Float - Preparation for important event

❤️ personal story ❤️ I have to confess, I have drifted off from floatation a little bit. I still try to keep the habit of floating once a week—knowing how crucial it is for maintaining my calm—but I've found myself drawn more to my infrared sauna lately. Every time I'm at Blissful in the evening, I can’t resist popping into the sauna just after closing time. It genuinely helps me combat the extreme fatigue from long Covid. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much time for jogging, so I’m grateful for this alternative to strengthen my heart.

The infrared sauna had been my go-to for quite some time, until I received an alarming call about an upcoming Ofsted inspection for my another job - childminding and afterschool club. Although I've been relatively stress-free lately thanks to my regular floating, the news about the inspection threw me off balance. Juggling two jobs could easily lead to oversight and missing something important for the inspection, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. I had very little time to review my paperwork or prepare, so I found myself anxious and helpless.

Fortunately, floatation came to the rescue. During that stressful period, I floated every day, which helped me maintain my composure. During the floats, I mentally reviewed all aspects of childminding that needed attention. It felt like a quick refresher course on child protection and health and safety. During my final float before the inspection, I had a vivid visualization of the entire process, including potential questions from the inspector and how I would respond. It helped me to be so confident and ready for it!

On the day of the inspection, during the school run, I ran into other childminders who congratulated me, mistakenly believing I had already completed the inspection because I seemed so relaxed and relieved! They were surprised to learn that the inspection was actually just about to start once I come home from the school run. I think the children sensed my calmness, as they behaved exceptionally well that day—no arguments, tears, or meltdowns, which is quite a rarity! The inspector was impressed with how happy, confident, and comfortable all the children were in my setting. Normally, I feel blocked under stress, making it hard to articulate my thoughts, but thanks to floatation and to the fact the inspector was so warm and friendly, I ended up chatting with her like an old friend. We even discussed floatation! 🤣

Needless to say, I passed with a glowing report from the lovely inspector.

Now I know where to turn in times of hightened stress. Nothing beats floating when it comes to stressful or important events, especially for someone who tends to panic like me!