Why I Float | Ava
We’re pleased to share the inaugural installment in our series “Why I Float”.
This episode features Ava, the head of operations at Vessel. Ava has been an avid user of the sensory deprivation tank for +3 years. Throughout this episode, Ava shares her journey with float therapy spanning the desire for calm and presence to reflecting and processing grief.
Ava: My name is Ava and this is why I float. So I started the practice of float therapy about 7 years ago, and my motivation for floating has evolved over time. In the beginning like so many people, I was attracted to the tanks just out of curiosity; if there was a way to escape the overstimulation of my life…especially living in New York, everything is stimulating. Just walking down the street feels like you're in a war zone. I just felt my brain feeling more and more mechanical and less and less human; I was curious to see if silence and stillness and darkness would reconnect me to that sense of humanness. And once I arrived to the tanks, I realized that it's so much deeper than that. With regular use I learned to regard the tanks as this profound tool to strengthening connection to my higher self - what mean by that is when your central nervous system is completely relaxed, and you're devoid of all external stimulation, your awareness gets drawn to only two: things your heartbeat, and your breath.
And what that feels like, when I reach that moment it feels like I'm snapping back into my body: this total mind body spirit alignment, and it feels like coming home to yourself. When I felt it for the first time, it made me so emotional it brought me to tears. It was this deeply cathartic reunion with myself. I don't know how else to explain it, but every time I'm in the tank I always feel that alignment.
This year I experienced a lifechanging sudden and unexpected loss that sort of left me with the weight of deep deep grief. And I returned once again to the tanks to see how the practice of sensory deprivation would interface with all of the change that my life was experiencing, what I found was that the tank suddenly felt like this protective cocoon, this hard shell that was able to witness me in these tender moments where I could fall apart and put myself back together again in the safety of my own company and my own subconscious mind.
It's been such a deeply grounding practice for me being in the tank; I feel nothing but gratitude for my life, and I feel like I can access this abundant source of love for myself and for other people and for all the things that make life beautiful. It has been this incredible practice for me of integration, and the tanks have helped make me feel whole again bit by bit, so that's why I've been floating lately.
If you or someone you know is interested in sharing your journey with floating, please reach out to us at contact@vesselfloats.com.