Are you an adult who can’t swim? Do you wish you could? I hear you.

You have a wish. You wish you felt at home in the water. You wish you could swim.

You are tired of feeling helpless in the water and you are tired of others telling you, “It’s easy – just do this”. If it was that easy you would have learned to swim a long time ago!

But there is more to your wish than that, isn’t there?

You don’t like to think about it much because it seems unattainable.

Maybe it’s to swim in the lake at your cottage, water ski, learn to surf or scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef.

Well, it’s your time!

It’s time to channel all that energy of worrying, wishing and hoping into learning to swim. You CAN feel that freedom in the water that you are yearning to feel.

Here is a story of someone who did just that!

This week’s blog features an interview with the fabulous business coach and social media expert, Lisa Larter, who came to us to learn how to swim.

AL: Before you came to Aqua Life, what was your relationship with swimming and being in the water?

Lisa: When I was a child, I had problems with my ears and the doctors said, “You can’t get water in your ears!” which meant, you don’t get to learn how to swim.

My Mom doesn’t know how to swim either so she passed her fear of the water on to me.

Even though I spent a lot of time near the water, a part of me still looked at that dark, deep blue water and felt butterflies in my belly. I decided I was tired of living with that fear, so I called Stephanie.

AL: What was learning to swim like for you?

Lisa: Stephanie started by getting me comfortable with the properties of water – how it feels and what to expect.

We blew bubbles in the water and, bit-by-bit, she had me put my ears in. It felt like cold water was trickling into my brain. Then, she taught me to walk and bob and I submerged my head under water. The first time I went under, I was almost euphoric to think I had been brave enough to do that.

She held my shoulders to help me into a back float position and I became more comfortable just being in the water. She showed me how to put my face in and how my legs would rise in a front float position. She also taught me how to recover from a float on my own so that I no longer had to fear splashing about, unable to do it on my own. Stephanie held my hand, then she held my finger, and then she let me do it on my own.

Next, she taught me how to flutter kick. How to move my legs so I could actually get somewhere in the pool.

She jumped up and down when I did it the first time by myself. She encouraged me to do it again and again until it was second nature and I was overflowing with joy.

[bctt tweet=”It’s time to channel all that energy of worrying, wishing and hoping into learning to swim. You CAN feel that freedom in the water that you are yearning to feel.” username=”AquaLifeSA”]

AL: Where are you now after swim lessons?

Lisa: Truth be told, I don’t “LOVE” swimming, but I greatly dislike fear. Stephanie helped me overcome fear and that brings me joy.

AL: What was the greatest reward you received as a result of learning to swim?

Lisa: The first day that I was able to swim and recover on my own was very emotional for me. I sat in my car after my lesson and cried tears of joy. I was so proud of myself that finally, for the first time in my life, I was able to do this. The joy for me was in overcoming the fear and in sticking with something that was really hard until I was able to do it.

Here at the Aqua Life we feel privileged to guide and cheer on adult learners like Lisa. Her experience shows that, if you stick with it, even the most deeply ingrained fears can be overcome!

I hope you feel encouraged and inspired to not only get over your fears once and for all, but I hope you also develop a love for the water that lasts a lifetime.

For those of you who learned to swim as an adult, what was your biggest obstacle preventing you from learning? Share your answer with me in the comments.