What would you think and feel if someone said, “You are an ultra beginner?”
For Maria, it was a relief to be called this. It meant she didn’t have to show up to class acting like she knew something. That title gave her the badge of courage to say: please tell me every tiny bit of information because I do not know anything about it.
She also learned that Orca was actually listening. We were not going to ask her to be anything except exactly who she was: an ultra beginner.
An ultra beginner is a great place to be and to start! One could call it a clean slate. It is completely neutral to be an ultra beginner. Well, it is neutral at least until we have thoughts about it.
Perhaps you had one of these thoughts:
- I should know more
- It is embarrassing to be my age and not know
- It is too hard to learn as an adult especially if you have no experience at all
- This is a huge hill to climb.
- At least I can swim enough to ‘save myself’*
*FYI when someone says this, it is a red flag that they are not safe IN the water. The underlying thought here is that you must know how to get out of the pool. With this mindset, you will never be safe in the water.
Notice these thoughts are all optional. You could also have thoughts like:
- I am so glad to be an ultra beginner; I have a new and wonderful thing to discover in my adulthood.
- It will be so neat to learn something that kids learn; perhaps I will get to feel like a kid again!
- Great, everyone knows I am an ultra beginner, so I won’t have to act like I have some skills.
Different thoughts create different feelings. Then those feelings influence the actions we take. That is why it is especially important to be aware of our thoughts.
If the feeling you experience is helpful and moves you toward your goal, that is great! You’ve experienced a thought-feel-action-result cycle.
If the feeling you get is not helpful, this is a good time to really open up to your thoughts. Simply noticing what you’re thinking can start you on a path to change or soften that unhelpful feeling.
Maria used her thought work to help her show up at the initial class. Later she managed her thoughts again as she taught herself to tread water (she started in the shallow water).
Listen to our conversation to hear about how she first went by herself to the pool. She went from being one of our most fearful students to looking forward to the deep water. All of this was possible in just one year.
Standing ovation Maria!
Watch Episode 17 Below:
Healing Fear in Warm Water
If you’re like many adults, you’ve been frustrated or embarrassed that you weren’t free to swim “like everybody else.” Half of adults can’t swim, like you! We meet them all the time. They’ve tried every system, including the traditional programs, with no success.
Since 1999, we’ve helped hundreds of adults overcome their fear and discomfort in water with our proven system built on the 5 Circles Teaching Method. The Miracle Swimming system uses the nuts and bolts of mindfulness to address the root of the problem and will transform the way you feel and think about water for the rest of your life.
