History of floatation

Dr John C Lilly

 We start with the floatation industry’s originating founder – Dr John C Lilly, a doctor and scientist, in 1957, he was a fearless seeker of deeper truths for humanity’s sake.

 Driven by some incredible intuition, he figured out that all it needs to effortlessly achieve the deepest relaxation state possible for a human being, is to float in a pool of warm salt water.  

 This quest cost him much – from a wealthy family, Caltech graduate in biology, University of Pennsylvania in medicine, at the beginning of his professional career he was working for the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda researching neurophysiology which is where the idea of the floatation tank was conceived.

 He moved on to experiments with dolphins (paid by NASA) and in parallel, delved into psychedelic drugs. It was the 1960s, and Lilly’s unrestricted exploration of the limits of human consciousness gained him the interest of enthusiastic followers but several unfortunate accidents with drugs along the way damaged his reputation as a scientist. 

 The idea of floatation stands today as Lilly’s greatest legacy – this pure, beautiful, simple tool to regain mental and physical balance.

art by Nicolas Rosenfeld