Deep Dives

It started out as a belly flop. Then, with patience and practice, it turned into a deep dive. In familiar or foreign pursuits, do you enjoy taking your own deep dives to explore or refine?

Driving to the cottage I was focused on the fast passing automobiles, and looking forward to my most daring acrobatic feat of the aquatic variety — diving from the pontoon boat into the depths of the lake. Like most things I do now, I was unable, or uninterested in doing them in my younger years. Now, approaching forty, I realize I am an adult, but I am not getting older, just more experienced. Perhaps you can empathize with my quest to stay safe and active, while trying new things that may just be the fountain springing eternal youth?

But, before I was ready to jump from the platform upon the pontoon, Lauryn and I practiced rom the dock with my niece McKenna. After my first attempt, Kenna deducted a half point for my bent knees. On attempt two, it was another half point off my score for not fully pointing the toes. Before my third attempt, I was treading water and suggested it was Mckenna’s turn next — “I don’t dive” she said.

She can balance on a beam, flip and flop on the trampoline, skin the cat and pull her self up. Yet, until today she hadn’t thought of adding the dive to her own acrobatic repertoire. It was still Kenna’s turn to jump from the dock, but instead of a dive, this time we asked her to pike, awarded her the perfect score, and could tell that before the weekend was over, she was going to practice her own pointed toes, head first entry into the lake.

So, as Lauryn and I were first reading, then sleeping in the shade, the kids were practicing their new inverted entries into the water. 

We awoke to movements that at first sounded like a flop, but after many attempts and a few confusing at first, but ultimately well intentioned refining tips, the smiles grew bigger, and so too did the confidence to go deeper into the dive. Over the next week, via text, we received updates highlighting a hands-first, deepening dive from the dock. That week, Mckenna didn’t get older — she only gained more experience.

Officially, Lauryn and I do not coach diving skills. However, for new learning experiences with the barre, bodyweight and kettlebell, join us for deep dives to enhance your wellness and workout skills. This fall, join a specialized workshop to try something new, or refine a favourite skill, and semesters of strength to continue refining your calisthenic or kettlebell craft. Until then, may you enjoy your own deep dives into favourite summertime restful and recreational pursuits.

Take care,

Ian and Lauryn