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This is of particular value when approaching Veterans with PTSD and anxiety who are unfamiliar with the water, and/or suffer from aquaphobia. To overcome aquaphobia or any other fear that paralyzes you, you must obtain competency and coping skills, both acquired by the proper application of the growth mindset.
Competency: The hard truth is that in order to conquer fear, you must face what you are afraid of. Avoiding your fear leads to a sense of failure, increased anxiety, and more belief in fixed abilities. Facing it, however, leads to confidence, empowerment, competency, and eventual mastery.[7] Physiologically, exposure creates nervous system habituation, the eventual subsiding of the physical fear response when exposed over time. Psychologically, confronting your fears creates a sense of empowerment and accomplishment. And finally, at the behaviorally, repeated exposure creates mastery, which helps reduce fear of failure.
Find swim instructors that know precisely how to coach a person through the physical and emotional impact of anxiety using proven coaching methods and a firm understanding of the growth mindset. Exposure to your fear isn’t natural or enjoyable, but neither is the eventual prison of fixed belief in your failure.
Coping: Momentary fear can strike even the most experienced swimmers. Learn coping mechanisms for fear, including the knowledge of your competency in the water, and the mastery of techniques that allow rest and recovery in a potentially dangerous situation. Understand that setbacks and failures during your journey only serve to drive you forward. Use your past negative interactions to fuel your determination to be at ‘One with the Water’ now.
A SAMPLE LESSON
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