Rubbed, Salty, And WET!
Mar. 18th, 2004 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mik3capNo, it's not pr0n spam. This simply describes my condition this afternoon at The Crystalline Matrix in Auburn.
The facility is right on Route 20 - sadly, trucks whiz by quite a lot, and there's a good bit of noise... but the inside of the place is totally done up and looks like a spa should. In addition to massage & polarity, they do yoga and floatation therapy; I believe they have at least eight rooms.
After massage, I was taken to the floatation room and took a shower (towels, robe, wrap, flip flops, toiletries - everything was provided for). The tank had the brand name Samadhi written on it, and it was about the size of half of a large jacuzzi. You put in some ear plugs, open the door and let yourself in, and then lay on ten inches of VERY SALTY water that is just below body temp. There's an underwater light that you can turn on or off (I turned it off), and fresh air is blown into the tank by a fan. Electronic synth tone music plays in the water, but you can't hear it until you lay your head down.
The water is extremely salty - if you taste it, it's awful (I didn't), and if it gets in your eyes, it burns (and it did... not sure if there's a good way to keep this from happening, but if it does happen you just have to grit your teeth and let your eye clean itself). The weird thing is that it's humid inside the tank, so areas of your body that get wet and dry become crusty with salt!
The first thing you notice is that you start hearing your heartbeat and breathing very loudly. It doesn't feel cramped, but there's a definite sense of enclosure... if you push around in the water, you'll hit the walls, but there's no sense of a ceiling at all. It took me a while to settle in the water, but after what seemed like a short time, I started to relax. And it felt BIZARRE because it was like my body was dissolving into the water. And, in general, it felt as if my sensation of touch was actually going away.
At first, without aural, visual, taste, or olfactory stimulation, my touch sense seemed a little more vivid; I hadn't shaved, so the skin on my beard was super scracthy, and I rubbed it a few times to see how it felt. When it seemed like that sense was diminishing, I actually started pinching myself a bunch to see if I could feel it, and it didn't really hurt that much. I'm not sure if it was because of the water/salt coating me or if my body/skin was just so warm and relaxed. Eventually I was able to completely relax and just lie there, but I was very conscious of the time passing (I have a good internal clock) and I could tell when the hour was going to be ending and got a little anxious.
They turn off the music and knock on the tank to get you out (you're supposed to knock back to let them know you heard). I turned the light on and sat up in the water - and then opened the door. And this sounds totally, completely goofy... but it kind of felt like being born. I was very, very energetic after the whole session, and I'm still feeling really up even a few hours later.
Overall, I recommend the experience. I think I'm going to try it again the next time I go, just because I know what to expect now - so maybe I can get into relaxation mode faster.
The facility is right on Route 20 - sadly, trucks whiz by quite a lot, and there's a good bit of noise... but the inside of the place is totally done up and looks like a spa should. In addition to massage & polarity, they do yoga and floatation therapy; I believe they have at least eight rooms.
After massage, I was taken to the floatation room and took a shower (towels, robe, wrap, flip flops, toiletries - everything was provided for). The tank had the brand name Samadhi written on it, and it was about the size of half of a large jacuzzi. You put in some ear plugs, open the door and let yourself in, and then lay on ten inches of VERY SALTY water that is just below body temp. There's an underwater light that you can turn on or off (I turned it off), and fresh air is blown into the tank by a fan. Electronic synth tone music plays in the water, but you can't hear it until you lay your head down.
The water is extremely salty - if you taste it, it's awful (I didn't), and if it gets in your eyes, it burns (and it did... not sure if there's a good way to keep this from happening, but if it does happen you just have to grit your teeth and let your eye clean itself). The weird thing is that it's humid inside the tank, so areas of your body that get wet and dry become crusty with salt!
The first thing you notice is that you start hearing your heartbeat and breathing very loudly. It doesn't feel cramped, but there's a definite sense of enclosure... if you push around in the water, you'll hit the walls, but there's no sense of a ceiling at all. It took me a while to settle in the water, but after what seemed like a short time, I started to relax. And it felt BIZARRE because it was like my body was dissolving into the water. And, in general, it felt as if my sensation of touch was actually going away.
At first, without aural, visual, taste, or olfactory stimulation, my touch sense seemed a little more vivid; I hadn't shaved, so the skin on my beard was super scracthy, and I rubbed it a few times to see how it felt. When it seemed like that sense was diminishing, I actually started pinching myself a bunch to see if I could feel it, and it didn't really hurt that much. I'm not sure if it was because of the water/salt coating me or if my body/skin was just so warm and relaxed. Eventually I was able to completely relax and just lie there, but I was very conscious of the time passing (I have a good internal clock) and I could tell when the hour was going to be ending and got a little anxious.
They turn off the music and knock on the tank to get you out (you're supposed to knock back to let them know you heard). I turned the light on and sat up in the water - and then opened the door. And this sounds totally, completely goofy... but it kind of felt like being born. I was very, very energetic after the whole session, and I'm still feeling really up even a few hours later.
Overall, I recommend the experience. I think I'm going to try it again the next time I go, just because I know what to expect now - so maybe I can get into relaxation mode faster.