My Lesson In Learning To Unplug

Can you really unplug?

I love living in New York City – there is absolutely no place on earth like it. The constant activity is energizing, the pace, addictive. It took me a few months to adapt to living the city life – no car, walking everywhere, public transportation and the noise – the noise is constant, but eventually, you do adjust. You learn to sleep through loud neighbors, the hum of traffic, horn honking, sirens and frankly, the constant din that surrounds everyday living. The down side is that you rarely unplug – you never have absolute, true silence.

My chiropractor opened a new space where you can “unplug”. He has been telling me about it for months – tells me I will love the sensory deprivation tank where you can float in silence and darkness for an hour. I am thinking, cool, sounds awesome, rejuvenating, totally healthy as I am sure my body needs to unplug for an hour. And then I thought about it – an hour, in total silence and darkness? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR AN HOUR? I have a hard enough time trying to mediate for 10 minutes during yoga without my brain wondering who is calling, texting, emailing and what my next social media post should be – how can I see and hear nothing for AN HOUR?! Not to mention floating in a tub of water with the salt content of the Dead Sea…I figured at least I won’t drown, although my hairdresser may not be happy.

I decided to give it a try – after all, it is supposed to be healthy to unplug, especially living in the city that never sleeps. As I talked to the spa hostess who was showing my the tank, shower and what I was supposed to do, I figured I could always get out before my hour was up. I was nervous enough about the silence so I asked them to leave the music on so I wouldn’t go totally crazy.

The Float

I climbed into the tank realizing I was totally exhausted, it was as if my body was already welcoming the chance to be in a state of relaxation. As I started to float, my body started to relax, the tense and tight muscles started to release – I thought about each muscle group and focused on letting go and allowing the water to support my body. I started to breathe deep cleansing breaths and then focused on trying to quiet my mind. After all, I had no where to go and nothing to do for an hour. My phone was off and everyone would just have to wait.

They say where the mind goes, so will the body, although in this case, where the body goes, so goes the mind. As my body started to relax, so did the constant chatter in my head. Floating without feeling like sinking was amazing – as my entire body relaxed, my brain started to quiet. As I gently floated, I realized I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. The five senses were all quiet – the only feeling was the water on my skin.

Yes, you CAN learn to unplug

When my time was up, I was proud of myself – I did it – I had let my body and mind completely unplug. The music I asked to be on actually never even started which I realized was a good thing as I needed complete silence. I actually felt more relaxed than I had in a long time and wasn’t sure I even wanted to turn my phone back on! Ok, that feeling lasted about 20 minutes, but still, I had done something I rarely do and frankly, find insanely challenging – I unplugged and I ENJOYED it!

Thanks Chill Space for helping me learn to unplug!

www.chillspacenyc.com

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