YOUR BELIEFS IN THE WATER
Put a checkmark next to the beliefs you hold. Check your gut-level beliefs, not your intellectual beliefs. In other words, if you would act as if you had a certain belief, check it.

___If I put my face in water, I’ll get water in my nose or mouth.
___It’s dangerous when I get water in my nose or mouth.
___If I get water in my nose or mouth, I’ll struggle, sputter, cough, and    
      possibly drown.
___If water gets into my mouth, I’ll swallow it.
___If I relax in water, I’ll drop straight to the bottom like a stone.
___Sometimes I can’t keep my presence of mind in deep water.
___I am not a floater.
___I know I can float.
___I am not a swimmer yet.
___I was born a swimmer.
___It would be unwise of me to relax in water.
___If I relax in water, I might lose control.
___I may not have adequate lung capacity to swim.
___Safety is possible.
___Deep water works differently than shallow water.
___It would be unwise of me to relax in deep water.
___If I relax in deep water, something dreadful will happen.
___Each breath I take must be maximal in case I don’t get another one.
___I can’t control my body well in deep water.
___I can’t control my body well in shallow water.
___To learn to swim, I’ll have to follow the instructor’s directions, even if I
      don’t want to.
___If a skill works in the shallow end, it won’t necessarily work in the deep
      end.
___To float correctly, my body should be horizontal.
___Being able to float depends on where the bottom is.
___Being able to do other skills depends on where the bottom is.
___A person can’t get air if s/he’s in deep water because there’s no bottom
      to stand on.
___When I’m in deep water, I must move vigorously to stay afloat.
___In deep water I need skills that I don’t need in shallow water.
___In order to rest, I need the bottom or the side.
___It’s harder to breathe in deep water than in shallow water.
___If I don’t have a place to swim, I’m unsafe.
___If I can’t see through the water, I’m unsafe.
___If people are close to me in the water, I’m unsafe.
___My fear is more dangerous to me than deep water is.
___In order to learn to swim I’ll have to do things I don’t like.
___I’m only safe if I can stand up or hold onto the side.
___Shallow water is as dangerous as deep water.
___Deep water won’t hold me up.
___The water is more powerful than I am.
___I need to be more physically fit than I am to learn to swim.
___The Miracle Swimming system may work for others, but it may not
      work for me.
___I don’t trust myself in deep water.

If you would like to change your beliefs, our class, book, podcast, DVD, tether and Float bar are made for you.

©1987 M. Dash