Soak Box Part 3: Salt (AKA Float)

Have you ever floated? I’ve heard a lot about it, but had never tried it until Soak Box in Wilsonville convinced me to give it a go. Soak Box refers to their float as Salt because the water is filled with lots and lots of Epsom salt allowing you to float without effort.  As I have shared before, I am really horrible at just relaxing and doing nothing, and that’s kind of the whole point of floating. I think I might have been more nervous about trying a float than about doing the cold plunge there recently.

      

Before going, I watched all the Float videos on the Soak Box YouTube channel – some of them twice. I also read all the “first soak” information on the website. I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could in advance to lessen my nervousness a bit. Knowing my relaxation issues, I scheduled my Float for the afternoon after a race. I figured if I was tired after the race, that would hopefully make relaxing easier for me.

When I arrived, my spa slides were ready and waiting in the entry area with my name by them! Nice touch. Now I feel like a regular. The girl at the front desk took me to my Salt room and went over all the details with me since this was my first float. I really appreciated that, as there seemed to be so much to remember for a first-timer. There was also a complete list of all the steps for before, during, and after the float posted on the wall inside the private room. After all the directions and checking to be sure any of my questions were answered, she left me alone in my Salt room for my hour long float. A whole hour???

The room consisted of a shower, a small table with supplies, and the float room. The first step was to shower to remove any lotions, body oils, or products before entering the float tank. I remembered that it was recommended to take a cooler shower since the tank was set at body temperature. I might’ve gone a little too cool, but I figured I’d warm up soon enough.

I put in the ear plugs to prevent salt water from getting into my ears, removed my contacts – just to be safe, and used some of the Vaseline-like product provided on a couple scrapes on my arm to prevent the salt from stinging. I also grabbed the provided wash cloth and got it wet in the shower water – as recommend – in case I needed to wipe the salt off my face or my hand to scratch my face.

I was nervous that I would take too long preparing and the lights in the tank would go out before I even got started. Fortunately, they give you plenty of time before the lights/music go off – maybe 15 minutes or more.

I stepped into the 25 inch deep water in the tank. It smelled a little strange and the air felt somewhat steamy. The water was warmer than I expected.  The tank was large – not like those tiny pods you sometimes see for floating. I could stand up easily. Music was playing softly and the blue lights were on under the water and like little stars on the ceiling of the tank.

Technically, you are supposed to shut the tank door to shut out noise/distraction, but after a recent stint in an MRI machine, I wasn’t feeling like I wanted to be closed in. I left the door slightly open. I laid down and immediately was floating without even trying. Cool! But, my neck was really uncomfortable. I grabbed the little float pillow –  it reminded me of a tiny toilet seat – and put it under my head. That didn’t work. I tried different locations on my head, then my neck/head, then just my neck . . . Nothing was working!

It wasn’t just uncomfortable, my neck really hurt. It was like it just couldn’t relax. I got so frustrated at one point I considered getting out and calling it quits. Geez, Annette! You haven’t even been in here long enough for the lights to go out and the music to stop. You can do this! As I sat up trying to make a plan for how to get comfortable, it hit me that my shoulder injury was probably my problem.

All of the muscles in my shoulder were busy trying to support my injury and wouldn’t relax. I needed to support my shoulder. I put the float pillow under my shoulder blades and slightly under my neck. Suddenly the pain in my neck was gone and I could float comfortably. Thank goodness!!

Finally, I could do the float thing. I was super tired, so I closed my eyes hoping I would doze off. Then the music faded and the lights went out. Suddenly I was in complete darkness. Not just dark, but DARK! Nope! Can’t do this! I need light! I began feeling around on the wall for the button the turned the lights back on. It was so dark, I had no sense of where I was in the tank and I couldn’t find the buttons anywhere.

How is it possible that I can’t find that button. It’s huge! As I continued my panicked groping around in the darkness, I must have either pushed on the door and moved it, or stuck my hand out of the opening and triggered the motion sensor that turned the lights on in the outer room. Oh thank goodness! Light! I was able to see the button and push it to turn the star-like lights on above me. Back to that floating thing.

Floating was strange in many ways. Finding a comfortable position isn’t like lying in bed. Your arms don’t lay down, they kind of pop up. It’s hard to figure out what to do with them. When you move, you feel like you have to be cautious not to change your center of balance or you kind of tip sideways. Not that you’d fall over. It’s just a very strange sensation.

As I laid there, it seemed like I could feel my toes pruning up. But I could see that my fingers weren’t pruny. Strange! I set my hand on my stomach and could feel the dried salt where I wasn’t underwater. I kept worrying about getting the salt water in my ears. It seemed like I could feel it going in. I had to remind myself that the earplugs were most likely doing their job.

After awhile my legs started feeling stiff. I wanted to bend my knees. I wondered if it would be possible to lie on my side in a fetal position. That seemed like a definite recipe for saltwater in my ears, so I didn’t try. (I’m still wondering if that is possible.) Instead I just cautiously bent my knees and moved my legs around periodically.

Tried as I might, I couldn’t fall asleep. I just laid there staring at the blue “stars” above me wondering how long I had been in there. I had no sense of time. That was really bugging me. Did I have 15 minutes left or 45? I couldn’t even guess. Eventually, my attempts at relaxing hit the limit. I had to distract myself. I counted the stars on the ceiling. Seriously. I counted 152.

Then I counted backwards from 100. Next I played an alphabet category game in my head – attempting to list an article of clothing for each letter of the alphabet. Oh! My! Gosh! Am I done yet?  Trying to relax had changed to an exercise in endurance. When the music came back on and all the lights came up, I was so happy to have lasted the entire time and to finally be done. Yea, I really suck at relaxing.

I got out slowly and went over to the shower to wash the saltwater off. I looked down at the palm of my hand and it looked blue – like I could see all the veins. What the heck? It didn’t feel cold. A few moments later I looked at my hands again and they looked normal. I don’t know if it was the floating that did that or if my eyes were seeing blue after being in blue light for an hour.

After showering and getting dressed I headed to the Dry Bar to deal with my hair. While there were blow dryers available in the room, I just used the mirror to put my hair up and make sure I was somewhat presentable before heading out.

After my float, I wasn’t really sure how I felt. Was I relaxed? I didn’t feel as tired as I had when I went in, even though I hadn’t slept. Maybe my body had relaxed even though my mind wasn’t stellar at the process. I expected my skin to feel really dry afterwards, but it felt strangely soft. I figured soaking my body in Epsom salt had to be a good thing. It always helps when I have sore feet. But again, I couldn’t really tell – particularly thinking about my injured shoulder. But, I can say it definitely didn’t feel worse!

While I ended the float trying to distract myself, I will say that for awhile my brain was focused on other things like how the floating felt. And, even when I was focused on making it to the end, at least I wasn’t thinking about the stressful things that can fill your head at times. So, I guess in a funny way, my brain did take a little break along with my body. Yea, it was kind of forced relaxation. But, for some of us, that’s the only way it will happen.

Need to relax? Try a float and see what you think. Right now Soak Box in Wilsonville is offering Run Oregon readers a discount code for 50% off your first service! Just type in “run” when you book your first session online.