I want to explore things in New York like I do in other
countries. I may not be able to go on a
quickie safari but there are tons of crazy shit New Yorkers do that would make
even a lion’s head turn. Like, pay $100
to be locked in a pod that deprives you of your senses.
I heard about the sensory deprivation tanks from the book I’m
reading, Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks.
The book shares examples of how people who lose their sight, hearing, or
even who have an extended period of lack of stimulation in their landscapes
(desert, solitary confinement), can start to hallucinate. Charles Bonnet syndrome is found in people
who can hallucinate whole scenes in front of them but do not have sight. Musical Ear Syndrome is when there is loss of
auditory function and yet the person can hear music or people talking. People can even hallucinate feelings if they’ve
lost their sense of touch.
In an experiment to test hallucinations, people were put in
a sensory deprivation tank for a long period of time and many started to
hallucinate. So I signed me and my
friend Hannah up for back to back hour sessions at a sensory tank in Gramercy. Because New York and Adventure and
Hallucinations and Africa Doesn’t Have This.
I got to the “spa” early.
Hannah had already started her tank time and I wanted to hear about her
experience before I went in. The spa was
basically this old dude’s house with women and their long grey hair sitting in
various corners participating in the spa services. Such services included: Cem Tech-
Communicates with the Body’s Cellular Structure Use Millimeter Wave Technology,
Biomat- The Combination of Far Infrared Light, Negative Ions and Amethyst
Quartz Crystals Opens the Channels for Intelligent Cellular DNA repair and
Total Body Wellness. There was a women
behind a curtain sitting on a full body vibrator. It was awkward.
When Hannah came out she looked all zenny. Thing is, she is zenny. She’s a meditator who’s done silent retreats
and stuff so she was able to completely zone out and lose herself in
there. I didn’t have such high
expectations for myself. My goal was just to not get too bored and hopefully
hallucinate a medieval carnival.
When it was time, I was led into a small bathroom, given
earplugs, and told to shower before entering the tank. The “tank” was an oldish bathtub with sliding
doors painted black to block out all light.
The temperature was regulated at 93 degrees Fahrenheit to closely match
body temperature. The water was filled
with pounds of Epsom salts to keep the body floating.
I started out by trying to cheat the system by trying to not
float. It’s nearly impossible! You’re
completely buoyant. It is a strange
sensation. You can’t see or hear
anything and you start to lose your sense of self. As a dancer-atheist-scientist, I see myself
as my body, not as something inside my body.
But this somewhat falling apart, lukewarm bathtub challenged that. I couldn’t feel a body or a space and was
completely my mind. And so my mind
drifted. “What if I were a corpse
floating in a vat of embalming fluid?” Was my main thought. And when I got bored of that I thought about
what I wanted to eat for dinner. 45
minutes passed relatively quickly and then I got bored of not hallucinating so
started to play games. What if I wiggled
only my pinky. Would that be enough to
propel myself into the tub’s wall on the left.
YES!
When my time was over, I showered and put on my clothes and
stepped outside. I felt like I was still
floating and was very calm. My mind completely
serene from lack of senses. And then I stepped
down the stairs and into the subway and saw a man jacking off to the Bible.
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| I did not "come home" |
