Weightless Float Center, a float tank center located in Distillery Commons that also offers massage, infrared saunas, and yoga, is nearing its second birthday. There is one other float tank facility in Louisville that I’m aware of, Acqua Wellness, which is located near the intersection of Westport Road and Springhurst Boulevard at the edge of Jefferson County, but Weightless is the one that I’d been seeing and hearing so much about that I was so intrigued I had to visit, and is the subject of this review.
Since June 2017, I’ve floated 8 times, and floating has become a core component of my self-care regimen. I would do it every single day if I could.
Why Float?
For over a decade, I’ve been hearing about the potential benefits of flotation tanks, which are also sometimes known as sensory deprivation tanks. I first heard of them in 2006 as a possible pain relief method for fibromyalgia, and was intrigued, but by the time of my first visit, I hoped to use floats to combat the sensory overstimulation and anxiety issues I’ve increasingly had for the last few years. The underlying theory is that when your mind is freed from dealing with the constant stream of sensory input, you are then free to think more deeply than normal, or you can simply relax and float if you’re so inclined.
Price and Website
At Weightless, $65 gets you a 90 minute float, which is 30 more mins than Acqua offers for the same price. I think 90 mins is the perfect amount of time. More than 90 mins is probably too much, especially when you’re new to it. Less than 90 mins, and the float is over just as it’s getting good- you might be surprised at how long it takes to settle in, especially when you’re new. Weightless offers a package of 3 floats for $135 to new customers, and they also offer additional packages as well as memberships. Every so often, they’ll have a sale, which is nice.
You schedule your float on their website, and their website offers the ability to specify which of their 2 float tanks you’d like, which is a nice touch. Should you like to schedule an infrared sauna session, you can schedule that on their website as well. Their website also offers the ability to join a waitlist for a certain time slot in case there is a cancellation. After you schedule your float, you are sent an electronic waiver to complete, which only takes a few mins.
Tank 1 and Tank 2
Weightless has 2 different tanks, pics/video of each can be seen on their website. Tank 1 is the one in most of their float pics, the one that looks kind of like an egg, whereas Tank 2 is a bit more angular. Which tank you prefer will likely depend on your body type as well as your float style. Generally, people either tend to float with their arms out, or up.
Tank 1 is meant to be used with your arms out, so it’s a bit wider. To open, you lift the door up DeLorean-style, step in, turn around, then I usually take a knee, close the door from the inside, and settle in. The bottom of its opening is lower to the ground than Tank 2. Inside is a shelf with a neck cushion, a freshwater spritz bottle, and washcloths.
Tank 2 is meant to be used with your arms up, so it’s a bit longer. The door is like a normal door, you open it, then step in the same way. The spritz bottle and washcloths are secured to the outside of the tank. Both have grab bars/areas for getting in and out, which is really nice to have.
Both tanks are great, I regularly use both, but I prefer Tank 1. I float with my arms out, and it feels more natural for me. Further, I have short legs, so it’s easier for me to get in and out of Tank 1. That said, if you’re tall, I think you’ll likely prefer Tank 2, and appreciate the extra length so you can stretch out. I like that Weightless offers 2 different kinds of float tanks, so you can have a good experience no matter what body type or float style you have.
Float Logistics
I eat and begin limiting water intake (particularly caffeine) a few hours beforehand. I leave in plenty of time, so I don’t feel rushed or stressed, and I keep it as calm as possible the whole way. I usually don’t play any music on the way over, and if I do it’s almost always Echoes, from Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii album. I arrive early and chill for a few mins before going inside. I limit light, and I don’t look at screens more than absolutely necessary.
When you enter the building, the vibe is very chill. There are some seats to park yourself in, and a shoe organizer with various sizes of sandals to put on, you can either leave your shoes+socks there or take them into the float room with you.
Each tank room has a shower in the room that you use prior to floating, a bench to disrobe, and a few toiletries including 2 different kinds of earplugs (I bring my own earplugs, ones used for swimming,) as well as shampoo, conditioner, I believe body wash, and some Q-Tips. If it’s your first time floating at Weightless, the staff will show you where everything is, and how to use everything- where the restroom is, where the light switch in the room is, where the toiletries and towel is, where the lights in the tank are and how to turn them off, how you know your float is over (music begins playing,) and the order you need to do everything in.
Before your float, you will want to use the restroom, and limiting fluids a few hours beforehand is helpful. Before you float, you take a brief shower, and the staff will remind you to insert to insert your earplugs before showering to ensure your ears remain dry. They will also remind you not to run your water temperature too hot, or you’ll be cold once you’re inside the tank. (Pro tip: when showering before your float, dry your face completely before getting into the tank, as it’ll prevent feeling trickles of water down your face, which can be a bit annoying.) After your float is finished, you’ll shower again, and I think the restroom sinks have a hair dryer you can use if you want. They have 2 nice lounges where you can sit before and after your float. There is water you can drink, sometimes they make tea. There are books and magazines to read. I got some writing done before my last float sitting in their newest lounge.
Weightless Float Center has 2 float tanks. In each, there is a neck cushion in case you have trouble laying completely flat, a freshwater spritz bottle, and washcloths in case you get water in your eyes. You can wear a bathing suit or not, whatever you’re comfortable with, but I believe most people choose not to because it removes stimulus. I believe each tank is wired to allow hooking up a phone to play music or meditation, but I’ve never done that, and I believe most discourage that because the idea is to remove stimulation instead of adding it. There are lights in the room that will turn off automatically after detecting no motion in the room for 5 minutes, as well as other lights you can leave on if you’d like to. Each tank has internal lights you can use if you’d like to, and you can choose to leave the tank door open if you’d be more comfortable.
I am often asked whether people sleep in tanks. I never have, but I’m told that some people do. There’s nothing unsafe about it, you certainly could if you wanted to. I feel like it would be incredibly difficult to forget not to turn over, but if someone did forget and tried to turn over, that supercharged salt water entering their eyes, nose, and mouth would bring a quick end to their nap!
Traveling Without Moving
I float with the tank door closed, and all the lights off. Once you shut that tank door and stretch out, especially once the motion sensor lights in the room go off, disorientation begins pretty much immediately. Don’t berate yourself if you have a momentary freak out; I did my first time even though I knew what was happening and was enjoying it. It’s normal. 900 lbs of salt in 10 inches of water means that you’re floating pretty high in the water, and both the temperature of that water as well as the temperature of the air is your body’s temperature, so you quickly lose track of where the air and water end, and where you begin. Except for your ears, which are beneath the surface, you’re floating so high in the water that you rarely feel the bottom of the tank, and you rarely feel the sides unless you brush against one. It is almost entirely silent, and once the lights in the room go off, it is pitch black.
If it sounds intense to you, that’s because it is. It’s intense as hell. I love it. Absolutely love it.
Much of your first float will be spent figuring out what feels best for you when floating- whether or not you need to use the neck cushion, arm placement, and physically relaxing enough to truly align to the experience. This is the hardest part for me, because I don’t remember a time I haven’t carried towering amounts of tension in my body, but the more you do it, the easier and faster it is for you to do, and the better you get at it. Relaxing is crucial to the process, because only after having relaxed as much as possible does it become possible to truly explore the possibilities of what you can use your tank time for.
What do you do? How do you use your tank time? Honey, you can use your tank time however you want to. Some people choose to meditate, others work to keep their mind as empty as possible. Some comedians use it to work on their material; I haven’t done that yet but I may in the future. I don’t have a set approach, I usually allow my mind to wander as long and as far as it wants to, and every single time I marvel at how well my mind chews through concepts when there are literally no distractions, when I’m not trying to catch a brainwave while also having to fend off that my knees hurt and my hips hurt and how loud and bright it is. About 1/2 to 2/3 of the way in, I often get a sensation that I can’t quite describe. It’s a buzzing, electric sense of energy, but not really. It’s almost like aligning to an electric wavelength. It really does feel to me like motion of some sort, even though you’re not moving.
When your float is over, music will begin playing. (Pro tip: I tilt my face up when exiting the tank to prevent saltwater from getting in my eyes, in case I rubbed my face during my float and then forgot.) When I leave, I don’t listen to anything at all, and I perceive the world around me a little sharper and clearer. That night, and a night or 2 thereafter, when I go to bed, I can relax my back muscles in a way I haven’t been able to since high school. I usually sleep a little better.
What’s my favorite part? When I get in the tank, I turn my iPhone and Apple Watch off, and I don’t turn either one of them back on again until I get back out to my car. When I’m at Weightless, my time is my own. Unless I check in on Facebook beforehand, no one in the whole wide world except for the person at the desk knows where I am. No calls are coming in. No one will bother me.
I can breathe.