THE FLOAT TANK CURE FREE YOURSELF FROM STRESS, ANXIETY, AND PAIN THE NATURAL WAY by SHANE STOTT The author and publisher have taken reasonable precautions in the preparation of this book and believe the facts presented in the book are accurate as of the date it was written. However, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for any errors or omissions. The author and publisher specifcally disclaim any liability resulting from the use or application of the information contained in this book, and the information is not intended to serve as legal, fnancial or other professional advice related to individual situations. Published by Shane Stott Printed by DiggyPOD Tecumseh, MI www.diggypod.com Copyright © 2015 by Shane Stott All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, contact Shane Stott at [email protected] Edited by: Amy Anderson (andersoncontent.com) Layout and Page Design by: Jason Malaska Cover design by: Ralph N. and Jef Holmes Online Content Creation by: Jaymie Tarshis (jaymietarshis.com) ISBN: 978-0-9966257-0-8 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper First Edition CONTENTS INTRODUCTION:............................................12 The Break The Descent The Hope The Cure The Career CHAPTER 1:..................................................... 28 WHAT IS FLOATING The First Floaters My Quest for a Tank What Happens When You Float My First Real Float The Float Boom A Shift in Society CHAPTER 2:..................................................... 48 REDUCE STRESS Identify Your Stress Intake Overload ADHD for Everyone Being Your Own Worst Enemy Fight Stress from the Inside Out vi Chapter 3:........................................................ 72 BUILD A SHIELD AGAINST ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION Letting the Universe Step In The State Of Anxiety When Anxiety Turns to Panic The State of Float Your Brain on Floating The Black Cloud of Depression A Word About Medication Natural Solutions to Depression or Anxiety Living with PTSD Floating for PTSD Relief Chapter 4:......................................................100 RELIEVE PHYSICAL PAIN AND OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE Pain Relief Optimizing Athletic Performance Chapter 5:..................................................... 120 FIND YOUR FLOAT HABIT Spiritual Exploration Where to Float How Often to Float The Float Cure Acknowledgements................................... 140 Additional Resources.................................. 142 Cited Sources................................................ 144 vii FORWARD I first floated in my basement in a float tank that was Frankensteins’ monster, built from a farming fertilizer tank and a collection of aquarium parts. My friends thought I was building an over sized water coffin, but it was the opposite. My life was a fragile mess, my mind a constant static louder than channel 72 after a late night infomercial, and I needed solace. That night, I found it. Floating in that dark tank, suspended by lukewarm salt water, I felt like I was floating in orbit, untouched by gravity. The silence was visceral, and the effect profound. My journey from then to now being owner of a float tank manufacturing company has been a long one. Sometimes lonely, sometimes scary. And its’ why I do what I do. I want to share the power of the float with anybody out there who like me is looking for solace. For silence. For more meaning. For a deeper connection. This book is for you. Its’ meant to be your guide as you make the journey, and the discovery that I did. Happy Floating, -Shane Stott This book is dedicated to adversity. Thanks for the great story. HE WHO KNOWS HIMSELF IS ENLIGHTENED. -LAO TZU INTRODUCTION ’m Shane Stott, and I’m grateful to say that today my life is pretty damn good. I live in Utah. I’m married to Ian incredible woman named Jamie. We are the proud parents to a baby boy named Grayson and a couple of fur babies, Weezy and Indy. Life has turned out really nice for me. Especially given the fact that about ten years ago I wasn’t sure I was going to keep living it. At the time I was in a huge battle in Los Angeles, far away from where I had grown up in Utah. Don’t get me wrong: The battle was in my head. It was 2005 and I was in trade school for music production. I had a dream of becoming a record producer. School, networking, my job—it was all stressful. I worked long hours and many weekends, sometimes spending all day in the recording studio. I would trade a good night’s sleep for a head start on a project. I would trade a day of enjoyment and relaxation for a chance at INTRODUCTION a new opportunity. I was cutting out all the pieces of a balanced life in exchange for a dream. I didn’t realize it yet, but I was selling my happiness and well-being for what I thought was success. What’s funny about the onset of a mental disorder is that everything can seem to be going just “fne.” It’s like living two lives—you can take the good view or you can look at the reality underneath. Good view: I was graduating school in Los Angeles and working on a great career in the music industry. I was paying my dues and earning my stripes by working long hours and learning my craft. I had a job in the recording industry, and I was meeting great people to advance my career. Reality: I was in a new place with no family or close friends for support. I was in a broken long distance relationship, and because I was stubborn, I wasn’t reaching out to anybody for help. The long days, nights, and weekends were catching up to me, and my anxieties were growing to unmanageable levels. I was drinking after the long days in an efort to force myself into relaxation. It would work for the night, but the next morning my mental state would be worse. Each day I worked hard and forgot about my fears for a few hours, only to repeat the process that night. Behind closed doors, I was falling into a dark place. The people I worked with were empathetic, and my girlfriend eventually moved out to Los Angeles to live with me. But secretly I felt all alone. 13 THE FLOAT TANK CURE “I was selling my happiness and well-being for what I thought was success.” I was constantly thinking, “I don’t feel good, I feel sad, I feel stressed, I’m not sure how long I can do this,” but I would put some event or goal just out of reach so I was forced to keep running for happiness. I just needed to get my girlfriend out to live with me, fnish this project, make a little more money, get some more sleep, and on and on. The truth is nothing I could do, achieve, or accomplish was going to fx the way I felt inside. I was sprinting through a marathon race. I was searching for happiness and life fulfllment outside of me. THE BREAK In the fall of 2005, my company attended a trade show in Las Vegas. We had prepared for weeks prior to the trip. The plan was to work our booth and get more clients into our recording company. I was in charge of building the booth and had spent the week leading up to departure working 16-hour days. Before the show I pulled an all-nighter and then drove to Vegas with the crew. The pressure and lack of sleep added to my already spiraling anxiety. I was like a thread pulled so taught I could feel myself fraying. Once in Vegas, we got everything set up thanks to a constant stream of energy drinks and cofee, and somehow I made it through the frst day. That night we 14 INTRODUCTION decided to celebrate. Oh how I wish we would have celebrated by getting some sleep! Instead, I drank all night and don’t remember much of anything. I don’t know how, but the next day, we got up and worked the second day of the show fueled by more energy drinks and cofee. But this time, something was diferent. I felt tremors run through my body. My eyelids constantly twitched. I was scared by the symptoms, but I kept moving. Later that night at dinner as we sat around the table, someone mentioned that I had seemed pretty out of it since the night before. Like a zombie. Like I wasn’t even there. But I was there. Only I felt like I was in a constant state of fear and that my world was barely held together in my mind. After dinner I went back to my room and got in bed to try and calm down. What is wrong with me? Why do I feel this impending sense of doom like my life is going to collapse? I felt like I was going crazy, and the thought crushed me. My heart sank. My uncle had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was eighteen years old. His whole life collapsed into a mess. Our entire family was afected, and I grew up hearing and seeing the pain it caused. Even as a kid, I worried that this kind of mental collapse could happen to me. As my anxiety incapacitated me and fear overtook me in that hotel room, I became convinced I was headed down the same road as my uncle. I was terrifed of my own mind and what I saw as a bleak future flled with 15 THE FLOAT TANK CURE heartache for everyone I loved.