How to get over fear of diving?
Let’s be honest: when you’re afraid of diving, it’s hard to overcome your fear. I know all about that fear. You might think it’s just a lack of experience, but there are many reasons why someone might truly be afraid of diving. Fear can come from past experiences or even instinctual feelings in your body. No matter what the source of your anxiety is, however, you can learn how to overcome it by recognizing where your fears stem from and then taking steps forward toward success!
1. Recognize the source of your fear.
- Recognize the source of your fear.
- Understand that you’re not alone in feeling this way and that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
- Decide what will make you feel better. If you want to dive with a group, join one! If you want to do more research before diving again, do some more research! You can always wait until next summer or the summer after that if you don’t feel ready yet.* Join an online support group for people who share your fears and frustrations with diving.* Talk things over with a close friend or relative who knows how much this means to you.* Consider putting aside some money specifically for scuba lessons so they won’t break your bank account once they’re over (or take on another big expense like college).
2. Understand what causes fear of diving.
Understanding the source of your fear is one of the most important steps in overcoming it. There are several reasons people get scared underwater:
- They don’t know what to expect, so they’re afraid of what might happen.
- They are afraid of being alone in the water, so they worry about getting lost or separated from their dive buddies.
- Some people find it hard to breathe underwater and panic when faced with such a feeling.
- Others fear the dark and cannot handle being submerged in an environment without light nearby to guide them through their journey.
3. Learn to relax
To get over your fear of diving, you need to learn how to relax.
That might sound like a big task, but it’s not as hard as you think. When we’re nervous or scared, we tense up all over our bodies and hold our breath. This makes us feel more tense and scared! So, learning how to relax the right way can help make the whole process easier for you.
Here are some things that will help:
- Breathing exercises – Practice taking deep breaths so that your body stays calm when you go out for your first dive.
- Visualization – Imagine yourself having fun with friends in a pool before going on vacation (or even just imagine relaxing in bed with no worries). Visualizing success can help keep those nerves down while preparing for something new like this activity where anything could happen!
4. Take a deep breath and go down.
Now that you’re in the water and ready to dive, it’s time to breathe in and out.
- Take a deep breath. This is done through your nose.
- Let the air fill your lungs completely before you exhale (aka breathe out). This is called breathing slowly and calmly, so take as much time as you need to do this step correctly!
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 at least three times before going on to step 3!
- Now we’re going to add something extra: when we breathe in through our noses, let’s also breathe through our mouths while we’re doing it! This will help make our breaths even more relaxed than they were before. It’s important not to hold onto too much air when doing this part though—only take shallow breaths so that there isn’t too much oxygen inside of us at any given moment during our dive session just yet!
5. Learn to control your buoyancy.
By learning how to control your buoyancy, you will be able to jump in the water and float around without fear. The first step is understanding what buoyancy is. Buoyancy is when an object floats on or below the surface of a liquid or gas due to its interaction with that liquid or gas. For example, bubbles are less dense than water and therefore float up towards the surface. When you jump into the pool, your body becomes less dense as well as it fills with air making it lighter than water so that all parts of your body will rise above the water level (if not then check if all straps are tight). So next time before diving into any deep waters make sure that all straps are secure tight otherwise there will be no way back for you!
6. Learn to equalize
To learn to equalize, you must first practice on land. To do this, take a balloon and blow it up. Then hold it in your mouth, don’t swallow it! If you’re having trouble holding the balloon in your mouth without swallowing it, try blowing up another one and sticking that one inside the other so that their necks are touching. That way, they’ll be more stable against each other and will stop sliding down further into your throat when you try to equalize.
Now that we’ve covered how to get over the fear of diving by learning how to equalize…it’s time for some fun facts!
7. Familiarize yourself with water safety rules.
- Familiarize yourself with water safety rules and guidelines.
- Know your limits, both in terms of swimming ability and how far you can confidently dive into the water.
- Be able to swim proficiently and comfortably in any type of weather or water condition.
- Know how to use a life jacket (and be comfortable using one).
- Have at least some basic experience with whistles, personal flotation devices (such as vests), personal locator beacons (PLBs), knives—anything that could help you if something goes wrong while diving.
8. Focus on your breath as you dive into the water.
You can also try to focus on your breathing as you dive into the water. When you breathe, your body wants to take in a large amount of oxygen, but if it does so too quickly, it will be unable to process all the air in that time frame and may make you feel light-headed or even faint. If this happens, slow down your breathing rate until it feels more natural for you (typically about 10-12 breaths per minute).
Breathe from your diaphragm (the muscle below your lungs) rather than from your chest or throat. Your muscles in these areas are small and can’t take in enough oxygen at once; however, when properly used they are able to help expand their capacity significantly with deep breaths from the belly area instead of shallow ones from above the waistline where they’re located. This deeper type of inhalation allows more oxygen into our bloodstreams over longer periods of time which means less gasping for breath during dives!
9. The best way to get over fear is to just dive in, literally.
The key here is that you can’t let your emotions get the best of you. You’ll be fine! It’s okay if you’re nervous, it’s even expected. But don’t let those nerves prevent you from doing what needs to be done: jumping into the water and starting swimming lessons.
If this seems like a lot of pressure, remember one thing: it’s going to be ok! The only way to overcome your fears is by facing them head-on, not running away from them or keeping yourself in hiding until they go away on their own (which they won’t). So what are you waiting for? Dive right in!
Conclusion: How to get over fear of diving?
To conclude, the more you practice diving, the less scary it becomes and eventually it doesn’t even cross your mind anymore. Just remember that when you start off with a new activity or hobby, take it slow and don’t push yourself too hard!