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The Hidden Power of Relaxation
“Relax.”
This is something that has been said to me countless times and it’s only recently have I realized that I’ve spent my entire life training my body to do the opposite.
As an athlete, my focus has always been to optimize my performance. Train hard, push myself, drill, practice, sweat, cry, work harder, train harder, drill harder…. I’ve literally been training this way since I was about 10 years old. Even though it seemed to get results – I was always on tip-toeing the line of injury.
I remember in high school I suffered from back spasms so strong you could see my spine twisting and bending…all from overtraining and pushing myself through an injury. After all – those who rest, are weak!
But it was all worth it because I was ranked #1 in my wrestling weight class… lol…I still laugh at how foolish I was. Unfortunately, it took me another 10 years to realize the error in my ways.
Eventually, I got tired of being so tight and inflexible that I had discomfort nearly 24/7 and decided to dedicate myself to finding ways to help relieve the tension in my body.
I tried acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga cryotherapy, you name it….but it wasn’t until I floated for the first time that I realized what it really felt to ‘turn off’ my muscles. I vividly remember my first experience.
I felt SUPER uncomfortable lol. I just didn’t know how to lay in silence, muscles relaxed, without stimulus! It was like all the static and noise, distracting me from my own thoughts, got shut off. All of a sudden, I could think AND actually listen to my thoughts….
It only took a couple minutes for the water to settle down and for me to stop bumping into the walls with my fingers and hands. Once this happened, I completely lost my sense of space…I couldn’t feel the tank, I couldn’t really feel the water (because it’s the same temperature as your body), I honestly felt like I was floating in space. And THAT’S when the magic happened.
I felt like I left my body and was able to transport into any thought I was having. It was like I was walking around inside my own brain – just solving problems at light speed. When I got out of the tank it was like the normal world I left just an hour or 2 prior had completely changed. Everything seem slower…I felt like Keanu Reeves when he finally solved the matrix!
Then it clicked.
I was relaxed!!!!
For the next couple days my relationship with my wife improved…because things just rolled off without confrontation. My business had some breakthroughs because I was able to have laser focus. I slept like a baby – without discomfort. And something that means a lot to me because I own multiple fitness businesses – but I got into BETTER shape after floating.
My first few workouts after floating were completely different from anything I’ve done before – it taught me that you can optimize performance by becoming more efficient…you don’t always have to work HARDER.
It was honestly exactly what I needed because I was in the process of opening up a kettlebell training studio – and kettlebells are all about fluidity and efficient movements – not something that comes easy to someone who moves like a robot! Lol.
I’m so thankful I’ve created a floating practice because it helped me realize that for my body to stay optimized – I need to focus on challenging it through movement and exercise…but that being able to relax and be efficient is the yin to the yang. Without both sides – my body becomes very out of balanced and my performance both physically and mentally declines.
As an athlete, fitness coach, entrepreneur, husband , and a human lol– I highly recommend floating to anyone – it plays such a massive role in my lifestyle these days, I can’t imagine a life without it."
Perry owns Philly’s largest personal training studio, Philly Phitness, and just opened up a kettlebell training studio - KTL Phila.