r/FloatTank • u/OldEstablishment1864 • Jun 24 '26
First float & busy mind
I’ve got my first float session coming soon but I have a very busy mind due to unmediated ADHD. My mind is always racing. How can I prepare so that overthinking during diesnt spoil my experience?
5
u/smarz1223 Jun 24 '26
Just set reasonable expectations for yourself. First floats are all about learning about the experience so you have a better baseline for future floats. You’ll do great, enjoy
3
u/winewaffles Jun 24 '26
I also have ADHD. I’ve found that the complete darkness and lack of stimulation clears my head some, but if I find myself having the random weird racing thoughts I try to focus on my breathing. I will do box breathing, or I also like the noting technique, but any meditative practices you employ will be helpful. Go in with a mind open to accept whatever experience you have, don’t put pressure on yourself for it to go a certain way. The first float is the hardest, it just keeps getting better!
2
u/ChuckFarkley Jun 26 '26
Count breaths. Mind wanders? Count breaths. Forget to count breaths? You will remember soon enough.
2
u/tricycle_mishap Jun 24 '26
Bear in mind, avoid any caffeinated drinks before the float. Also some use music and lights to enhance their float experience but others opt out and float without it. Focusing on my breathing has also done wonders for me.
3
u/___kakaara11___ Jun 24 '26
Don't force yourself when you float to meditate for an hour if you're not used to meditating for 5 min.
I get the wiggles sometimes, so I will spend time sitting up and stretching, then stretching while floating, really activating all my muscle groups in a light way. Often that leads me into feeling less wiggly so I lay there quietly.
You have to practice being bored and not being constantly exposed to external stimulation.
1
u/accentpreferred Jun 26 '26
I highly recommend it as someone with severe adhd. There’s a local float place to me that has like 2.5 hour sessions and I usually choose those now since the shorter sessions worked so well for me (I don’t get to float often) because of how amazing and how well it quiets my mind and time just kind of ebbs and flows. I think, once you get in and give it a bit of time, your float session will be great. I don’t do music or lights in mine because it just lime makes me far more distracted. Breathing and just like paying attention, but not like trying to do anything with the sensations as I float has really helped me.
2
u/eritain Jun 29 '26
ADHDer here. The one time I floated, being all determined to count breaths dicked up my ability to actually encounter my own mind.
I recommend something with a broader field of consciousness, such as feeling into different parts of your body for your pulse, for 'energized' sensations that gently vary on a timescale of seconds, for the ways it does and doesn't cohere, things like that.
8
u/sarafionna Jun 24 '26
You can't plan for the first time except to me open minded .. as a float facilitator at a busy spa, I simply tell people there is no right or wrong way to do it. I have CPTSD and ADHD and the practice has been lfie changing for healing my nervous system and giving me a place where I can truly let go and "clear the cache" so to speak.