Thursday is the end of the workweek in Kuwait. Sunday is our Monday, and Thursday is the happy day. When I first arrived here 24 years ago, Wednesday was our Friday, and Saturday was Monday. Well, then Kuwait decided that for global business dealings, it was more convenient to have at least one day of the weekend in common with other countries, hence the day adjustments.
It took some time to adjust to TGIT, and I still sometimes refer to Thursday as Friday, but I am a slow learner. So, after a second full week back at the university, my friend and I decided we would give sensory deprivation, float pods, a try to reacclimatize ourselves to the workweek.
Well, I don't know if this is a recreated memory or not, but many years ago, when this concept first came out, I had the image of an actual huge dark tank that was filled with deep black water. That was highly triggering to me and my issues with water. I think there was a movie in the 80s with a tank...and then sprang the fear around catching AIDS from the water, so it never really took off like gangbusters as far as I know. Needless to say, I never tried these pods in the US low those many years ago.
Flash forward 20+ years to last night.
And here we are, entering this zone of quiet and calm, readying ourselves to step into a float pod of the 21st century. The sessions are 1 hour. A whole hour can really stretch itself out, now, mind you, remember those exercises in school where you must stand until you think a minute has passed, and it seems like eternity? Well, just magnify that times 100. But, I must say, that after getting used to the feeling of being an embryo with legroom, (the pounds of epsom salt turn the pod into a mini-Dead Sea) it was very relaxing. The temperature of the water and air in the pod is synchronized in such a way that one cannot really differentiate between water and air, nor where your limbs are in either.
It took some time to adjust to TGIT, and I still sometimes refer to Thursday as Friday, but I am a slow learner. So, after a second full week back at the university, my friend and I decided we would give sensory deprivation, float pods, a try to reacclimatize ourselves to the workweek.
Well, I don't know if this is a recreated memory or not, but many years ago, when this concept first came out, I had the image of an actual huge dark tank that was filled with deep black water. That was highly triggering to me and my issues with water. I think there was a movie in the 80s with a tank...and then sprang the fear around catching AIDS from the water, so it never really took off like gangbusters as far as I know. Needless to say, I never tried these pods in the US low those many years ago.
Flash forward 20+ years to last night.
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| Sensory Deprivation Pod |
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| Calma- Kuwait, Symphony Mall |
Strange things do happen to the mind when it has latitude though, when it has no input from senses. It just starts to run hogwild and reel off everything that has happened, everything that has been said and done to, from, around, or near you in the last 20 years, and every little dust bunny thought hiding in the unswept corners of the mind. I found that utilizing prayer, and mantras helped to quiet my mind and give it some reassuring parameters.
All in all, it was a nice experience, a calming way to start the weekend, and great way to live out TGIT.
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