It’s never too late to change your life.
“I still can’t believe that just a little over a year ago I was deathly afraid of water!” says Lyubov Veligosha, a children’s swimming coach.
Lyubov was in the flower business in Okha. One day she decided to face her fears and started going to the pool with Leonida Karmaz. And now she competes in swimming competitions, and most importantly, she teaches children and adults how to do it, helps them overcome hydrophobia and love water as much as she loved it herself.
Neftyanik reported on what the first step towards change was:
“As a child, I drowned in a lake and since then I was very afraid of water. Any splashes on my face immediately put me into a stupor, I could not breathe. Leonida Karmaz learned about my problem and dream of participating in a triathlon and simply set the day for the first training session.”
At that time, neither we, nor especially Lyubov herself, could have guessed where this would lead. But she was not just learning to swim:
“I worked a lot with my thoughts and feelings. And now I can’t imagine how I lived without all of this before – some kind of uninteresting life!”
Now Love feels like she’s in her right place.
“I really like to see how people’s attitudes towards water change – and how they change themselves. The changes are especially noticeable in adults. We live with our fears all our lives and don’t pay attention to them: yes, I’m afraid, I’m afraid, it’s cold here, you can rarely swim. But when you free yourself from this fear, its place inside is taken by strength, confidence, love and a bunch of other resources.”
Liberation from fears launched a whole chain of new events in the life of Okhinka. She finished working with flowers, wanted and received her first sports education, accepted a spontaneous offer to become an instructor at the sports and health complex “Dolphin”.
“I was very inspired by the people who come to the pool at eight in the morning. These are mostly not young people, but older people – and they take care of themselves, they set a great example for us! I liked greeting them, creating an atmosphere for them, turning on music.
I also worked with children and adults who often did not understand that they could not swim precisely because they were afraid of water. They were explained the technique, they did everything – but did not swim. And we analyzed what was behind it, and shifts and achievements began.”
But the changes in Lyubov’s life did not end there. That very liberation from her long-standing childhood fear led her to create her own aero yoga studio.
“I’m sitting in it now and I can’t understand at what point everything came together: a room was found, spontaneously and very successfully I ordered good hammocks, I was trained by a wonderful trainer Ekaterina Cherepanova, I took the most extensive course – my brain was boiling! But I don’t regret it, because the knowledge I received is now my strong foundation.
For me, this studio is not primarily about the opportunity to earn money. My main goal is to give a piece of my warmth, soul, to help people understand themselves, to find harmony with themselves. There will be classes in different areas – for those who need active, and for those who need more calm formats.”
Lyubov left Dolphin and was unexpectedly offered a job as a physical education instructor at a kindergarten swimming pool.
“I am very happy because this direction inspires me. I am already conducting my first classes with children and I understand that this is exactly what I dreamed about. I love sports and I love children, and to combine everything in one job is great! I go to work as if to a holiday. My path to a completely different life continues. And all because I simply overcame my fear, which has been inside me since childhood! And now I am happy every day.
Some people don’t understand me. “Who were you and who have you become!” – they tell me when they find out that I left the flower business. Yes, I loved that job too. But now I see how physical culture is underestimated.
Since childhood, we are taught the culture of communication, behavior, music, painting, and so on. But physical education is not praised as much as the rest, sometimes even the opposite. For example, all children love to run. But when I started running as an adult, I encountered the mocking attitude of my friends: “What, do you want to lose weight?” But I just want to run, feel the joy of movement, feel active, healthy! Achieve new things, expand my capabilities, like with swimming, which I mastered at almost 40 years old.
And if from an early age we teach children physical education differently, show by example how important it is, then they will understand that this is a culture of a different way of life, rich and interesting. Activity is the norm, it is a need that we can realize in an accessible form: do exercises every day or every other day, go for a walk – not necessarily running, breathe our wonderful air, admire the beauty of northern nature, meet new people…
I am glad that I can now reveal this side of life to children, instill in the little ones a love of sports, the habit of taking care of themselves, being liberated, healthy, and happy.
And in my studio I have even more opportunities for this. I never thought that I would come to this, but when you start taking important steps for yourself, life gives you the rest itself.”
Photo: from the archive of Lyubov Veligosha
