Relax, Hongkongers: time to strip off, close the lid, hit the lights and float away
Enter a flotation tank and you can separate your mind from your senses in complete safety and come out with silky smooth skin. Choose from centres in Happy Valley and Mid-Levels
Imagine being totally free of gravity and floating in pitch black silence. It sounds like something only astronauts get to experience, but I did it last week. Twice. No spacesuit involved. In fact, I was in my birthday suit.
This is how it works: a tank is filled with water to a depth of 30cm and then 500kg of Epsom salts are added – this makes it even more salty than the Dead Sea, which helps with floating. The water is heated to 35.5 degrees Celsius – roughly the same temperature as your skin – so when you’re in the tank it’s hard to tell which parts of your body are submerged and which are not, giving the sense that you are floating.
Add to this floating, weightless feeling the fact that the tank has a door that can be shut, enclosing you inside the pod-like capsule and in total silence. There’s a button within easy reach that allows you to turn off the lights. Pitch black. Welcome to the void, where not only are there no tablets or screens to distract you, there’s nothing of anything.
I can’t say it wasn’t weird. First of all, I had some serious reservations about getting in a tub of water that total strangers had been wallowing in. I was assured that everyone is requested to take a shower before getting in the tank (we’ll just have to trust that everyone does this) and that after each session the water is filtered, removing stray hairs and bits and pieces.
“But what if someone pees in there?” I ask.