Resisting Rips and Travelators; A fresh perception
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| Image courtesy of @MattHardy |
Over the summer, my family and I were playing around the rock pools at one of our local beaches.
It was a windy afternoon and the ocean waves were choppy.
I looked up and noticed a person drifting closer and closer to the rocks. I turned toward the beach and observed what I assumed to be his friend walking toward us on the rocks. Other people began to notice what was taking place.
My heart was racing.
When I looked back at the person in the ocean, I noticed he didn’t seem panicked.
He looked to be floating - floating right around the rocks to the next bay.
He was riding out the rip.
The greatest danger at the beach in Australia is not shark attacks, or sunburn. It’s rip current-related drowning.
Australian Academy of Science report that there have been 315 rip current-related drowning deaths in the past 15 years, compared to a total of 29 fatal shark attacks during the same period.
Living on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, this is our reality.
We have had 32 deaths in the past 10 years. One last year at our local beach.
Thankfully, this particular person survived this one.
A rip is the path the water being pushed onto the shore by the waves takes to run back into the ocean, so they often appear as dark, relatively calm channels between the white breaking waves.
Given rip currents are surface currents that tend to carry people away from the shore, or in this instance rocks, turned out to be his saving grace.
The two friends met up in the next bay and walked back to where we were. I checked in with them - are you ok?
I observed both as they were recovering from the rush of adrenaline... nervously laughing the experience away.
My great friend @PennyRex completes three ocean swims each week, she is a trained lifesaver and experienced ocean swimmer.
Penny has a different take on rips… or as she describes them - travelators.
Penny uses the travelators as a mechanism to decide the pathway she will take on her swim - she asks herself:
Do I ride this out?
or
Do I swim against it for a serious workout (whilst staying in the same place)?
Penny has learned the benefits of not resisting it.
She has mastered the skill of riding the ocean’s travelators.
This strategy is similar to mastering the skill of letting go of the roadblocks that anxiety, fear and doubt create; in the case of a rip (or travelator), resisting it might ultimately end in a fatality.
Given that our perception is something we form, it is largely influenced by our past experiences, present circumstances, culture and upbringing, knowledge and preconceived notions; ultimately shaping our emotions, thoughts and feelings.
Dr David R. Hawkins states in Letting Go: The Pathway to Surrender that we rationalise the presence of the feeling through our thoughts. Thoughts are endless and self-reinforcing, and they only breed more thoughts.
Therefore it is important to become aware of the events that shaped our emotions, thoughts and feelings, and seek out a fresh perception.
3 ways to seek a fresh perception:
1. Accept that feelings are just that. Feelings.
Becoming aware of your emotions and feelings is the first step, allow yourself to experience them,
accept them, don't resist or fear them.
Feelings come and go. The goal here is to accept them and not over analyse why they are there.
This requires the skill to notice and ignore the thoughts that pop into your mind whilst experiencing these feelings.
2. Reflect inwards and let go of the attachments
Separating emotions and feelings from the events that shaped them requires the learning the skill of letting go. This means understanding why we do the things we do, and rewiring old and unhelpful patterns.
3. Be and remain in a state of present.
Surrendering to the unknown, the uncomfortable and vulnerable.
It is only when we have truly surrendered that we are able to broaden our lenses and discover something new.
In other words, a fresh perception.
How to survive a rip current
If you’re caught in a rip current, stay calm, conserve your energy and consider these options:
Stay calm
Seek help. Raise your arm and call out. You may be rescued
Float with the current. It may return you to a shallow sandbank
Swim parallel to the beach or towards the breaking waves. You may escape the rip current
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