86 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 17, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Try sensory deprivation fl oat therapy
at Sacred Waters in Long Island City
BY HAYLEY BRIDGEWATER
From the moment I entered the door
at SacredWaters Wellness Center in Long
Island City, I could tell I was in for a
life-changing experience. I am no stranger
to the high-speed, hustle-hard New
York City life, but my continual quest (as
a coach, athlete, writer and human) is to
fi nd balance, recovery and renewal in my
small amount of free time.
Th at’s why I went to SacredWaters.
According to its website, it’s is the
home of the only Sensory Deprivation
Floatation Spa in Queens, and I have been
interested in Sensory Deprivation Float
Th erapy for some time; I’d heard its praises
from combat sports athletes, my own
mother and the popular podcast “Th e Joe
Rogan Experience.” I was determined to
give myself over to whatever was going to
happen, eagerly and completely.
Once inside the wellness center, I felt
my shoulders drop a bit. I was instantly
aware that I was moving at a very different
speed than the energy of this space.
I was intrigued, but also a little apprehensive.
I met Tara Summers, the resident “Den
Mother,” who was equally as welcoming
as the space, and she showed me where
I could put my shoes and belongings.
She eased my mind by providing me the
details of the process and some insight to
what I could expect.
To ease into the experience, as well as
to preserve the environment, I entered the
sound proof room, undressed and took a
shower before sliding open the door to
the fl oat tank inside. As I turned around
and shut the door, I was instantly aware
that I was turning off the outside world. I
could hear nothing but the water and the
quiet, twinkling music. I could see nothing
but a dim blue light.
I sat down, centered myself in the
warm, buoyant water, and placed my
arms against the sides. As soon as I did,
I eff ortlessly fl oated, and my journey had
begun.
I can sometimes have a diffi cult time
relaxing, but do have vast experience in
“breathing my heart rate down,” and so
that was my fi rst approach to settling
myself in the environment. My mind was
racing, and I had to repeatedly remind
myself to focus on my breath. As soon
as I adjusted to breathing in the humidity,
I decided to touch the buttons on the
side of the tank, turning the music and
the lights off .
Instantly, all I could hear was my
breathing in my ear-plugged ears and the
sound of the blood coursing though my
body. My heart rate quickened, my body
jerked, and I went back to the business of
trying to calm myself.
As I brought myself back to deep,
relaxed breathing, I slowly started to realize
that I couldn’t feel the chronic pains
that I have lived with for years. As a matter
of fact, I just kept getting lighter and
lighter. Shortly aft er, I couldn’t feel my
extremities, my spine, neck or head. And
then, as I was told would happen (but
didn’t initially believe), I could not feel
the water that I was fl oating in. For lack
of any words to describe it, I felt suspended
in nothing — no gravity, no light, no
feeling — nothing but the sound of my
breath. Th ere is no telling how long I was
in this state; the world had been erased.
Eventually, the tinkling of music
brought me back to full awareness when
the fl oat experience was concluded. Th e
literal details of the post fl oat involve
another shower, a walk across a grounding
moss mat and warm tea in a comforting
nook. As this can be diff erent for
everyone, I will only suggest that you take
your time and listen to what your body is
telling you it needs during your return to
“the outside world.”
Th is kind of experience can be intensely
personal, and I was told that it could
bring many things to the surface. Th is
was defi nitely true of my experience; I
was emotionally impacted by Sensory
Deprivation Floatation in personal ways.
I won’t go into details about my specifi c
emotional journey, but I will confi rm that
I will be back. My life bombards my nervous
system with sensory input of every
make and matter, and I am incredibly
eager to see what it could do for me as a
recovery modality as well as providing an
opportunity to work through some personal
growth. I slept better that night than
I have in years, and I also noticed (as did
those I coach) that I was working from a
much more settled place than is customary
for me. Even now in the weeks following,
I am still processing the experience.
SacredWaters is very much set up to
operate as a community as opposed to a
business. Th rough my correspondence
and interaction with Summers, I was
aware how committed they are to the
well-being of those who step through the
doors. In addition to Sensory Deprivation
Float Th erapy, it off ers a host of other
wellness services, such as Reiki, tribal
body art, refl exology and past life regressions.
Th ere are also classes and events,
including a free community meditation
every Th ursday at 6:45 p.m.
SacredWaters is off ering $25 off a fi rst
fl oat to anyone who brings in or mentions
this article. For more information on rates,
visit sacredwaterslic.com.
SacredWaters Wellness Center
5-35 51st Ave., LIC
718-752-1414
sacredwatersLIC.com
Connect@SacredWatersLIC.com
IG: sacredwaterslic
Facebook: SacredWaters
Photos by Eleni Thomopoulos
DYNAMIC DENTAL WORK
���������������� Dr. Adam Lublin is an Elite Top 1% Preferred Provider
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