JulieannevZ
Guest
I wrote this almost 2 and a half years ago, just after completing my Open Water..
This is how it felt for me those first few times
And, I LOVE diving now!!
I'm sure some new divers will identify with it, and I hope it will inspire those who may have had the same kind of fears I did.
Bear in mind that I hadn't done anything really adventurous since riding a motor bike (rather different I know) 25 years prior to this!
So, here it is, almost as I wrote it back then 2 and a half yrs ago..
One of my dreams has been to learn to Scuba Dive. Recently, my husband John, 12 yr old daughter Jessica and I ( I talked them into it took an INtensive Open Water Diving Course.
Boy, was it intensive!!
Theory in the mornings and put the theory into practice in the arvo. Six hours in a swimming pool with half a tonne of gear on my back, a strange dummy to stick in my mouth to breathe from, fins to make my feet seem 10 ft long, and 12 other people in a small, but extremely deep pool, all flailing around trying to sit at the bottom of the pool ( it's not easy to stay down there) and all learning to breathe through this foreign apparatus ( our dummies and lifeline).
I didn't like the taste of the oxygen because it reminded me of something in my past ( strange how past experiences spoil things for us ?)
Each of us had a mask over most of our faces. At first, we hated it, then once we got used to it in the water, we feared taking it off or loosening it to empty water out. When we did that, many of us got copious amounts of water up our noses when we breathed through the wrong hole in our face!
I won't go into ALL the details, and I must confess, I was sooo scared!!!
So scared I couldn't remember all the theory I'd learned, and couldn't remember to breathe ( that's the golden rule
Why was I so scared?
Looking back at the experience, I believe it was because there was so much to get used to in a short time. My mind didn't have the time to create and process all the learning and my thoughts about it, to cause the effect of all this on my body.
The weekend after the pool, it was time to travel to a safe spot along part of our huge coastline, to where the ocean was not too deep. We filled the boot of the car up with all our scuba diving gear and off we went.
Even though the ocean was safe where we went, the water was murky, freezing cold, and I couldn't see one foot in front of us ( partly because my mask had water in it and I was too scared to clear it under water).
John and I were swimming along at the bottom of the sea, following our instructor. I couldn't see anyone, thought I was lost, and just floated up to the surface. John popped up 1 minute later in a big panic, wanting to know what I was doing. Then, the instructor came up, calmed him down, and we descended again, this time me holding onto the instructor and John behind the 2 of us ( John was happy then ).
To cut a very long story short, I didn't complete the course ( John did ) with everyone else. In fact, I almost gave up - never to scuba dive again.
Once away from the water, I read a couple of books about visualising and dealing with illusions of what "could" happen, but probably won't at all!
The purpose of one of the books was to help:
"release yourself from littleness and suffering, negative thoughts and experiences, fears, feeling of insufficiency, conflicts, lack and shortages, and worries.
It is "designed to increase your peace of mind and life fulfillment through understanding and activating your true powerful self. It is a step in leading you out of struggle and into abundance and peace. "
The book certainly served it's purpose for me.
I read it over and over realizing that my fears were all just illusions. I really had nothing to fear at all!!
I had 200 pounds per square inch of air on my back and a very patient, persistent, and experienced instructor watching me like a hawk.
What was the worst that could happen?
I would float to the top of the ocean ( that's a good thing)? I was only about 10 metres down anyway.
If I thought more about the best that could happen, there was MUCH MUCH more...
I want to scuba dive on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in the Great Barrier Reef, in the oceans around Hawaii, in Fiji, Vanuatu, Florida, and lots of other places.
Getting back to the book
- I learned that I must get control of my mind to tell myself that everything's okay. There is a belief that our mind is divided into 2 minds:
an upper mind and a lower mind.
The lower mind is like a false self, drawing on all our experiences ( especially the bad ones ) to " prove " to our REAL selves that we can't do this or that!
Our upper mind has complete free will - it can overcome those fears within our lower mind ( also called our ego ).
It is the lower mind which causes the effects on our body, so it's important to get control of it, and just refuse to listen to all those silly fears.
So, I got my upper mind to control my lower mind, through practise and repetition!
It took time to talk my lower mind into believing that it could cause my body to do all these new skills.
I went to the pool every day with my mask and snorkel, practising all the skills, and eventually, I just knew I could dive to the bottom of the ocean safely, without my nose filling up with water.
I knew I could breathe in and out just through my mouth, and leave my nose right out of it!!
Our daughter Jessica was great in the pool, and had no fears at all.
She did everything the first time, and in no time she was actually laying in the middle ( by depth I mean ) of a 12 foot deep pool with her arms folded, hovering, just as though she were laying on the lounge room floor.
I even knocked her air source from her mouth in my panic, and she just giggled and put it back in her mouth again.
Jessica didn't have those past experiences to draw from, and she knew she could do it, without question.
I eventually finished the Open Water Diving Course. When scary thoughts came into my mind, I quieted them down by saying to myself, "Julieanne, that's an illusion, it doesn't exist, and it won't happen. You're just being silly."
The water was clear this time, and I noticed all sorts of amazing things down there ( even a school of little fish)."
--------------------
This is me now. I am soooo pleased I finished the course, and really enjoy it now. It's the best thing I've ever done!!!
..
This is how it felt for me those first few times
And, I LOVE diving now!!I'm sure some new divers will identify with it, and I hope it will inspire those who may have had the same kind of fears I did.
Bear in mind that I hadn't done anything really adventurous since riding a motor bike (rather different I know) 25 years prior to this!
So, here it is, almost as I wrote it back then 2 and a half yrs ago..
One of my dreams has been to learn to Scuba Dive. Recently, my husband John, 12 yr old daughter Jessica and I ( I talked them into it
took an INtensive Open Water Diving Course. Boy, was it intensive!!
Theory in the mornings and put the theory into practice in the arvo. Six hours in a swimming pool with half a tonne of gear on my back, a strange dummy to stick in my mouth to breathe from, fins to make my feet seem 10 ft long, and 12 other people in a small, but extremely deep pool, all flailing around trying to sit at the bottom of the pool ( it's not easy to stay down there) and all learning to breathe through this foreign apparatus ( our dummies and lifeline).
I didn't like the taste of the oxygen because it reminded me of something in my past ( strange how past experiences spoil things for us ?)
Each of us had a mask over most of our faces. At first, we hated it, then once we got used to it in the water, we feared taking it off or loosening it to empty water out. When we did that, many of us got copious amounts of water up our noses when we breathed through the wrong hole in our face!
I won't go into ALL the details, and I must confess, I was sooo scared!!!
So scared I couldn't remember all the theory I'd learned, and couldn't remember to breathe ( that's the golden rule
Why was I so scared?
Looking back at the experience, I believe it was because there was so much to get used to in a short time. My mind didn't have the time to create and process all the learning and my thoughts about it, to cause the effect of all this on my body.
The weekend after the pool, it was time to travel to a safe spot along part of our huge coastline, to where the ocean was not too deep. We filled the boot of the car up with all our scuba diving gear and off we went.
Even though the ocean was safe where we went, the water was murky, freezing cold, and I couldn't see one foot in front of us ( partly because my mask had water in it and I was too scared to clear it under water).
John and I were swimming along at the bottom of the sea, following our instructor. I couldn't see anyone, thought I was lost, and just floated up to the surface. John popped up 1 minute later in a big panic, wanting to know what I was doing. Then, the instructor came up, calmed him down, and we descended again, this time me holding onto the instructor and John behind the 2 of us ( John was happy then ).
To cut a very long story short, I didn't complete the course ( John did ) with everyone else. In fact, I almost gave up - never to scuba dive again.
Once away from the water, I read a couple of books about visualising and dealing with illusions of what "could" happen, but probably won't at all!
The purpose of one of the books was to help:
"release yourself from littleness and suffering, negative thoughts and experiences, fears, feeling of insufficiency, conflicts, lack and shortages, and worries.
It is "designed to increase your peace of mind and life fulfillment through understanding and activating your true powerful self. It is a step in leading you out of struggle and into abundance and peace. "
The book certainly served it's purpose for me.
I read it over and over realizing that my fears were all just illusions. I really had nothing to fear at all!!
I had 200 pounds per square inch of air on my back and a very patient, persistent, and experienced instructor watching me like a hawk.
What was the worst that could happen?
I would float to the top of the ocean ( that's a good thing)? I was only about 10 metres down anyway.
If I thought more about the best that could happen, there was MUCH MUCH more...
I want to scuba dive on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in the Great Barrier Reef, in the oceans around Hawaii, in Fiji, Vanuatu, Florida, and lots of other places.
Getting back to the book
- I learned that I must get control of my mind to tell myself that everything's okay. There is a belief that our mind is divided into 2 minds:
an upper mind and a lower mind.
The lower mind is like a false self, drawing on all our experiences ( especially the bad ones ) to " prove " to our REAL selves that we can't do this or that!
Our upper mind has complete free will - it can overcome those fears within our lower mind ( also called our ego ).
It is the lower mind which causes the effects on our body, so it's important to get control of it, and just refuse to listen to all those silly fears.
So, I got my upper mind to control my lower mind, through practise and repetition!
It took time to talk my lower mind into believing that it could cause my body to do all these new skills.
I went to the pool every day with my mask and snorkel, practising all the skills, and eventually, I just knew I could dive to the bottom of the ocean safely, without my nose filling up with water.
I knew I could breathe in and out just through my mouth, and leave my nose right out of it!!
Our daughter Jessica was great in the pool, and had no fears at all.
She did everything the first time, and in no time she was actually laying in the middle ( by depth I mean ) of a 12 foot deep pool with her arms folded, hovering, just as though she were laying on the lounge room floor.
I even knocked her air source from her mouth in my panic, and she just giggled and put it back in her mouth again.
Jessica didn't have those past experiences to draw from, and she knew she could do it, without question.
I eventually finished the Open Water Diving Course. When scary thoughts came into my mind, I quieted them down by saying to myself, "Julieanne, that's an illusion, it doesn't exist, and it won't happen. You're just being silly."
The water was clear this time, and I noticed all sorts of amazing things down there ( even a school of little fish)."
--------------------
This is me now. I am soooo pleased I finished the course, and really enjoy it now. It's the best thing I've ever done!!!
..
