Just Breathe...

Taking a pause for this day of rest, perhaps we could all use a reminder to breathe.

Many moons ago I was a Rescue diver and then DiveMaster. Chalk it up to one of my many certs in life.

In order to pass these individual tests, each certification required one beach dive.

I loathed beach dives. Still do. I like waves no higher than my calves as I have been pummeled mercilessly by creation to even desire stepping foot near the more awesome forces.

When you grow up around the ocean and basically learn to swim in the ocean, you gain a healthy respect for it. Whoever named the Pacific ocean clearly had never swam in it…

When you are beach diving, the key to not getting tossed in a washing machine affect and then being slammed back on the beach is to easily swim under the waves.

Sounds simple enough, right?

The trick is to get low enough that you’re pretty much gripping the ocean floor. If you don’t get low enough, the gear on your back will ‘catch’ in the curl and crash of the wave, sending you back to the shore crashing with said wave.

If you have ever surfed, you’re probably familiar with a ‘duck dive’. Pressing your board just enough under the waves to get through and pop up on the other side. Totally acceptable when you are a simple surfer on a slick board who could quite easily turn around, paddle like mad and ride the wave.

It’s an all together different story when you have a tank, gear and a wetsuit on, all of which is designed to make you buoyant so you don’t drown forcing you to bob on the surface in the on coming traffic of waves.

Did I mention I loathe beach dives?

Once you master the technique of reducing all the air in your vest and swimming as hard as you can on the bottom, within minutes you surface a hundred yards from the shore in only swells, get your bearings and descend back to the floor and go exploring, lobster hunting or whatever it is people who love beach dives do.

This all sounds simple enough as you read, I am sure. The problem is in being able to trust your gear and the process of sinking to the bottom of the ocean, swimming hopefully forward & not veering off to the right or the left.

This all takes blind faith.

Faith in the breathing apparatus staying in your mouth, even if you surface an inch too high and get caught in the wash of a tumbling wave above.

Faith in your ability to read a compass through a mask accurately.

Faith that there is not a riptide and you’re actually being drug out to sea.

Boat dives are way better.

I think of this process so often, especially as I have been thrown around by the waves of trauma and life. In many of my tumultuous seasons, I have tried to leap over the waves because I just. want. to. get. through. it.

When most people learn to swim in the ocean, they are told “just jump over the waves!”

So in life, many are told, “just get over it!” or “ride the wave out, it won’t last forever!”

But just as with diving under a wave, the tumult of life can feel like it WILL last for far too long, longer than you actually have breath for.

My diving instructors would say, “don’t trust your feelings, they will lie to you.” Solid advice.

When I heeded their advice, I did fine. Even when my backpack got caught up in the wave and I would tumble around, if I curled into a ball and slowed my breathing, eventually the wave ceased and I could easily get back on track.

When I listened to my emotions which usually sounded like fear, I would panic, breathe too fast, use up way to much air consequently making my dive quite a bit shorter because, well, not enough air.

I’m sure you can see the wise choice.

It’s always easy to be the armchair quarterback, isn’t it?

In diving, all I could do was walk this scenario out several times to be able to trust the process. No amount of self talk got me to not listen to my terrified inner monologue.

In life, we have a bit more of an advantage.

We have the Word of God and the gift of time.

When a ‘wave’ in life pops up and we are being tosses around, when a fear arises we can pause, breathe deeply and ask, “wait, why am I feeling fear?”

If we are savvy with emotional wellness we have the ability to also begin a little journaling, a Q & A with the Lord, if you will. This helps us to see truth about the situation, what is reality and what is residual trauma lying to us again.

If we are emotional wellness gurus then we will breathe, pull out an essential oil, Stress Away thank you very much, and with intention think of our cortisol levels dropping and serotonin rising. We will then carve out space later in the day, before bed preferably so we can release negative emotions so our dreams will be sweeter, and journal our questions and thoughts. As we journal, we will continue breathing oils so our nervous system chills out and our brain gets some much needed oxygen.

The world has shown itself to be quite untrustworthy in bringing anything but huge waves and tumble washes of terror. But when we have the right tools and skill, we can quite easily get under the mayhem and stress of it all and find ourselves beautifully positioned on the other side, navigating our way through our destiny which was designed for us before we were born.

As for me and mine, we have chosen the latter, you?