Summer is here… Are you like me and want to shout it from the rooftops? Maybe you are a true Seattleite and are getting ready to hide in a cool dark room. Well, this article is for those who are ready to get outside and partake in the natural beauty of the water.
Here are three quick tips from the Foundation of Change to keep in mind when considering open water swimming or activities.
- Do not get ahead of yourself. Be where you are.
- Having fun feels good.
- Let whatever step you take to be perfect.
Ok, so this is not your typical open water tip because I know you are smart and capable and want to know what no one else will tell you. Let’s break these down a bit more and make them applicable to what you might want to do in a lake or the sea.
Do not get ahead of yourself. Be where you are.
Close your eyes for a moment and visualize yourself standing on the shore. What do you see, where does your vision go? I will guess that it goes across the horizon, out to the vast open space. We love to watch the sunset over the ocean. We are drawn to the open space but we can also feel hesitant because of all that open space. Here is the key point: you are not in all that open space. You are standing on the shore. You are standing on the shore breathing, safe, and in control. When you consider any open water activity you must embrace the practice of coming to where you are physically in that moment.
Before you get in you can plan about where you will or will not go. Lake beaches are really good starting points because they often lack current and have roped-off areas with known depths.
Watch our video on how your mind and bodywork together in water:
It can seem like a good idea to constantly think ahead, but it steers you away from the present time. The present time is the only place where you can be in control. Looking to the future can leave you feeling scared, stiff, anxious, out of air even when you are standing on shore with nothing going wrong at all.
Take a few moments to get present at the actual physical location. Then you can begin.
Having Fun Feels Good
Your feelings drive everything you do. The whole point of summer activities is usually to have fun. This is the best test to see if you are doing the right thing for yourself. Before you do your open water activity, check and see if you are having fun or just hoping you will have fun in the future. If you do not know how to have fun right now, what makes you think you will know it in the future? Practice what you want right now.
When you take all the should, other judgments of fun, and your own self-criticism you will need to ask the question, “What is fun for me?”. Asking this question with genuine openness can give you space for where you need to be so you can feel safe. When you feel safe you exponentially increase your ability to have fun.
Go ahead and put the lifejacket on with joyful ownership. Get into the water holding onto the back of the boat. Discover the ocean at a Kei-Kei beach (kids beach in Hawaiian).
It is not useful to expect yourself to be anything other than who you are right now. This only creates self-judgment and puts a halt to fun. Which do you want: to expand your fun or increase your judgment?
Let Whatever Step You Take Be Perfect
When we teach you how to swim we break the physical steps into small pieces, steps so small it actually allows you to learn. Most of the time students think they need to take huge steps or make those huge steps be perfect.
You will know when the step is too big because you will feel overwhelmed, confused, scared, out of control, unnatural or you won’t remember what happened. You have 2 choices after this experience: believe you got it all wrong or let it be perfect.
When you say you got it all wrong we usually feel bad. This is the opposite of step #2. When something feels bad we tend to turn away or get shrink into ourselves.
When you let it be perfect we usually feel better. This is leaning into step #2. When you see it as perfect, you can realize that maybe the step was too big. Then that can give rise to a choice to make it simpler, easier, and more fun? Curiosity is a growing emotion. This is how you find the right step. But it often takes the wrong step first. This is not a problem.
Many of our students came to us because they were snorkeling on vacation, but felt scared. Or have said “no” many times to an invitation to spend time on someone’s boat. Find what you did right in these stories. Find what you are curious about and recognize the smaller steps so you can enjoy them.
It is not about doing all the things. It is about doing something right for you so you can be the amazing human being that you are.
Jump-In Membership
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 Jump-In Membership. Our Jump-In program 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.
