Last month, I became a PADI Mermaid Instructor. I want to tell you why, because it was not random, and it is not a side project.
There is something that happens when you slip on a monofin for the first time. Everything you thought you knew about moving in the water stops working. And then something shifts. You stop resisting and let your whole body move as one. Suddenly, the water starts working with you.
That moment is exactly why I pursued this certification. It is a deliberate addition to the work I already do with the women I guide in the water. Another doorway into the ocean. One that begins with calm, rhythm, and connection.
Why I Became a PADI Mermaid Instructor
Everything I offer is built around one idea: Calm leads to confidence, and confidence creates freedom in the water and in life.
As a PADI Scuba Instructor and certified somatic practitioner, I am always looking for more ways to bring people into that experience. More doorways. More entry points. More ways to help someone feel safe, capable, and at home in the ocean (and in life) before we ever ask them to do something technically demanding.
Mermaid training is one of those doorways.
The mermaid-kick movement required with a monofin is rhythmic and full-body. Breath awareness is built into every moment. The experience is grounding in a way that does not feel like work. It gently and naturally slows the nervous system.
The connection between the nervous system and water is powerful. When breath slows and movement becomes rhythmic, the body begins to trust the environment again. And for many people, especially those who carry anxiety around water, that gentleness matters.
This is not separate from my work on confidence and the nervous system. It is an extension of it.
How This Will Show Up in the Work
This certification will be woven into the experiences I already create for the women I work with.
As a PADI Mermaid Instructor, I can now offer this as a structured discovery experience alongside the dive retreats I lead. For women who are curious about the water but not yet ready to commit to scuba, a mermaid swimming experience offers a supported, low-pressure way to build a relationship with the ocean. For women already diving, it adds a layer of play, breath awareness, and body freedom that complements everything they are already developing underwater.
It is another way in. And sometimes the way in matters more than the destination.
Some of the most powerful confidence shifts I have witnessed happen not during technical dives but during moments of unexpected ease in the water. Mermaid training creates those moments intentionally.
Why This Fits the Women I Work With
The women who come into my world are not always looking for the next certification or the deepest dive. They are looking to feel confident. To feel calm. To feel like the water is a place that belongs to them.
Mermaid training speaks directly to that.
It is accessible. It is structured. It is genuinely fun, yet it still carries real depth underneath. A mermaid swimming experience opens that conversation in a container that feels approachable, playful, and genuinely safe for the nervous system.
That is exactly the kind of experience I want to offer more of.
The Ocean Still Has More to Teach
Every certification I pursue is in service of one thing. Giving the women I work with more ways to feel at home in the water.
If you are wondering what a mermaid experience with me actually looks like, it is a structured, supported session in the water that uses breath awareness and movement to build calm and confidence. It is offered on select trips alongside diving, designed for women who want to explore the ocean in a way that feels safe, playful, and intentional.
If you are curious about what experiences are coming or want to be part of what I am building, the Women In Scuba Empowered community is where those conversations take place. Come find us.
This is the latest addition. It will not be the last.
With courage and bubbles,
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