Zen of Diving

Last night we had our final scuba pool session. I'm relieved to report that I didn't freak out this time! I actually had a lot of fun and am looking forward to our ocean dive. I just had to keep reminding myself to stay calm, breathe, and focus. It's all mental. Our class was a little behind so we had to stay an extra hour to complete our remaining skills. Four hours in the chlorine was a little brutal. We packed in a lot, some of which included: fin pivot, controlled emergency descent, taking off/putting on our weight belts and bcds underwater, no-mask swim (my least favorite). I also experienced what they call the "Zen of Diving" for about 30 seconds. This is where you control your buoyoncy and breathing so that you hover in the water, like you're flying. It was awesome! I'm sure I didn't look very graceful, especially since my weightbelt was on lop-sided and kept causing me to rotate to my right side. Benjamin and I are ready for our final test in the ocean next weekend. Monterey will be freezing cold, good thing we'll be wearing 7mm wetsuits, hoods and gloves. After that (and Italy), we'll have to plan a trip somewhere tropical!