My Brain Goes into Overdrive When I Scuba Dive

BY ELIZABETH GOODMAN ARTIS

This winter I spent nearly three weeks in the Caribbean, Bonaire specifically, a small rocky island near South America, scuba diving at least twice a day. It was the longest I’d ever spent under water, and restorative in so many ways. I saw amazing things, like giant sea turtles using their fins to eat red algae off the sand. The biggest green moray eel I’ve ever encountered (and I’ve seen tons). Schools of vibrant tropical fish. Healthy coral in many varieties and colors—hard, soft, bright orange, lavender.

You’d think I’d be transfixed, my mind blank and absorbing all the beauty around me. But once I get under water my brain goes bonkers, thinking about everything and anything going on in my life. Snippets of work issues. The past. The present. The future. Conversations I had with someone or want to.

I’m not sure why this happens, and while it doesn’t necessarily detract from the experience, it does prevent me from enjoying it completely.

I wanted this trip to be different. My first thought was to draw from the regular TM (Transcendental Meditation) practice I started this summer. TM uses a mantra as its focal point, its purpose is to gently guide you away from thoughts in a non-stressful, natural manner. I tried that, but quickly realized that the visual experience of diving is the opposite of meditation, which is inward (and, practically speaking, you meditate with your eyes closed).

Next, I tried listing the all the details of what I was seeing in my head, identifying any species I could. “There’s a small orange patch on that Parrot fish, near its tail; there’s a porcupine fish swimming above me; a school of Blue Tang are weaving around a sloping coral wall.” That was better, though it still amounted to chatter. What I wanted was blank-mind observation.

Eventually, my brain did quiet down. I think the proximity to (and immersion in) beautiful blue water finally worked its relaxing magic. But I don’t want to wait for that to happen. Maybe I’ll start keeping a log of my dives to help me be more mindful of the experience or meditate before I go. I could cut back on coffee, which probably doesn’t help.

It's also occurred to me that the soothing, otherworldly surroundings could be kickstarting an internal therapy session of sorts, that I’m working out various pieces of my life in ways not clear to me in the moment. Either way, scuba diving, by nature, forces you to go with the (literal) flow. Maybe next time I’ll just let my brain do the same.

-Elizabeth Goodman Artis, Director of Content

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