What a day. I think that today has been one of the most challenging days for me; from a physical and mental point of view. Today our class went on a caving trip, to develop our leadership and offer a different setting for some self-development and reflection.
Caving
So, having done lots of tight spaces in the diving sense, in wrecks and caverns all over the world, I was feeling pretty confident about today's challenge. Still it pays to go with an open mind, because every day we can find learning opportunities in almost everything we do.
The caving was carried out at Bungonia National Park, NSW...3 hours away from Jervis Bay. In the middle of nowhere, we were there learning about leadership and crawling around like rats!
The first cave was a great warm up, a great lesson in communication, some tricky traverses but mostly a simple enough cave to get through. The lights out exercise, resonated with me. It reminded me of night diving skills, but the conversation was interesting. When people were asked about their fears, or anxieties before the cave one person spoke up....whether this was fear of embarrassment or otherwise, the result when asked in the dark was more people talking about the same subject. In my humble opinion, this was a really good exercise in Honesty. It was startling how much more honest people were, when they couldn't see your face, or you theirs. It actually pulled the team together almost instantly and that was staggering. Know Yourself, Know Your People. Be honest.
The second was a little more tricky. There were squeezes, tight ones, propelling along ledges attached to chain, climbs, belays, you name it we were in it. There was a silt out caused by movement, dust and that was hard (on the lungs and the mind). The climbs weren't easy. They required some strength in your upper body and your legs. The crawls were hard your knees, elbows and core - especially the squeeze through sections! I got stuck a few times, still working on reducing the 'Bateman Belly', but at 94kg I'm happy to be doing it after losing some weight! Getting stuck didn't bother me, that was just a logical puzzle to solve.
Fears, Self-Control and Thinking Too Much
I took more from today, than I have ever on a leadership or development course before. When I was placed at the back of the group in the second cave, I began getting concerned about the people I couldn't see. Coming from the diving world of guiding divers, accounting for them and leading them from the front, put me well out of my natural comfort zone in this case! In the 'cement bag' silt out I couldn't see or hear people for a few moments. I was not worried about myself, per say, just how my team mates were doing, then I started to think...and this situation that can be deadly. I started to think about how deep underground, how the air was dense with silt, how hot I was getting, how my breathing rate was increasing....then it hit me.... focus on your dive training. I regained control of my breathing, and remembered something Winnie wrote on a dive slate: "Keep Breathing, Love Winnie" and that helped, but surprisingly the think that changed it was when I saw one of the staff members Chief Blowie.... I said "talk to me chief" (I was trying to distract my thoughts)...to which he replied "you're a dickhead"... which made me laugh, and remember that comedy or keeping things light can control a situation.
I was carrying a trusty little rock in my pocket. In the moments where there was inactivity, where I had the potential to think (or over think) I started scratching the rock surfaces. I found I was writing the words "Winnie, Win Gaz, and Batman" quite a lot..... I always find that thinking of Winnie calms me down, make me see sense etc. She's always there, even when she's not!
Later on after getting stuck again, I was actually first going through a very tight crawl-squeeze. I didn't like how tight it was, and almost started thinking again, but using self-control and the knowledge that I was with a great team (My buddy was Mr Protein) and a few reassuring words (that I didn't need as it happens) had me scooting through in no time. I was saying to myself JFDI! It helped.
Physical Training
Caving, Climbing and working your way through the tight spaces is a pretty tough workout. Im so glad my endurance training has been going on. It really did prepare me for the cross-fitness of climbing, sliding, squatting, pulling myself along or up, belaying and carrying equipment. I did a little research on getting home, and a day of caving/climbing burns between 3000-4000 Calories. Which is testament to the continuous whole-body workout that I had received today.
Happy Faces....
