30+ Celebrities Who Use Float Tanks
The gossip rags are right: Floating is all the rage among the celebrity set. But unlike a lot of fads that come and go at the drop of a hat, floating is here to stay. There are countless celebrities who use float tanks and they swear by the benefits of tank time.
From athletes to authors, actors to musicians, floating has proven a popular and healthy way for those in the public eye to alleviate the pressures of life under the microscope. These are people who, no matter what their field of expertise, have reached the pinnacle of performance and need to show up at their best every day. And floating helps them do it.
Around here, we maintain the privacy of our guests, especially those in the public eye. But there have been many celebrity enthusiasts who have spoken out publicly on their floating experience.
So, who’s floating? And why do they swear by it?
Glad you asked. Loads of celebrities love a good float, but we’ve organized the who’s who of floating, and the reasons they’ve given for heading into the tank:
Anthony Bourdain - Author, Celebrity Chef, World Traveler
Late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was a devotee of floating in order to alleviate the high-pressure stress of his kitchen work, saying: "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!”
Anthony Rizzo - MLB World Series Champion, Chicago Cubs
According to a recent ESPN piece: “Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo...spent part of his off day on Tuesday in a float pod used to ‘relax the body.’
‘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’.”
Carl Lawson - Professional American Football Player
Jones’ Bengals teammate Carl Lawson: “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.”
Carl Lewis - Olympic Gold Medalist
Multi-Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis - often referred to as “the world’s greatest athlete,” reportedly “used in-tank visualization techniques to prepare himself for his gold medal long jump at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.”
Elle MacPherson - Icon and Supermodel
Global icon and supermodel Elle MacPherson touts floating as a way to alleviate exhaustion from the jet lag she experiences while flying all over the world for fashion events.
Emma Watson - Oscar Winning Actor
Speaking on her float experiences, “Harry Potter” star Emma Watson said: “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.”
Graham Hancock - Bestselling Author and Journalist
Celebrity paranormalist Graham Hancock recently spoke to Joe Rogan about his first floating experience on Rogan’s podcast.
Harrison Barnes - NBA World Champion
Curry’s Golden State teammate Forward Harrison Barnes says floating helps him recover after games.
Jeff Bridges - Oscar Winning Actor
The dude abides, and the dude floats. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges was a close friend of float tank inventor John C. Lilly, and is a big proponent of the practice, saying: “The whole idea of the isolation tank 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 in salt water – with 1,000 lbs of salt, so you’re very buoyant. You can’t see anything, your ears are underwater, and you can’t hear anything. And what does the mind do? It’s so active, and it’s constantly projecting, like a movie screen.”
Here he is on The Tonight Show, specifically calling out how floating helps him achieve this inner peace.
Jennifer Lawrence - Academy Award-Winning Actress
Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence recently visited a New York City float center, and told Vogue Magazine she “had a lovely time.”
Jessica Pimentel - American Actress and Musician
The “Orange is the New Black” star likes to relax and unwind in the calming waters of the tank in order to quiet anxiety and improve focus.
JJ Watt - 3X NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Local Wisconsin hero JJ Watt may be the star of the Houston Texans’ roster, but we don’t hold it against him. Besides, he’s a floater, so that makes up for it.
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.”
Joe Rogan - UFC Personality, Comedian, and Podcaster
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.”
John Lennon - Singer, Songwriter and Peace Activist
Legendary singer/songwriter and Beatle great John Lennon swore by floating as a remedy for substance abuse. In his book “The Lives of John Lennon,” biographer Albert Goldman wrote that Lennon’s time in the tank had a profound effect on him. ”John was totally satisfied with himself mentally and physically. He was starting to make a break. It had to do with his 40th birthday. He told me: ‘I’m happy to be 40 years old. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in my life and I feel the best I ever felt’.”
Julian Edelman - 3x Super Bowl Champion
NFL Champion Julian Edelman was skeptical. In his own words, "When we got one, obviously I was a guy to make fun of it," Edelman said. "Then I started using it." Soon after it became a regular of his routine. Edelman would float three to four times per week during the season.
"You just lay back," Edelman said to NBC Sports leading up to Super Bowl LI. "You gotta trust it. A lot of guys get anxiety for the first few times because your head doesn't go under. But once you get comfortable with it, it feels like you're just on a cloud or something because there're no pressure points. For athletes, I'm 120 percent all in on it."
Keri Russell - Golden Globe Winning Actress
Golden Globe-winning “The Americans” star Keri Russell is a fan of a good tank session, according to “The Hollywood Reporter.”
Kristen Wiig - Comedienne and Actress
Comedienne and Saturday Night Live veteran Kristen Wiig talked about her relaxing float and resulting softer skin on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Marvin Jones - American Football Wide Receiver
The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver credits floating with helping him recover from an ankle injury, and getting him back into playing shape.
Michael Crichton - Writer and Filmmaker
"Jurassic Park" and "Congo" Author Michael Crichton was a frequent visitor at a Beverly Hills float center, and swore by floating as a cure for his writers’ block. He eventually installed a tank in his home.
Peter Gabriel - Musician
Musician Peter Gabriel once had a float tank in his home. “It was quite useful in the sense that you could get into a dream state, and I think that did allow…different thoughts and pictures to come through. And I tend to write a lot of times from, from pictures, and it is an area I’m very interested in.”
Rachel Hunter - Model, Actress, and TV Host
Kiwi supermodel Rachel Hunter: “It was a bizarrely delightful experience, a great form of meditation. I felt calm and peaceful, yet energized…”
Rhett and Link - YouTube Sensations
Popular “Good Mythical Morning” YouTubers Rhett and Link gave floating a whirl for a recent episode, and proclaimed their experience to be “pretty cool.”
Richard Feynman - Noble Peace Prize Winning Physicist
Feynman is said to be one of the most brilliant minds in the post-World War II era. He remade the theory of the interaction between light and matter, otherwise known as quantum electrodynamics. He penned many books. In one of his most popular books "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character," his gives a detailed outline of his floating experiences.
Robert Downy Jr. - Oscar Winning Actor
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.
Russell Brand - Comedian, Actor, and Radio Host
Brit rabble-rouser Brand said of his float experience: “It’s quite nice, like being in the belly of a whale…a cyber whale…it was really lovely.”
Steph Curry - NBA All-Star and 3x NBA World Champion
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.
Tim Ferriss - Entrepreneur, Author, and Podcaster
Bestselling author, entrepreneur and speaker Tim Ferriss says: "Right off the bat, I found [floating] to be one of the most anxiety reducing experiences I've ever had...I did it as a meditative recharge."
Tom Brady - 6x Super Bowl Champion
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.
Wayne Rooney - Professional Soccer Player
England’s all-time highest-scoring soccer player installed a tank in his home “following a string of injuries” in his early career. He is said to have spent up to 10 hours a week using float therapy to relieve pain during his playing years. He credits floating with having helped him get back in the game faster.
Zac Efron - American Actor and Singer
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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.
Ready for us to roll out the red carpet for your own Hollywood-style experience? Click here and book your own float today!
