You’re Not Drowning in Stress! Not Today Blog 4
I was running out of oxygen. 15 minutes into the dive, I noticed air leaking from my dive equipment. A silent steady sound of air bubbles coming from one of the hoses connected to my scuba tank. Stress.
Is there anything to do in Jakarta?
As a cosmopolitan city, Jakarta attracts people from all over the world, but as a travel destination, it has not been on many bucket lists. I am not going to convince you to come to visit Jakarta. Traffic is terrible. Air pollution is a problem. And the further you get out of the city centre, the dirtier the places get. I do know of activities here though that make living in Jakarta fun!
Car Free Sunday
Sundays are for the people. From 5.30 am until 10 am, Jakarta closes streets around the city centre for people to go out and do sports. A long morning run in the heart of the city is astonishing. Especially when you have been stuck in traffic in that same street before.
You can easily get your 5k or 10k in whilst passing by Zumba events and food stalls. Being surrounded by the reflecting skyscrapers in the morning sun lifts your mood in an instant.
Surfing in Jakarta?
Jakarta is bordered by the Java Sea. This might let you assume that Jakarta has got a beach strip as you would find in Sydney, Australia or maybe Da Nang, Vietnam. There is a beach in the north of Jakarta, but it does not look anything like these places. The beach clubs aren’t as thought through as in Bali, the water is not as clear as in Nusa Penida and the sand is not as white as in the Komodo Islands.
Still, there’s water! Water is fun! For me, another weekend activity is going wakeboarding at Ancol Cable Park. Perfect to release stress. It’s IDR 300.000 (20 USD) for an intense one-hour workout and you’re not even feeling sweaty throughout.
Diving in Jakarta?
Talking about water, Indonesia is famous for some of the most amazing underwater life in the world. How long would you need to travel from Jakarta to get a glimpse of exactly that? The answer is one hour by boat.
Last weekend, I went diving on Pramuka Island. Saturday, 7.00 am Chris, underwater photographer and dive equipment expert, Hansen, PADI Scuba Diving Instructor and founder of Nautika Dive Alor, and I headed out from Dermaga 16 Port in Ancol. We took the speed boat to Pramuka Island. Pramuka is one of the Thousand Islands, a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta’s coast.
The dive sites around the Thousand Islands are decent! Good visibility, lively corals, easy currents, warm water, many fish and great food! We explored the dive sites Pulau Air Barat, Soft Coral, Tanjung Penyu and APL.
Underwater Stress
My last dive made my whole weekend. 5 minutes into the dive, about 16 meters deep, I started noticing a small leak in my equipment. There was this silent but steady sound of bubbles coming from a hose connected to my tank.
I started checking my pressure gauge frequently while forcing myself to breathe slowly and keep my body calm. Focussing on not stroking too much with my fins has never been this challenging.
A couple of minutes passed, and my pressure gauge did not show any signs of losing much air. The leakage must have been tiny and wouldn’t affect my dive.
I could have panicked. I knew this level of underwater stress was the highest since my first dive, back in 2015, when starting my open water diver licence. You would assume the increased stress would make your body consume a lot more oxygen, which in turn result in a shorter and uncomfortable dive.
It didn’t. The pressure in my tank stayed constant. We exited the water after 50 minutes. Of the original 200, I had 60 bars left in my tank. It turned out to be a great dive!
“It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters.”
Epictetus
Surface Stress
Our days are packed with stress. Delayed deliveries, insufficient item lists, sore muscles and sleepless nights, just to name a few. We tend to give stress all our attention and sometimes lose sight of all the positive things that are still happening around us.
This stress we are experiencing does not even consume oxygen. Often most of it takes place only in our heads. There is almost no actual, physical limitation – the body is still functioning. So, why should we give stress more attention than it deserves? Responding to it with slow breathing and keeping the body calm for a few moments can help feel present again. We are still in control of our day.
You don’t have to only react to what is happening to you. You can act and create your reality. You’re in the driver’s seat. Sometimes, all you’ve got to do is breathe.
Why Not Today
So, why not today try and find a moment when stress is trying to take over your day and focus on your breath. Just for a few minutes. Feel how you are taking a seat behind the steering wheel again. And with this new, clear mind, start to do one task determined and uninfluenced.
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
Anne Lamott
Danny
And again thanks Mon for helping me on this one xx
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