The Neptune Warrior

As you may already know I work with divers who have PTSD, trauma, or anxiety issues. You might have some of these same things going on in your life. Cool, diving helps to relieve some of that but there are times where the diver can feel anxious or something we do can bring back some unwanted feelings. With anxiety it is common to have intrusive memories of traumatic events.  Even though these events happened in the past, when the memories come it can feel as though the events are happening again in the present. Keep in mind, as long as you have air to breathe you can solve most of your problems.

This can be extremely upsetting, and it is helpful to find ways that help you to ‘ground’ yourself back in the safety of the present moment. Today you are diving so let’s focus and enjoy the adventure. If we need to we will pause and process the event. You may find that this is an invitation to speak more in-depth with a trained professional, That’s the beauty of healing one dive at a time.

Breathing

Scuba is all about breathing. We continuously breathe. We breathe from the belly. Into our lungs is some of the cleanest air you will ever inhale and its fun to watch our breath escape through the regulator and flow in bubbles of all sizes to the surface. Its a metephore for letting our troubles go and drift to the surface where they pop in an explosion of the water’s surface. Like most problems they temporarily tickle us as they escape but once past the surface they are forgotten about.

When we are anxious or upset our breathing becomes more rapid. We can feel better by deliberately slowing and relaxing our breathing.  Anxious breathing is up in the chest, whereas relaxed breathing happens deeper in the belly. We will take time to relax and just breathe.

Relaxed breathing instructions

• Breathe in slowly and steadily through your regulator for a count of 4 – don’t rush this!
• Pause for a count of 1.
• Exhale slowly and steadily for a count of 4 – breathe out gradually – try not to breathe out with a sigh.
• Repeat for a few minutes until you notice a change in how your body feels.
• If you get distracted, or if your mind wanders, just bring your attention back to how it feels to breathe in and out. You might get handed a golf ball or some other toy to allow you to focus and not let your mind wander too far off.

Smells

Smells are an incredibly powerful way of coming to our senses. Smells can cause us to lapse back in time or remind us of something unpleasant. Underwater smell is something we really don’t deal with. On the surface though or at the dive site, if you are deliberately paying attention to a smell you are truly in the present moment. Try to find a smell that has positive associations for you – maybe one that reminds you of happy times, or a smell which you enjoy. Carry it with you and use it to bring yourself back to the present moment if you get caught up in an unwanted memory.

Helpful smells

• Small bottles of essential oils – e.g. eucalyptus, mint, lavender, lemon
• Small dried flowers such as lavender
• Perfume soaked on a tissue
• Whole spices from the kitchen.

Grounding statements

• Unwanted traumatic memories can make us mentally ‘time travel’ back to the trauma, and we can sometimes forget that we are safe in the present.  It can be helpful to write a ‘grounding statement’ to remind yourself that you are safe. You can carry it around with you and read it if you become upset.  Useful statements talk about safety, or remind you of what is different now compared to then.
  • It is 2021 and I am safe. My trauma happened a long time ago and I survived.
  • My trauma happened in the past and I am only remembering it now. The memories upset me, but they are just memories, they cannot hurt me.
  • I can solve 90% of my problems as long as I have air so for now I am going to breathe as I work my way through this process. As long as I have air, I am alright