Summer swimming but with a few jellyfish around. And can this help me be less grumpy in this latest "new normal"?

Summer swimming has been presenting a few challenges recently.  Rather than dealing with extreme cold and freezing winds during my winter swims, I am now coping with jellyfish!  These fascinating, unusual creatures show up unpredictably during our warmer months.  I had a theory that they only appear when we are in a middle of an English heatwave, which proved correct during sunny June when I was lightly stung by a jellyfish that was caught up in seaweed.  The sting only felt like a stinging nettle, which felt both reassuring and a reminder that jellyfish do exist here.

Since then, the weather has cooled and jellyfish have been gloriously absent.  Until last week, when I spent three mornings in the sea with my friend's nine year old daughter, Saskia.  It was her first time swimming in the sea and I pledged to teach her to canoe while they were visiting.  On the second day, I calmly spotted a jellyfish washing up towards the shallows of the beach, at which point Saskia leapt from the kayak back onto the beach. It is a totally natural human reaction to move away quickly from jellyfish and I watched a number of others abandon the idea of swimming once they had heard that there was a  jellyfish in situ.  I wondered if an aversion to jellyfish is almost wired into our DNA as, after all, nearly all jellyfish around the world give a nasty sting and a few are potentially dangerous.

By the third day, we had found out that the type of jellyfish present are known as "moon jellyfish".  The good news is that they have an extremely mild sting, which you are unlikely to even feel.  But this didn't stop Saskia being unsure about being in the water on sighting three more!  So instead we stood on the beach and watched the moon jellyfish.  Being transparent, they are hard to see until they surface in the water and then their four purple central rings become visible.  It was mesmerising watching how this ancient creature ebbed and flowed, opening up and gliding effortlessly in the sea's current.  My own apprehension started to fade and I felt some fondness and acceptance of this creature's presence.  While I will still be cautious about swimming with moon jellyfish, I also feel more relaxed about the odd encounter.  And even though some of the holiday-makers left the sea quickly, I also noticed a group of locals swimming far out from the shore as usual.

This process of calmly observing and accepting all of our different reactions to the jellyfish got me wondering if I can apply the same wisdom to the latest phase of the pandemic here in England.  While many people might be enjoying the relative "freedom" of restrictions ending, I have been finding the lack of social distancing with high case numbers concerning.  The supermarket has once again become more challenging with some people wearing face-masks and others not.  I find myself easily irritated with comments that dismiss the number of cases each day as something we have to "get used to".  The division between people's views has now become a difficult part of this pandemic experience.  

My sensitive nervous system would be much more suited to New Zealand's approach to managing the pandemic rather than the latest "experiment" on attaining herd immunity that none of us know if it will be effective.  Just as with the jellyfish, I am accepting my own reactions as a normal part of this unusual situation.  There will be some people who are more relaxed about restrictions easing and many who are not.  While I can't change government policy, I can choose to bring a more friendly, accepting approach towards how we are all dealing with this next phase of the pandemic.  

"Our collective future depends on opening channels of compassion, acceptance and understanding of others." (Deepak Chopra)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A wonderful week of nourishment at Cortijo Romero in Spain.

Image
On Easter Saturday (2022) I arrived at the gates of Cortijo Romero in Southern Spain and was greeted by Lelly, the host for the week.  "How was your journey?" she asked kindly.  My answer to this was, "fine, everything had run surprisingly smoothly".  My EasyJet flight wasn't cancelled; there were no long queues at security as shown in the media;  I managed to breath comfortably through my FFP2 face mask for the entire journey (phew) and my digital NHS Covid Pass was accepted.  Having not left England for well over two years, there was definitely more effort needed to remember how to navigate travel again.  An element of uncertainty lingered in the background while making these plans to visit Cortijo Romero, but I accepted this as part of the "new normal" that we are supposedly adjusting to.  And, miraculously, each step of the plan fell into place until I was finally here, in one of the most peaceful and healing places that I know. As I walked around
Read more

How Cortijo Romero, in Spain, is keeping calm and riding the ups and downs of the pandemic.

Image
Early August at Cortijo Romero is normally hot, but a warm breeze allows guests to relax fully under the clear blue summer skies.  Nestled in a lush, fertile valley within the Alpujurra region of southern Spain, Cortijo Romero has been welcoming guests for over three decades.  It describes itself as a personal development or creative holiday centre with a weekly programme that ranges from yoga courses, walking weeks, all kinds of creative expression to more therapeutic courses.  As you arrive at Cortijo Romero (CR) after a long journey, you are greeted by both the warm staff and a deeply nourishing energy that feels like no where else on earth.  It makes me want to breathe more deeply, as if a weight lifts from my shoulders and I arrive back home fully into my own self.  I've been fortunate to visit as a guest a number of times, mostly participating in restful and rejuvenating yoga courses.  I have also worked and lived in this beautiful oasis for two periods as their volunteer
Read more

When life takes an unexpected turn, the sudden passing of my father.

Image
How do I begin?  It was only a little over two weeks ago early on Saturday morning that I heard the phone ring.  I was in the bathroom at that moment, so all I heard was Martin saying "it's your sister, it's your sister, she has to speak to you".  First thing in the morning calls from my sister have never been good news, so I already knew this was about my dad.  I begged the universe for him to be poorly but still with us, so that we could dash to be with him but my wishes were already too late.  He had died peacefully in his sleep at his care home, having had a totally "normal" day previously.  He had been getting weaker in the last few months, but nothing that gave concern. Perhaps the sudden, unexpected part of this loss makes it more difficult for it to sink in.  The weekend passed in an emotional blur with a strange mixture of adrenaline and grief.  I had such a strong impulse to do something, to rush to his side and help.  But there was nothing we coul
Read more

The wonders of sea swimming during lockdown! And how to get the health benefit without freezing!

Image
I am having two different conversations while out on my walks by the sea with locals.  The first involves the pandemic situation here in my little seaside town.  Up until recently, it has felt like a safe haven with relatively low case numbers.  But things change quickly in a pandemic and at the weekend more than one neighbour cheerfully commented that "we have gone purple" now.  Fortunately I have stared at the colourful coronavirus map of the UK enough times to know that purple means a lot of cases.  As I wonder how on earth that happened so quickly, it is also a stark reminder that there is actually a pandemic still rumbling away which is now more prevalent here. Fortunately the second conversation is about swimming and how I am managing to swim in the sea without freezing.  And that is a very good question that I am exploring.  The most commonly asked question is "what do you wear?"  There seems to be a divide in the world of open-water swimming about whether t
Read more

Coast to coast walk day 5. The last section, reaching the south-east coast of Kent! Walking to support Cortijo Romero in Spain.

Image
Yesterday we finally embarked on the last section of our "coast to coast" walk continuing from our previous stop at the village of Etchinghill on the Elham Valley Way.  This final part of the route would take us all the way to the south-east coast of Kent, finishing on the beach at the seaside town of Hythe.  As with many things during the last 18 months of the pandemic, the walk has not gone to plan.  We intended to walk this section two weeks ago, but my on-going health struggles following my second Pfizer jab had other ideas.  Twenty-four hours after completing our previous section of the walk, I was suddenly ill again with more post-vaccine symptoms.  It has taken until now (alongside my GP's firm instruction to not suddenly over-do the exercise) to feel able to walk this far. Etchinghill was bathed in the most glorious morning light with clear blue skies above us and a definite autumnal chill in the air.  We retraced our steps for a mile or so from our last section a
Read more

How to get through Covid fatigue - have patience and rest or push on through?

Image
Getting covid for the first time was a bit of a shock, having managed to escape it for two and a half years.  I had just come back from a nourishing Ayurvedic retreat in Herefordshire and had been feeling relaxed and well.  A few days later, however, I rapidly felt ill with the classic signs: sore throat, fever and aching muscles.  I just knew that I finally had covid.  It was definitely more flu-like than a sniffly cold and took well over ten days to be out of bed very much.  But nearly six weeks on, I am still on the slow path to recovery... I keep telling myself that I am slowly improving.  The constant headache around the front of my head finally subsided which was a relief.  The muscle aches are less common.  I still cough, especially if I overdo things.  But the main thing left is the fatigue.  Like fatigue I have never experienced before.  It is not being tired nor low energy.  It feels like a strange creature has come to hang out in my body for a while.  Yet the fatigue also f
Read more

Making a pilgrimage to lay flowers for the Queen and our collective loss.

Image
I stood in a local supermarket early yesterday morning choosing flowers to lay at Green Park next to Buckingham Palace for the Queen.  I wanted to ask someone for advice or reassurance.  Could I just take a small bunch of carnations that spoke to me, in bright pink or yellow?  Surely for the Queen, I should take a specially made bouquet, with exactly the flowers that she loved?  I reasoned that there would be already a lot of flowers there and that a small, biodegradable gesture would be perfectly acceptable.   Clutching my pink carnations, I followed a number of other people from Victoria Station making their way up to Hyde Park Corner.  Having not been to London since the pandemic began, it already felt strange to be among crowds, traffic and police.  Thankfully I had arrived early and there was plenty of space to walk along the pavement.  Turning into Green Park, however, I suddenly saw hundreds of people all making the same pilgrimage to the flowers.  Drawn by the same force that h
Read more

From a blog to a book! Contributing to an anthology of stories titled "Love in the time of Corona - Covid Chronicles."

Image
"Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans" is a phrase that often appears on colourful inspirational cards and magnets.  I even had this boldly displayed on my fridge for a few years, in the extremely slim chance that I might realise the truth within these words.  More often than not, I rolled my eyes while opening the fridge as I rushed from completing one plan to the next during my very focused and busy life as a teacher. During our long pandemic year, I have been forced to re-consider this phrase.  It could even be tweaked to read:   "Life is what happens to us while we can't actually make plans". I still find it rather surreal to be waiting on data, variants, vaccines and travel ministers before we can start to even think about making a plan to travel out of the UK.  But this is how the pandemic has gone.  My penchant for the security of making and completing plans has been tested so many times in the pandemic that I cope by making as few p
Read more

Why is resting so difficult to actually do? A peaceful weekend remembering how to slow down!

Image
"Rest more and take things easy for a while" is advice we have probably all heard or given at some point in our lives.  My GP told me recently to ensure that I rested while still recovering from a persistent virus and bronchitis.  I listened to her words of advice with a deep sense of relief, as if permission was being given to do what my body needs.  But simultaneously I wanted to ignore such advice and keep going as "normal".  I have a deeply ingrained habit of pushing on through, no matter how I feel, to get something done.  If I rest, I won't "progress" or "keep up" and will miss out on things.  Someone has to hold everything together I say to myself, that someone being me!  If I rest, the world could actually fall apart while I'm relaxing somewhere peaceful? Sound familiar?  Having ignored my body's natural need to slow down and rest for decades, I now find myself being forced to pay more attention due to my health.  If I overdo
Read more

Swimming (and walking) in the snow while soaking up the beauty of nature.

Image
I think I might have got hooked on sea swimming, just a little, perhaps?  Last week I saw that snow was forecast and my first thought was "great, I can swim while the beach is covered in snow".  I have been excited for days that our little seaside town might get snow that actually settles on the ground rather than the mushy wet slush we've had.  I've not seen snow for years and while we are starting month FOUR of pretty much "lockdown" in this area, snow is beyond exciting.  It means I can have a mini-adventure right from my house and see the world looking all sparkly and white.  Snow feels like a change, a much needed break from the monotony and routine of these weeks of "staying at home".  I was so excited yesterday morning when I woke expecting swathes of pristine, not-yet-walked-on snow.  As I opened the curtains, my heart sank just a little because the snow wasn't settling.  But there were delicate snowflakes coming down alongside the free
Read more