Will Blower
17-04-07, 04:01 PM
Over the years I have tried many different things to over come the panic attacks that have blighted my life.
I found my GP to be next to useless as all he wanted to do was prescribe drugs of one description or another and I knew that was not a route I wanted to go down as I suspected drug dependency would lead to bigger problems further down the line
I've suffered with panic attacks since I was 14 years old and to be honest I never really know when or where they'll happen. Sometimes I could be in the most fantastically unusual environments, such as meeting new people, being in a unusual place and wouldn’t have a problem.
Whereas I might do something that I do every day like catching the tube to work and nine times out of ten I'll be fine, on the 10th time I'd have a problem. Usually my breathing became shallow, I started to sweat and I became very aware of my heart beat and beating rhythm. Usually this was such an unpleasant experience that I used to find it would ruin my whole day, leaving me feeling completely shattered.
In the past I tried Yoga classes, Shiatsu, Acupuncture and a whole host of other alternative therapies and as I think about it I probably tried most of them.
About six months ago someone from Edinburgh recommended that I try a floatation tank, which wasn't something that I had even heard of. Luckily I found there was a centre which was closer to home.
I did a bit of research and asking around and I found a company called the Floatworks at London Bridge http://www.floatworks.com
They had a nice web site, but to be honest the idea of shutting myself away in a dark tank full of salty water made my slightly anxious to say the least.
I sent an email to the centre and to be honest they couldn’t have been friendlier, having fully explained the whole process to me in lots of detail by email I decided to book myself in. As I had expressed concerns and because I had also mentioned my panic attacks the owner of the business kindly made sure I was there when I visited.
Firstly I was given instructions to read and then the whole thing was explained to me in lots of detail, and after that I was taken through to my own private room where the whole thing was explained in more detail. The tanks where far more attractive than I imagine and my room was a private one – with shower, changing area and floatation pod.
Basically you just get in to the pod, the buoyancy of the salt takes over and you are pushed to the surface, with gravity pushing down at about the same strength, you end up in a zero gravity situation. This allows your body to reach the highest physical relaxation possible. Interesting the water is the same temperature as your skin, so after a short time you can tell what part of the body is in the water and what is out. If you don’t move too much and don’t think of too much your body just disappears and you are just left with yourself. All sounds at bit I am sure, but it was the most fantastic experience, like sleepy but being awake at the same time. I was latter informed that the floatation induces the same effect as very deep meditation but without the effort that is associated with learning this discipline.
I’m not sure where the time went but the hour went by very quickly…. At the start of the session they play soft and gentle music for the first 10 minutes and after that you get 50 minutes of silence, which sounds like a long time but it went very quickly and then the music comes on back at the end to indicate the session is over.
Afterwards I felt as if my mind had been given a spring clean, almost as if some one had hit my reset button. In fact I felt clearer and happier than I had in ages. That night I had the most amazingly deep and refreshing sleep I think I’ve ever had
I’ve been to this centre once a month since then, I feel so on top of things and I’ve not had a panic attach since. I can’t really understand exactly how this has happened as I really didn’t think I was someone who suffered from stress but only panic attacks.
I feel like I’ve been given my life back and would recommend it to anyone, the owner of the centre told me that I had a very positive response and said that sometimes it takes a couple of sessions to get the effect I did
I found my GP to be next to useless as all he wanted to do was prescribe drugs of one description or another and I knew that was not a route I wanted to go down as I suspected drug dependency would lead to bigger problems further down the line
I've suffered with panic attacks since I was 14 years old and to be honest I never really know when or where they'll happen. Sometimes I could be in the most fantastically unusual environments, such as meeting new people, being in a unusual place and wouldn’t have a problem.
Whereas I might do something that I do every day like catching the tube to work and nine times out of ten I'll be fine, on the 10th time I'd have a problem. Usually my breathing became shallow, I started to sweat and I became very aware of my heart beat and beating rhythm. Usually this was such an unpleasant experience that I used to find it would ruin my whole day, leaving me feeling completely shattered.
In the past I tried Yoga classes, Shiatsu, Acupuncture and a whole host of other alternative therapies and as I think about it I probably tried most of them.
About six months ago someone from Edinburgh recommended that I try a floatation tank, which wasn't something that I had even heard of. Luckily I found there was a centre which was closer to home.
I did a bit of research and asking around and I found a company called the Floatworks at London Bridge http://www.floatworks.com
They had a nice web site, but to be honest the idea of shutting myself away in a dark tank full of salty water made my slightly anxious to say the least.
I sent an email to the centre and to be honest they couldn’t have been friendlier, having fully explained the whole process to me in lots of detail by email I decided to book myself in. As I had expressed concerns and because I had also mentioned my panic attacks the owner of the business kindly made sure I was there when I visited.
Firstly I was given instructions to read and then the whole thing was explained to me in lots of detail, and after that I was taken through to my own private room where the whole thing was explained in more detail. The tanks where far more attractive than I imagine and my room was a private one – with shower, changing area and floatation pod.
Basically you just get in to the pod, the buoyancy of the salt takes over and you are pushed to the surface, with gravity pushing down at about the same strength, you end up in a zero gravity situation. This allows your body to reach the highest physical relaxation possible. Interesting the water is the same temperature as your skin, so after a short time you can tell what part of the body is in the water and what is out. If you don’t move too much and don’t think of too much your body just disappears and you are just left with yourself. All sounds at bit I am sure, but it was the most fantastic experience, like sleepy but being awake at the same time. I was latter informed that the floatation induces the same effect as very deep meditation but without the effort that is associated with learning this discipline.
I’m not sure where the time went but the hour went by very quickly…. At the start of the session they play soft and gentle music for the first 10 minutes and after that you get 50 minutes of silence, which sounds like a long time but it went very quickly and then the music comes on back at the end to indicate the session is over.
Afterwards I felt as if my mind had been given a spring clean, almost as if some one had hit my reset button. In fact I felt clearer and happier than I had in ages. That night I had the most amazingly deep and refreshing sleep I think I’ve ever had
I’ve been to this centre once a month since then, I feel so on top of things and I’ve not had a panic attach since. I can’t really understand exactly how this has happened as I really didn’t think I was someone who suffered from stress but only panic attacks.
I feel like I’ve been given my life back and would recommend it to anyone, the owner of the centre told me that I had a very positive response and said that sometimes it takes a couple of sessions to get the effect I did
