Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Peterson.
Hi Grace, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
The ocean has always been the place I’ve gone to feel at home within myself. It’s been a place to experience joy and beauty, and somewhere I would turn whenever I was struggling with a hard time or in need of perspective. Its capacity to hold and transform the emotional experience is incredible. In graduate school, I chose to do my fieldwork project on the topic of surf therapy, where I saw ocean therapy being put into practice in a group setting for the first time. I had been doing my own therapy within the water since before I knew what therapy was, but here was a whole community of ocean people offering it to others.
Surf therapy can be very effective for the right candidates, but something about going beneath the surface of the water really called to me so I figured I couldn’t be the only one. It’s an incredibly powerful way to be fully present in your body, in the moment, and with yourself. Once I finished school and had more time, I started getting more serious about freediving and became a freediving instructor so that I could bring it into my practice as a somatic modality, just like bodywork and coaching. I wasn’t expecting much interest in such a specific offering, but to my surprise, I was very busy the first season that I implemented it. I have named this modality Soulful Freediving to differentiate it from other freediving sub-communities like competitive or applied freediving, such as spearfishing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Though there are so many surf therapy groups, I could not find anyone else doing something similar to this with freediving. I figured that there was a good reason for this that I wasn’t aware of, and I became discouraged in pursuing freediving as therapeutic modality. There are groups who use yoga and other somatic practices to improve their freediving, but I envisioned freediving as the inner work practice in itself. It felt very lonely and to an extent, hopeless.
It was really talking about it and hearing about the personal experiences within my freediving community and students. The more I put this vision into words, the more tangible it became. Every student’s frustrations, tears, aversions, and fears faced and observed, shared, and unpacked were evidence that they were open to doing the difficult inner workout in the water. I began to see that there was a niche for this, a need for a safe space in the depths of the ocean to look within. It was organically shaping itself into what I had envisioned years ago.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Saltwater Integrative Bodywork?
Within our practice, we celebrate the process of transformation. Whether on land or in the ocean, our priority is creating a safe space for our clients to be able to go within. We do this with a variety of somatic practices, primarily bodywork, as well as freediving and somatic coaching. All of our modalities are focused on helping you to be present in your body, as our body holds all of our knowledge from every experience we’ve ever had. We can learn so much from ourselves if we know how to listen.
We have cultivated our Soulful Freediving community that is centered around connecting with yourself, the ocean, and each other that is open for anyone who has taken a course so that they understand safety in the water. More recently, we held our first Soulful Freediving retreat in Kona and look forward to hosting more in the future, in addition to land and ocean-based retreats centered around somatic practices and ecopsychology inclusive of those who might not be drawn to freediving.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
In general, you know you’re doing something right when it scares you a little bit. You’re probably not going to feel ready when it’s time to make a leap, and in my experience, the leap is not as big once you see it from the other side. It’s actually quite rewarding in most cases. Starting a business is a risk; leaving a safety net of old jobs or moving into a bigger space is a risk, but wow, am I so glad I did it.
In freediving, however, we face different types of risks all of the time. Just entering the ocean is inherently risky, but the takeaway is that the payoff is far greater than the risk itself. I rarely hear anyone regret getting in the water or taking the leap. It is important to understand the risk and assess the possible outcomes of accepting it, but most importantly, make the decision for yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.saltwaterbodywork.com
- Instagram: @saltwater.bodywork
Image Credits
Chelsea Mayer
Oriana Poindexter
