I was hanging out with my friend, Jillian, and her boyfriend, Steve, last night. Steve was a swimmer in college and has agreed to take Jillian and I to the pool to help us learn how to lap swim properly. In order to participate in this outing I had to admit something that some of you may know but I am totally embarrassed about: I plug my nose when I go under water.
I used to be able to under water plug free; when I was a kid I went all the way through freestyle in swimming lessons. Something that I'm not sure is relevant is that I have always disliked having my face wet (as does my niece, Isabel). Anyway, when I was in 6th grade, I was swimming with some junior high girls who were Very Cool - crazy cool, actually. Whenever they jumped into the water, they plugged their noses. So I did too.
I kept this nose plugging bit up until high school when I finally realized that plugging your nose was NOT cool. So I decided to stop. And I jumped into the pool. Water rocketed up my nose and caused a lot of pain, discomfort, a little confusion, and eventually, fear. Would I always be the silly little girl who plugs her nose? A nose plugger isn't hip and cool. A nose plugger is still tormented by succumbing to pre-teen peer pressure.
I couldn't help but share this with Greg when we were in Australia and in the ocean everyday. He promised to help me. We stood waist deep in the ocean on numerous days and practiced blowing out my nose and I dove under the wave. Sometimes I could do it. Mostly I couldn't. Quite frequently I would blow out of my mouth rather than my nose. Our little breathing lesson wouldn't last very long and I would walk out of the ocean with a nose-ache, headache, and feeling of defeat.
About a week ago I was taking a shower and Greg was getting dressed in the adjacent bedroom when he hollered the inquiry as to whether I was washing my face. When I asked him how he knew he said he could hear my nose. I previously mentioned that I don't like to get my face wet, so in order to limit the amount of water on my face, I make a puddle in my hand and splash it on my face. And apparently, blow out through my nose forcefully and loudly to prevent getting water up it.
I shared all of this with Jillian and Steve, to which Steve replied, "you don't really need to blow out, just equalize." And, thank God, Jillian joined me in a blink-blink-blink response.
They say sharing something that weighs heavy on your being is a form of libertation. I'll keep you posted.
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3 comments:
I used to get water up my nose when I did somersaults. It's a pretty miserable feeling.
I love getting my face wet, but I don't like getting my sinuses and lungs wet.
Now add to the pain the embarassment of having that happen when you aren't doing anything as fancy as a summersault.
Hmmm. Can't remember my name and password. Blogging requires new skills. Did the previous comment ever reach you?
Anyway, I love conversations such as these. I greatly look forward to more comments on the breathing issue.
Forward Ho, you little mermaid.
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