It has always been one of the main assumptions of Western medicine and scientists who deal with the human body that it is necessary to make a distinction between the parts of the body over which we can exercise conscious control—known as the “voluntary” components—and those parts over which we have no conscious control—known as the “involuntary” components.
Among the components of our body thought to be involuntary were: the rhythm and amplitude of our brain waves, healing, blood vessel expansion and contraction, blood pressure, the rate and force of heart contractions, respiratory rate, smooth-muscle tension, the secretion of hormones, the sympathetic nervous system (which acts in the fight-or-flight response, revving us up to deal with a perceived threat), and the parasympathetic nervous system (which has the opposite effect, bringing about the “relaxation response,” calming us). In other words, every cell in the body is to a greater or lesser degree subject to “involuntary” control. Like slaves at the mercy of a powerful and unpredictable master who might at one moment use the whip and at the next soothe, we are forever chained to the “involuntary” system. It’s no wonder, given this view of the body, that the Western world emphasized the distinction between mind and body: The mind, subject to rational control, was cultivated and valued, while the body, with its unpredictable and involuntary urges, starts, alarms, and breakdowns, was dark, unknown, fearsome, to be resisted and overcome when possible.
Then, in the 1960s, with the development of sophisticated instruments to measure minute changes in the physical functions of laboratory animals, some scientists wondered what would happen to humans who were hooked up to these measuring devices, so that they could observe the activity of their own bodies. The early experiments consisted of measuring subjects’ brain waves, and the scientists discovered that within a few minutes most subjects could exercise control over their supposedly involuntary brain waves and could generate large quantities of alpha waves. As research progressed they found that they could “feed back” a signal monitoring not only brain waves but also galvanic skin response (which measures level of arousal), muscular tension, heart rhythms, the activity of internal organs, the temperature of various specific areas of skin—virtually any physical process that could be measured. More tantalizing, they discovered that whatever physical process could be measured, and fed back, could be brought under control. At first cautious, they became increasingly excited by the momentous nature of their discovery. Apparently the ancient distinction between voluntary and involuntary components of the human system had no true basis in fact; somehow humans can exercise control over virtually every cell in their bodies!
This last is no exaggeration. One researcher, John Basmajian, demonstrated that the control we have over our bodies is so sophisticated we can learn to manipulate a single specific neuron. Basmajian’s subjects, hooked up so they could monitor the firing of their single motor unit neurons, were quickly able to fire off these cells in rhythmic drum rolls, the paradiddles and flourishes played on a single cell out of the hundreds of millions of cells that compose the human body. How could this be done? To locate and control a single cell in the entire body should be more difficult than finding a single grain of sand in a desert.
But while biofeedback demonstrated the remarkable control we have over all parts of our bodies, the practical applications and use of biofeedback have been limited in several ways. For many people, simply being connected to a machine brings about certain physical changes: raised blood pressure, perhaps, inability to concentrate, or increased muscular tension. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that in the very act of measurement or observation, enough energy is released to change the system that is being observed. By extension, the principle implies that the act of hooking people up to machines that monitor or observe them will change the people being monitored.
The inherent stress of being attached to machines combines with another stress that is a type of “performance anxiety,” similar to that felt by students taking an exam. Because they know they are expected to succeed at something—let’s say increasing alpha waves—people with this kind of anxiety “choke,” and find it difficult if not impossible to succeed in creating the alpha state. When told that the secret is to let go, many people will try to let go until their neck veins bulge and they tremble with tension.
For these and other reasons, biofeedback researchers try to take the subjects off the machines as soon as possible, once they have learned what the correct response “feels” like. The researchers believe it is important for people to learn that they are themselves in control, not the machines, and that they can exercise self-regulation even better without the distraction of the machines. Ultimately, the machines are like training wheels, which must be discarded once the subject learns how to ride
It is essential to remember that the way biofeedback machines work is by a process of concentration: By focusing on a single, subtle change in the body, which is being amplified by the machine, we are able to shut off our awareness of the external environment; by turning our attention to an internal signal or state, we tune out the outside world, But this shutting off of external stimuli is exactly what the floatation tank does best. All floaters know the feeling of closing the door of the tank, sinking into the black void, and suddenly being able to hear every heartbeat pounding like a pile driver, blood pulsing through veins that cover the body like an exquisite lacework—every physical sensation is magnified, and because there is no possibility of outside distraction, we are able to focus at will upon any part or system of the body.
Clearly the floatation tank is, as numerous floaters have discovered, a natural biofeedback machine,
To use again the daylight/starlight metaphor, when we enter the tank we “turn off” the sunlight of external awareness, allowing those faint pinpoints of light to emerge as a network of bright stars. The faint body signals that we would ordinarily ignore, or which are drowned out, become powerful presences when we are in the floatation tank. And once those signals are known, it becomes as easy to control and manipulate them as it would be for someone trained on a biofeedback machine, without the drawbacks of biofeedback training.
In fact, evidence now indicates that conscious control over physical processes is gained more easily in floatation because intense awareness of internal signals is combined with the extraordinarily deep state of relaxation provided by the tank. Researchers have consistently noted that the most important prerequisite for attaining control over any body function through biofeedback is relaxation. Much of the early training for people learning to use biofeedback is given over to instruction and practice in deep relaxation. However, this state is not easy to attain in a laboratory setting, wired up to an BEG, EMG (electromyograph), or GSR (galvanic skin response) meter. In the tank, deep relaxation and its accompanying intensified awareness of internal states come rapidly, easily, and reliably. All that remains is for the floater to become aware of whatever internal state he wishes to control—blood pressure, release of endorphins, or muscular tension, for example—to monitor it through the intensified float awareness, and to assume control.