they should call it "urban time travel"

(actual photograph, inside
the sensory deprivation tank.)

"...you are suspended effortlessly in a super saturated solution of epsom salt and water within a light and sound controlled environment that reduces sensory stimulation and effectively suspends the effects of gravity on the central nervous system."

~ urban float

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my preconceived notion about a sensory deprivation tank experience was that it would be a transitory, transcendent event. i was sort of right. 

the tank is actually a time machine.

floating in complete darkness, i couldn't hear a thing...but i could feel my heartbeat. relaxing into the weightlessness, my mind quickly went to "the zone," where i became aware of being aware:

"feed me, seymore."

"my hair is touching the top of the tank."
"my foot is touching the side of the tank."
"i'm doing play-by-play of touching the tank. stop it."
"i'm giving myself in-tank instructions."
"this zone is just like the running zone. without the exertion."
"{random scenes from running at sun mountain and discovery park}"
"i'm composing a blog post inside my head inside the tank."
"time's up? what? that can't be right. i've been in here, like, 10 minutes."

which brings us to the point, such as it is. my brain's chronometer said ten minutes. the actual clock, unimpressed, said an hour.

inescapable conclusion: time travel.

administrative note: i was awake and aware throughout. i wasn't dreaming ~ this zone was something more and different. whether it was caused by temporary freedom from gravity, disconnecting from external senses, or a combination of other somethings, i accelerated into a meditative calm i've only achieved previously through activity like running or yoga.

in that state, time does weird things.

***********
random, idle observation: the premise of "sensory deprivation" contradicts the necessity of depending on our senses to stay alive. an animal deprived of its senses tends to become a meal. quickly. like fast food, but with messy predation instead of a drive-through.

thankfully, urban float is not a jungle. at no time did i feel a threat from higher up the food chain. then again, who knows what was roaming the halls while i was entanked? with time travel, anything is possible.

***********
i wonder, now, how long in the tank it would take to really get epiphanous. to reach out and touch the cosmos with the mind. two hours? four? a week? i'd be up for finding out, but that would cost about a zillion dollars. for that, we could buy our own tank and get completely zen. i'm sure our children and dogs and cats wouldn't mind us disappearing for days at a time.

then again...that money would buy a lot of running shoes.