Joe Rogan, UFC personality, comedian, and podcaster extraordinaire has been one of the most vocal advocates of floating. Much credit can be given to him for the rise in popularity. In Joe’s words, “Your body gives you amazing energy. The tension release you have in your body from a couple of hours in the tank is incredible. You feel lighter. You feel like more oxygen is in your body. You feel more vibrant. And it’s because somehow you have calmed the tension.” 

How does Iron Man himself recover after pounding Thanos into dust? “Avengers” star Robert Downey Jr. has a tank installed in his home in Hollywood. 

Perennial NFL champs the New England Patriots recently installed floatation tanks in their stadium in order to help players and coaches achieve heightened states of rest. According to NBC Sports, QB Tom Brady is such a fan, he had a tank installed in his home so he can float in the off-season, too.

An hour in the tank and I’d come out relaxed, rested, my back feeling amazing, and in good shape to interact with normal, non-restraint people…Interestingly, I found that for a day or two after floating, my experience of colors and flavors would be much more acute and intense. Reds were redder, blues brighter, and the taste of food more explosive. Lying in the tank, I’d feel like I was moving through space, my brain speaking to itself in an unfamiliar language. I miss the tanks!

It’s pitch black in there…You shut the door. Music is playing low. (Played) some John Mayer radio to chill out. You really just float. It feels really weird at first. It’s good for your body. When you get up, it’s crazy. Your body is such dead weight

I really like the float tank because I feel like – along with massages – it gets all the soreness and stress and built-up blood from little bruises throughout your body. Video

Recently, I tried a float tank, which sounded insane to me, but I actually loved it. I go on meditation retreats and it’s great for me, but to find time on a daily basis to do it when you live in a busy city, with the phone ringing and your cat trying to crawl all over you, isn’t always the easiest. The float tank provided a specific place for meditation, which I think is really helpful.

Like any NFL player, JJ has suffered his share of tough injuries the last couple of years, so he looks for any advantage. To that end, JJ purchased a floatation tank and installed it in his house.

He says it changed his life. JJ reportedly floats up to 3 times a week for 90 minutes at a crack, saying, “It’s nice to be able to go somewhere you can shut it all down.”

The whole idea of the floating is to see what happens to consciousness when you take away or eliminate the input into your senses, so you’re in a box floating therefore, you’re very buoyant. And what does the mind do? It’s so active, and it’s constantly projecting, like a movie screen.

Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence recently visited a New York City float center, and told Vogue Magazine she “had a lovely time.”

NBA All-Star and 3x Champion Steph Curry is such a proponent of floating as a means of relaxing his overworked muscles that he famously floated in an ad for a health care provider. ESPN also created a short film with Steph and teammate Harrison Barnes about their experience with floating. And you can read a more in depth ESPN interview with Steph about floating.

Actor and teen heartthrob Efron posted on social media about his float experience, referencing the otherworldly floating scenes on popular Netflix show “Stranger Things.”

Make no mistake – Floating is no fly-by-night celebrity trend. Some of the most talented and influential people in the arts, sciences, letters, performing arts and athletics incorporate floating as an important component of their conditioning. Floating helps them deliver their best performance by calming their nerves, sharpening their mental focus, relieving pain and recalibrating their sensory response. They have to be at their best, and so do you.