They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Apparently, this is not the case with female dogs.
I don’t even know when this story begins. Maybe I was too young to remember, but from the time I can remember myself, with all my love for water and the confidence I felt immersed in it, I couldn’t put my head under water without plugging my nose.
Maybe it was fear of suffocation of a child with Asthma, who knew too well what air deprivation was, or maybe it was some fear from a past life. Either way, I couldn’t stand to have water on my face, and I could panic and drown just because someone splashed some water on me, or even in the shower, imagining water filling my lungs and killing me.
And so it has been for years.
When my husband started swimming he quickly became part of the Sela group, led by Ori Sela, the Israeli king of the water and the owner of Water World” centers.
Quite obviously they all snickered at me, swimming my duck swim with me head above water, and Ori never missed a chance to tell me he can teach me how to swim like a pro in short order.
Every time I would tell him it was very hard for me to believe, and even if he could, with my orange hair and the amount of time I have to put into fixing it, it was hardly worth the trouble. When I cut my hair short, so I told him, you’d be the first to know.
And so it was.
Let me take you straight to me second swimming lesson.
Ori was right.
(Ori, you should take a screenshot of this. This is something one rarely hears coming from me)
I did not suffocate. I did not die.
When Ori told me to swim without my nose-clip I had to fight down panic, but I did, and I swam with my head underwater, breathing correctly and totally enjoying myself.
The method Ori teaches – WEST – releases your whole body. My lower back, sore from working at the computer, stopped hurting, the tension in my shoulders was gone and my neck loosened up. Even better , I came in with a cold, a stuffy nose and burdened lungs. I came out of the water full of energy and breathing freely.
Ori promised that in four months I will be able to compete with my husband. I’m kidding, of course, but at least nobody will be able to make fun of me anymore.
They say water means abundance, and I say – there’s nothing like overcoming an old fear to bring you to better, higher places, so if you or your child are afraid of water, give yourselves the gift of this magic. You’ll never regret it.
