theme of mystical experiences is the concept of ego-death: feeling your identity dissolve as a deep connection to all around you takes over. A mystical experience is often accompanied by many forms of altered states, such as feeling your sensations differently, having heightened perceptions, or having different thought patterns. It’s worth noting again that these altered states can be experienced in a variety of ways and through a variety of practices – a full blown psychedelic experience is not required!
In fact, people experience altered states everyday without the use of drugs, religious ceremonies, or even float tanks. At its most basic, an altered state is simply a different state of awareness than your normal day-to-day wakeful state. Yoga and other forms of exercise, for example, can alter your physiology, giving rise to heightened senses and a feeling of euphoria. Various meditation practices and breathing techniques can make one deeply relaxed and calmed, leading to a dreamy state of consciousness.
Finding the language to express and describe these otherworldly and dream-like experiences is often difficult, but that hasn’t stopped scientists from developing tests and scales to try to define these altered states. One such method, the Hood Mystical Experience Scale, was developed in the late 1970s and looks at 8 categories of mysticism (Ego Quality, Unifying Quality, Inner-subjective Quality, Temporal/Spatial Quality, Noetic Quality, Ineffability, Positive Effect, and Religious Quality). The scale was created by Dr. Ralph Hood, Jr. in an attempt to assess the frequency, intensity, and meaningfulness of mystical experiences, and it has been used in many areas of research since its development… including float tanks.
