Nikki Belcher is our gorgeous, spiritual, moon-loving, and fearless yoga teacher who recently went from nearly giving up her quest to learn to surf to absolutely charging on huge closeouts. How did she do it? She learned to deal with fear.
Nikki has a blog in which she shares stories and philosophies on all subjects including how she dealt with fear. See below for an excerpt and to read the whole post, click here!
“the ocean is revitalizing but also quite terrifying. the depths have remained unexplored! unseen by the human eye. i know people surf lake michigan..but the pacific ocean?! it’s a little different. only the world’s LARGEST body of water. my first experience with surfing was at elcocoloco. a local friend, victor took me out. like out, out! to the outside! i learned quickly what it meant to be ‘washing machined’. sucked under a seemingly small wave, crashing down on me. straight panic. not a good idea. get me out of here! city girl battling the ocean. yeah, i knew who would win that combat.
after my 2nd surf sesh i decided surfing was not for me. nearly drown. my entire body sore. WHY would i put myself through that again? yoga feels so much better! i’m a triple earth sign, astrologically. i like equal steady ground. i would learn to have respect for the ocean, and embrace it slowly with caution.. but surfing just wasn’t going to happen.
within a week, jamie took me out again. i knew he was right. if i waited too long to get back in the water, i would get into my crazy brain and freak myself out. i needed to just go back out there. play. its about having FUN! deep breathe, nikki! i went out, in the white wash with jamie. he was super calm and positive. i popped up a few times and plopped down a few more. but it was fun. and relaxing. well, maybe not relaxing but i was embracing the novelty of the ocean. the salt water up my nose, my bikini bottoms falling down, losing a contact. allowing the ocean to embrace ME.”
