Segway Life Coach

It seemed like a great fun day out. Going to Sibleyback Lake and hiring a Segway adventure, little did I know at the time I would learn how to ride the machine and re-discover the power fear has to evoke negative beliefs.

A little bit of background I love cycling and a few years ago I had a very serious biking accident; I was airlifted to hospital and fed liquid morphine. I would show you the pictures, only they are so graphic, I still baulk when looking at them. I am now back in the saddle (not horse saddle as in the blog post, Insolvency & the Self-Employed) of my bike and riding 20+ miles along the cycle trails. Must have good balance to ride a bike, someone once said.

Segway looks like a benign activity and I was looking forward to doing it. We were introduced to our lovely instructor Lucy, after signing a non-liability agreement – which, as a successful business woman, I fully understood the need for. She explained Segway was all to do with balance and I felt a trickle of fear as at the same time, up popped an old belief. ‘I’m no good at balancing’ along with flash-backs to the times I have tried (I use tried, skilfully here) unsuccessfully to wind surf, with all the humiliation that these attempts brought with them.

As I stepped on the machine I knew I was in trouble! I just could not control the Segway nor could I control the flooding of fear. Bingo, up popped ‘I’m no good at balancing’. Bile seeped insidiously into my mouth and at the same time, a clenching of my lower anatomy! Interesting I thought.

Lucy, picking up on my fear, said I could walk away, as other people had before me. I was tempted believe me, only, I am an outstanding Life Coach who knows about this stuff. I spent the next hour whilst balancing on the Segway, alternating between acute fear and controlled belief change work. Replacing, ‘I’m no good at balancing’ with ‘I am great at balancing’ (affirmation) whilst remembering myself cycling along the Camel Trail (visualisation), one of my favourite cycle routes.

When the rest of the Segway riders jumped ditches and bumped off road, I would practise stopping and starting on the path, whilst controlling my fear, saying my new belief and visualising balancing on a bike. Proof that women can multitask.

By the way just for clarity, Segway is absolutely nothing like riding a bike.

Did I enjoy it? Well the jury is still out! I will go back again to stretch my new belief. The great learning (everyday is a school day) for me, is that although sometimes belief change work can be challenging (I edited the stronger words) and need lake full’s of courageous persistence, It will work, if only you believe that it will! The strange contradiction of beliefs.

Camel trail http://tinyurl.com/l2frl4g
Sibleyback Lake http://tinyurl.com/leut642