Recently, a journalist and friend, Urška Krišelj Grubar, asked me to write a few thoughts on how I help myself when I am sad. I would like to share these thoughts with you, because I think that water can help everyone, not just me.
I’ve often been asked whether I ever have hard times. I’m living a life in paradise that many people just dream of, how could I ever be sad? What problems could someone who sails from tropical island to tropical island possibly have? Of course I have my bad days too. When I travel, I often get homesick. Sometimes I feel lonely and sad, even if I am in paradise. Sometimes for a reason, sometimes not. Often I’m sad when my friends and family have important moments and I cannot be there. I am also sad every time I have to say goodbye to my sea gypsy friends knowing that I will probably never see them again.
When I am sad, but also when I’m tired or in a bad mood, my best move is to jump over the side. I suddenly find myself in a refreshing embrace, where there is no room for a heavy heart. 
I dive deep down, where I swim a dance of freedom among colorful fish while all the dark thoughts remain on the surface. Then a turtle swims by, reminding me that I can handle this challenge too, if I just do it in a persistent, slow and elegant way. The underwater world silences my loud thoughts and I am instantly reassured.
“Let yourself go with the current,” says the parrot fish, calmly crunching on some coral. Then some dolphins come by to remind me how I should walk through life: “Spin, roll, jump, play!” No heavy steps. No dragging feet.
The sea is my medicine. When I return to the surface I can start again, encouraged and comforted, with a joyful heart and a clearer mind.
My favourite bed
But what if I can’t jump into the sea? For example in the middle of winter in Slovenia?
Then I’m going to the pool. Swimming is my meditation. In the water I can calm down and get my blood pumping at the same time. I jump in the water tired, when I get out I feel reborn.
And what if there is no pool either? Well, in that case, a bathtub will do. Because the really essential thing for me is the healing hug I get from the water. It makes me feel safe and loved. All hugs are healing, but this one even more so, because the water doesn’t hug just around the shoulders. The water embraces every square inch of my body and it can caress wounds I might not even know I have. Thanks, water!
And you? What do you do when you feel down? What is your medicine?
