When Our Wellness Necessitates Swimming UPSTREAM: How the Salmon’s Upstream Odyssey Instructs Our Wellness.
“The violence of the Salmon’s Upstream pilgrimage is at once rhythmically jarring and lyrically uplifting. And while we know its noble epilogue, our spiritual penury still screams … why?” Louis M. Brown
Greetings 4am Fitness Crew.
Commencing late spring and summer, millions of Salmon star in one of nature’s most gripping and inspiring cinematic sequels, UPSTREAM (also known as the Annual Salmon Run). These anadromous fish species display tenacity, muscular strength, agility, and an enthralling focus on the task dictated to them by evolution, leaving us jaw-droppingly inspired. This genre transcends entertainment, instructively overflowing liberally into our emotional and spiritual spaces – where we sheepishly seek to hitch an allegorical ride on its improbable upstream rendezvous within the Circle of Life.
Why does the Salmon leave the lush excesses of ocean life to embark on this arduous, violent, and seemingly counterintuitive migration? Birth. Rebirth. Rejuvenation. Fulfillment of destiny.
As previously mentioned, Salmon (“Salmo salar – salire means ‘to jump’ in Latin) are anadromous (derived from the Greek, meaning running upward), comfortably living and thriving in both salt and fresh waters.
Salmon life begins in freshwater – rivers and streams. It is where young Salmon, known as alevins after they hatch, and fry as they start to grow bigger, benefit from an ecology that is ideally nourishing, and safe from predators. Adult Salmon eventually outgrow the rivers and streams of their birth - and having now grown big enough to be formidable predators themselves, head downstream to the oceans where abundant food and marine life thrive.
After spending anywhere between two to eight years traveling hundreds to thousands of miles and growing in size and proficiency in ocean life, the evolutional bell rings (sexual maturation), and the Salmon dutifully, eagerly, and with almost zealot irrationality turns upstream to confront the astonished currents.
So demanding are the crucibles of swift currents, waterfalls, dams, hungry predators, and eager anglers, it is astonishing that an estimated 90% of Salmon, successfully return to their home streams to mate.
After traveling for days, even weeks, from a couple of hundred miles to a couple of thousand miles, the exhausted Salmon arrives at the tranquil fresh waters of their birth. The exact stream! The exact river! An amazing navigation system whose accuracy has been affirmed by many millenniums of functional testing.
At this natal tributary, the spawning ground, the mating process begins; the females dig a nest in the gravel bed of the river and lay their eggs. The males then fertilize the eggs. After fulfilling their most noble of duties – the perpetuation, protection, and preservation of their species, the Salmon (almost always) dies from sheer exhaustion. But even in death, this wonderful giver of nature has one more gift to our ecosystem. Because of its anadromous nature, it transports vital nutrients from freshwater to seawater and even to land. Its decomposition ensures these essential life-promoting compounds feed plants, animals, and humans. Without the nutrient cycling of Salmon, precious life-promoting compounds like selenium and iodine will be scarce and out of reach for most of us.
Ready to apply this idiom and its metaphorical intent to our wellness journey?
Why We Need to “Swim” Upstream?
“I think we’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of human beings to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul…we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.” Neil Armstrong
We need to swim upstream because that is where Rebirth, Rejuvenation, and Fulfillment of Destiny germinate. Unlike Salmon, our emotional rebirth and rejuvenation are continuous. The deafening clarion call to commence our upstream odyssey might be as simple as restlessness in our emotional, relationship, or occupational space, or as painful as trauma. Trauma in the different areas of our wellness (emotional, financial, physical, occupational, social, environmental, community, intellectual, and spiritual) impacts not only that dimension but can create an unhealthy wellness balance. Swimming upstream simply means we cannot submit to the instinctually negative fight or flight response. Our response must be counterintuitive. Our response trajectory must be unequivocally toward solutions. Our response must be instructed by a positive mindset. We must respond with a growth-centric reengineered mindset. The foundational principle of our response must be spiritual, I am deserving of rebirth, rejuvenation, forgiveness - a second chance. I am deserving of wellness wealth. That is an Upstream mindset, a mindset that your psychology and sociology might be at odds with.
Purpose Driven Wellness …
Wellness balance is what we should thrive for (as opposed to the wasteful quest for wellness perfection). Our state of being. Since human existence is a sequence of birth, renewal, and revival, our daily quest must guide us to purpose, fulfillment, and indeed joy in the journey. Your purpose, therefore cannot be as limiting or myopic as getting rich, getting a six-pack, or a promotion, but rather everyday actions in every area of our wellness dynamic that instructs better physical, environmental, and mental health outcomes. Consequently, do my actions in the financial sphere result in a stressful emotional space or will they have an elevating effect on my physical and mental health? Does my nutritional philosophy and practice promote better physical, environmental, and mental health outcomes? How about my actions (or non-action) in my community? Define your purpose, your goals, and your ambitions, around wellness balance.
Will these goals, ambitions, and even destinations and “landing” places change? Yes. However, your core philosophy, which is wellness balance will not. Therefore, whatever decisions you make will not jeopardize your emotional, environmental, and physical wellness – balance - your holistic well-being.
Bold Up!
When the Salmon answers its instinctual call up to destiny, nothing and no one can stop it; not counter-currents, not predators (the vast majority accomplish their mission), not dams or rivers. The Salmon understands its call. Embraces its call. The Salmon is not distracted by the mundanity of the need for food or the ferocity of opportunistic predators - such a lapse of focus is unforgiving. Boldly forward is the only option.
Stop trying to justify your desire for a good, prosperous, and happy life. Stop being apologetic about it. This is not a capitulation to materialism, but rather a confident step up to your spiritual calling. Ignore the mundane. Move forward into your deserving space. Boldly!
Rebrand Yourself …
“If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately be defined by others.” Michelle Obama
The Salmon’s arduous journey upstream – from saltwater ocean to freshwater rivers and streams, results in necessary physiological changes that nature initiates to facilitate a seamless transition to its freshwater destiny and function. In the ocean, they are silvery, with smooth streamlined bodies, Necessary to their productivity as hunters, and their protection as hunted. in freshwater, they grow darker, sporting green and red colorations, to blend into the freshwater environment and most importantly attract a mate. Some species even change shape like the Pink Salmon.
Allow life experiences to reshape you positively. Reshape your mindset, your attitude, and how you act and react. The change must be inside out. We too often are too concerned with how people view us, but how do we view ourselves.? People, society, and your community often respond to the “you” - you project. Project confidence, kindness, love, and a spirit of deserving, and most likely it will come back to you. Abundantly.
Rebirth …
“I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out. Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. I have seen them swim upstream with huge chunks bitten out of their bodies by bears. Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope.” Kathleen Moore
The path to rebirth, renewal, and reboot will always involve an emotionally taxing upstream journey. Destiny is not synonymous with easy, quite the contrary. Deserving ambition takes time, takes effort, and navigates an uncommon path. Nature does not lay out the proverbial red carpet for the Salmon, and the gods of destiny are similarly indifferent. There simply is no other passageway to rebirth and fertilization but by enduring the emotional muscle-building, the character-transforming ordeal of swimming against the current. The upstream is not meant to defeat you but transform you.
And where does triumphant rest finally attend? In still freshwater. Your metaphorical upstream pilgrimage will reward you with emotional stillness, tranquility, and acceptance. Embrace the Rebirth You - kindly, lovingly, unapologetically, and assuredly.
How to Fertilize Your Wellness?
Be Mindful: Focus on your wellness goals and keep them in your mind every day. Use different methods to remind yourself and encourage yourself - meditation, breathing techniques, prayer, affirmations, visualization, vocalization, etc. Review and track your progress regularly through journaling. Celebrate your achievements and learn from your setbacks. Learn from your scars.
Action It: The best laid out plans are just an empty wish list unless actioned. My preferred approach is to break down goals into smaller tasks and set deadlines for each one. Follow a plan of action and be flexible and adaptable if things change or don't go as expected. You will meet obstacles, which is a reality of Upstream Swimming. Seek help or guidance if you need it. You will. The only shame is inaction. Get off your …
Be Open to Feedback: Evaluate your goals and see if they are still relevant, realistic, and rewarding. Ask yourself if you are happy with your results and if you are moving in the right direction. Seek feedback from others who can support you or challenge you. Adjust your goals or strategies if necessary. If you are achieving “success” but are unhappy there is an imbalance in your wellness space. Remember, your actions, your goals, and your successes must serve to elevate your physical, environmental, and emotional well-being. Your Happiness!
Concluding Thoughts …
"When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come." Leonardo da Vinci
Our destiny is not to be trapped in the emotional paralysis and hollowness of our fears, regrets, and insecurities, but rather seek the upstream, the pathway to positive, caring, emotional nutrient cycling. Rebirth. Life by its very nature demands that we all swim upstream if we opt to survive, thrive and be recipients of this rebirth to wellness balance.
The actions we execute toward rebirth must be intentional, mindful, and consistent. It is an uncomfortable journey away from the “I am not deserving,” self-deprecating, fear-anchored comfort (and conformist) zone we have lingered in for too long.
The act of swimming upstream induces a metamorphosis that frees us from intellectual astigmatism, strengthens our mental resolve, enhances our empathic capacity, sensitizes us to our community and ecology, and delivers us from the emotional atrophy of tribal self-preservation.
Your still waters await! Your Destiny! Your Wellbeing! Your Rebirth!
#4amfitnesscrew
Photos Credits:
Lead Photo by 1nikonguy Brent Sayles. ~ Pexels Julia Larson. ~ Pexels Manuel Adler ~ Pexel Joshua Abner ~ Pexels
Trusted Sources:
Does Salmon Swim Upstream? Everything You Need to Know: coastswimming.org.uk
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