"When I first walked out into the warm, shallow, calm waters of Cocoa Beach, Florida, as a forty-year-old grom (short for grommet, or novice surfer), the fear gripped my heart like a boxer's closing fist. It was ridiculous, really. Even in clear, waist-deep water, surrounded by splashing tourists, with lifeguards on shore, and even though I had a full-body flotation device in my hands in the form of a borrowed surfboard and my best friend (an extreme water woman) at my side, I was utterly, breathlessly terrified. The fear was too much for me to bear. In fact, the fear and the anticipation of the fear had taken my breath away and I struggled to catch it. I didn't realize this one choice to leave my comfort zone and meet my fear head-on would shape my life and teach me the lessons of the Tao. "
" At the time I just wanted to get over it, this crippling fear. I had never had an unpleasant experience in the water or been present when someone else did. Yet his primal, paralyzing fear closed around me whenever I entered water. Even the shallow end of a swimming pool gave me pause, for goodness' sake, and that's just absurd. Living in Florida, a state surrounded by water, this fear really wasn't healthy for my physical survival, not to mention my social survival. I remember evading gatherings that were water focused as a teenager. The numerous pool parties, beach luaus, and boating trips that permeate social life in coastal Florida were all outside of my comfort zone and therefore beyond my grasp.
This fear had limited me why whole life, and I was sick and tired of it. I decided to confront it head-on--I was going to learn how to surf. This, I reasoned, would give me a physical and mental distraction from the fear that I was in continual jeopardy while traversing that terrifying, watery realm. So, at fory years old, on a sunny summer morning, surfboard tethered to my ankle, I slowly walked into the shallows of the Atlantic Ocean on Cocoa Beach." Surfing the Sea of Chi, pages 4-5
Surfing the Sea of Chi is written for those who don't surf or practice tai chi. It's about overcoming fear, facing and fording obstacles. It's about learning how to grow up as an adult and act like one. Using the natural arts of movement found in surfing and tai chi, the author moves her life from fear to joy. And so can you. Available soon through Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and local retail outlets.