Water is always with us and, even in unconscious interaction with it, it purifies, heals and fills us with life. In scuba diving, water comes to the fore, and contact with it is more regular. Is it necessary to say that divers’ joy in living is not accidental? And can it be a coincidence that literally every other person who even just tries scuba diving talks about it to everyone, saying that scuba diving has helped them to really live again?
When I was younger, I absorbed the paintings of master artists at exhibitions and dreamed of learning how to paint water. All my thoughts were occupied by painting water until I just decided to buy brushes and paints and started my drawing school right on the inner walls of our house. I went to bed thinking about the right strokes and woke up with the same strokes in my mind. I couldn’t wait for my day job to be over to continue my work on our wall. When I couldn’t get enough, I quit my job. Since then, my contact with water on frequent trips to the sea has inspired me to write books, articles and work on my many water paintings.
In 2016, I was invited to the Maldives to paint a mural showing a Maldivian island with dive sites on the outer wall of a new guest house on Thoddoo Island. There I was given the opportunity to overcome my fear of deep water at a local diving school. I remember my instructor saying, “Breathe calmly, take your breath to the fish,” and after 30 seconds I was waving my fins with might and main to catch up with the fish.
Underwater, I suddenly met my inner child. My whole body began to shake with laughter and joy. And, I found myself, finally, reunited with the water and what felt like my true self. Already in these first dives, I knew that I would become a dive instructor and guide others to the water. My hope was that I could open this fantastic world to others.
Diving led me to a meeting not only with my inner child and my mission in life, but also filled me with joy, which, in turn, enriched me as a woman and a human being. Diving helped me discover a state of inner silence and bliss.
Now that I’m a PADI Assistant Instructor, I’m continuously ecstatic at introducing others to the underwater world. After every Discover Scuba Diving Program, I hear something like, “I’d recommended my own friends to try diving, too. I feel that it will help their current situation in life.” We warmly welcome everyone in our dive center and diving school in Helsinki, Finland. This way I get to experience, again and again, the way our students’ joy at being underwater.
We consist of 60-70% of water; therefore, unity with water in scuba diving and hanging in the water column, relaxing the body, can completely dissolve consciousness. It’s here you get a feeling that you are back home. Through this harmony and silence of thoughts, each time you dive, you experience complete trust. With such an encounter, layers are opened that completely change you and literally turn your world upside down, making it both deeper and much more colorful.
That’s why it can be said, and especially for beginners: water and diving change lives. Water teaches that there is no fear, water teaches you to be in the moment, water teaches you to notice, listen and love yourself and the beauty around you, water removes all unnecessary worries and thoughts, water frees you, and water inspires. Water shows you your true strength and creates even more reasons for joy.
I learned to scuba dive, and it changed my life in the most remarkable way. Water might be calling you for a reason. Listen to it. Listen to yourself.
Heed the call of water, and learn to Live Unfiltered through scuba diving. Sign up for your PADI Open Water Diver course right now.
This article was written by Elena Gushchina lol2o, a Water Contactee, Reiki-master, energy guide, artist, writer, PADI Diving Instructor and co-founder & co-owner of PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Center (IDC) Arctic Divers Dive Center in Helsinki, Finland. You can view Elena’s water paintings here, or check out her books and designs at Life! Art! Design! Diving!.
