There have been times in my life when I have been in danger and my fight or flight has kicked in. Likewise, there been times when I have not been in immediate danger but because of the anxiety, I felt the same response and the same anxieties.
Because of this, I can empathise with people when they are anxious or feel as if they are in danger. I have been a sailing instructor for several years know and have worked with a variety of people young and old. I love seeing them make progress. I realised, very early on, how my experience can help other people get through what they consider to be a frightening time when their body triggers the fight or flight response.
How Sailing Effects People
Sailing is a weird one, it is not something most people have tried nor is remotely similar to anything else they may have tried before in life. Because of this, some people can perceive the sport as being more dangerous and most are not used to the feelings they have when on a boat.
Most people are not used to the healing effect when the boat changes direction. Imagine being on a pirate ship ride at a theme park, swinging back and forth, but you are not strapped in but have to move across to the other side of the ship to do an essential job. This is how sailing feels!
Sailing takes a huge amount of mental processing, there are lots of things that all need to be done at a similar time and some people find it very overwhelming. The feelings can be worse if the learner has a phobia of water, movement issues or can’t swim (which is not uncommon). Everyone I have taught has had a go and most people, given time, really enjoy the experience.
My Job
As an instructor it’s my job to teach people how to sail. It becomes far more then that. I have to recognise people’s learning capability, build a rapport with them, manage their feelings, their expectations and gradually add in learning steps. So the step-by-step process it less overwhelming.
Theses are the 4 things I put into place to help people when they are feeling fear.
Take Time Out
I was once teaching a woman in Greece, who had previously sailed decades before and in the past she had also been a sailing instructor. She was extremely nervous, worried her capacity to sail again due to movement issues. For some reason, in the gap where she stopped sailing, she developed a fear of the sea. Within an hour of the session starting, she broke down into tears not because she was scared but overwhelmed with joy. With my help she could still sail! We took a break on the water which is very important.
When I see people getting anxious, scared or overwhelmed I get them to stop the boat and take a breather. I know from personal experience how these feelings can stop you thinking straight and stop you taking in information. Remembering things just goes out of the window!
Talk About It
Once the boat had stopped, I distracted her, talked about my past and how at one stage of my life I was struggling to walk, due to my cancer treatment. I said, “I understand and can relate to how you are feeling, it is normal to be anxious about doing something which you once loved so much but not sure if you can do anymore due to illness”. She was amazed how at the tender age of seventeen, I could understand. We talked some more and then carried on with the session.
It is really important to talk about your fears. We all need help to put things into perspective. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, it is human!
Imagine The Worst
Towards the end of the session I asked if she would like to do a practice capsize. She said “I am scared of the water,” after a bit of talking we established together it was actually a fear of trying to get back into the dinghy.
I asked her “What is the worst possible outcome?” she replied, “Being stranded in the water and panicking,” I replied, “Even if your were stranded, you know there are safety boats around. If you start panicking I will be there to help you.”
A lot of the time what you think is the worst outcome is actually not the case. By imagining the worst scenario, and putting it in to perspective, you may realise your fear isn’t as big as you previously thought.
Breathe Through Panic
On the boat, the woman was also worried about panicking. I spoke about breathing control and how this can help her if her body entered the fight or flight response.
Controlling your breathing through panic is really important, as it will gradually help you to calm down and get a clear head again to formulate a plan of action.
I find that these guidelines are really helpful to people who struggle controlling their fears. This is just one example. It has helped me in the past and I find it helps others too.