Transcending Fear: A Brian Germain Book Review

Turns out that, though I’m not a book reviewer, this is my second review in the last week. The difference this time is that I was not asked to do so, it’s purely because I think everyone should know about, and read, this book.

Transcending Fear: The Doorway to Freedom, by Brian Germain

It’s written by a skydiver and is an incredible read from the perspective of a skydiver, but even if you’re not a jumper or never plan to be, I believe you should still pick up this book.

It’s a quick read, but even if it wasn’t it would be well worth your time. I found myself reading a chapter, then re-reading it just to make sure I absorbed every last word. For anyone who finds that their actions are driven by fear from time to time (and honestly, I’m not sure anyone can say this hasn’t happened to them at least once in their life) this is a must read. Everything from starting a new chapter in your life, to taking a risk like jumping out of an airplane for the first time, or even making a simple life change can cause anxiety and fear we never knew existed inside us. Brian’s incredibly well-written text will walk you through the process for overcoming your fear by controlling what you can and deepening the connection and trust you have in yourself.

Brian shows you not how to stop your fear, but how to slow down the physiological effects of fear and to channel the energy in a positive, constructive manner. He stresses slowing down, breathing, focusing. Anyone who is active in yoga will find that this is highly relatable to the practice.

I don’t want to go too deep into it and give away too much of the book because I truly believe you should read it for yourself. You can buy it on Amazon – click this here link – and once you’re done I guarantee you’ll have a handful of people you’ll want to pass it on to so they can benefit.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. You might be surprised just how much it changes your outlook on fear and helps you manage your responses in daily life.

And PLEASE, if you are going to skydive, you’re a newbie jumper, or even if you’ve been in the sport for years, get this book now! Even if it doesn’t open your eyes to your fear, it will at least help you understand the inner-workings of those around you.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Book Review: SocialPunk

Let me start this post by saying that I am by no means a book reviewer, but when I was approached by Monica to consider a blog tour of her trilogy, SocialPunk, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

That said, I tend to have rather strong opinions when it comes to books. I’m a love ‘em or hate ‘em kinda reader and it’s usually based completely on how I feel when I’m reading the book – not on the technical aspects of the writing. So this was a bit out of my comfort zone, to say the least, so I hope I can get across what I’m trying to say in this review.

From the beginning I have to say that it didn’t grip me like other books of it’s nature – I would compare the premise to that of Twlight or Hunger Games books, where the leading lady is struggling with the love and affection of two men of interest – however I found myself wanting to continue on to see where it would lead.

The voice of the author was hard to distinguish. The words read as if they were forced at times, making the read much less natural. There were moments in the book where dialogue between Ima and her companions wasn’t as intense in emotion as the surrounding context led me to believe it should be been. Emotions change quickly from paragraph to paragraph, and sometimes even sentence to sentence, moving from anger to passionate lust within moments. Drawing out the emotions tends to keep readers on the edge of their seat, truly wondering what will happen next. Personally, I would like to read this book from the perspective of one of the characters, rather than as a narrated text. I think it would make the story more compelling.

It’s a very Chicago-centric book, and I believe anyone who has or does live in the city would appreciate references to landmarks and streets. Sometimes these references seemed a bit obscure – even awkward at times.

Though I wouldn’t categorize the book as a favorite of mine, I do think it would be popular among a young adult crowd. I tend to think the premise of the book is more suited to a teenage audience, unlike the trilogies mentioned earlier, that appealed to an adult audience as well. Of course, if you couldn’t get enough of the Twilight and Hunger Games books because of their love triangles, this just might be the next best read for you.

About the Author

Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of 3 novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire (http://proseonfire.com) and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit.

Cheers!

Ashley

Review: Infinity Containers, part 2

So for those who are paying attention, yes, this is my second review on the Infinity containter – but this time, I’m a little wiser, so I’d like to share a few aspects of this brand that keep me coming back for more.

Earlier this season I was talking to a fellow jumper who was looking to buy her own gear. She, like me, was on the smaller side, looking for a rig that not only fits her, but held a moderate size canopy. Most of the used small rigs out there hold 120s and below – not ideal for the recent A-licensed skydiver.

Of course, I wasn’t planning to sell off my gear so quickly, but when I saw a jumper in need, I took the opportunity to not only help her out, but to go down the path of ordering brand new custom gear myself. When it came to a container, naturally, I went with Infinity again.

(Brand new out of the box!)

The container has since been packed with a brand new PDR 126 and I’m currently sporting a green and white Triathlon 135 until my custom Sabre 2 -120 arrives.

(Packing up! *Photo by Steve Mead)

Here’s what I LOVE about this container:

1) Integrated secondary riser cover. Not only does this keep everything in place, whether you’re freeflying or belly flying, but it looks slick. It’s all one seamless piece.

(*Photo by VSE)

2) Bridle cover within the bottom flap. My old Infinity didn’t have this feature, and I have to say, for freeflying it’s the only way to go. I have no doubt that my bridle is secure when I’m out there on my feet and (attempting to make it) on my head.

(*Photo by VSE)

3) The people! I’m a big believer in customer service can make or break a company. Between Kelly, Tony and Gail, I was given the most incredible customer service ever – even when I was a total pain and asking Tony to send me pictures of fabric colors. Gail even went so far as to send me a picture of my rig before she shipped it off because she knew how excited I was. It’s little things like that that go a long, LONG way in my book. Love these guys!

4) Speaking of colors – the color options they have available are some of the best I’ve seen. I love that they have a charcoal option aside from the lighter silver. And I can’t say enough about the neon blue. Oh come on, you know color matters in this sport – don’t fool yourself, it’d matter to you too!

(All dressed in my Freak N Suit and Infinity…two of my favorite skydiving brands! *Photo by Steve Mead)

5) Sizing. It fits perfectly! Beyond perfectly. Since it was made for my measurements, it’s one of the most comfortable things I’ve ever put on my back. And as I’m flailing in the sky, I don’t even realize it’s there. This new one is so little and compact too!

6) All the little features like stainless hardware, articulated harness, completely freefly friendly…even the angled tuck tab for easy pin checks.

Needless to say, I’m a huge Infinity fan. Those crazy kids over at Velocity Sports Equipment really know what they’re doing! They got me hooked – I’ll forever be an Infinity users. Thanks guys, for an incredible product with impeccable service!

Blue skies!

Ashley

A trip to CSC

As I mentioned last week, all my posts from July have gone bye bye. So I’m working on getting these back up – stat. Though, they’re going to be slightly different, as I’m having to re-write most of them, but for those of you that have kept up, it’ll give you a little bit of a different flavor!

Recently we took an impromptu trip out to Chicago to jump at Chicagoland Skydiving Center (CSC). The idea was sparked by a couple of aspects. 1) It had been a while since we traveled (more than a month…that’s way too long in my book) so the itch was coming on bad, and 2) to visit with Ms. Sydney!

Needless to say, the trip was more than a huge hit!

Upon arrival at the DZ, we were welcomed with open arms. Within the first 5 minutes in the hangar, the DZO approached us, let us know where we could stash our stuff for the weekend, gave us a tour of the facilities, and when we ended up in the North hanger, he even showed us his Velo that just about exploded the day before…14 broken likes, yikes!

Not only that, he organized our first couple freefly jumps together! Hello – a little sitfly action with not only the DZO, but an incredible freeflyer at that! Nice! (Too bad I didn’t realize my memory card was full, otherwise I’d have proof of these first couple jumps…oopsie)!

The hospitality didn’t stop there, we were treated to privelages that you just don’t come across when visiting most dropzones. It definitely left an impression on us.

What else we noticed was that the staff there is huge! They have plenty of people working the desks and enough tandem instructors to give students the ultimate experience – a personal one they will remember! We were even reognized by name, as Lisa at manifest knew ours before we knew hers! Good stuff.

We finished out the first day of jumping with an incredible sitfly with Carolyn, the DZOs wife. She’s got great energy in the sky – check out that smile plastered on her face! How can you not have fun with company like that?!

Sunday we were able to finish out the day with a fun freefly with a badass belly flyer chick. Yes, you heard that right! We sat her upright and threw her out of the plane .

The rolling train ended quick, but as you can see, this girl got skills, especially considering she hasn’t done a freefly in 3 years!

Beyond all that, everyone is just so nice. There are significantly more female jumpers than in the NE Ohio area, and the best part is that all of them are so friendly. The chicks stick together there, support one another – just as it should be!

And you can bet, if you’re just hanging around, someone is bound to come up and chat with you between loads…that’s just the atmosphere there. Very Midwest.

As you can tell, I have nothing but good things to say about this dropzone. They busted out more than 150 tandems in one day, flying only the otter, and they made it look easy. And though it’s a busy dropzone, it has the feel of a small community. Good stuff.

I can’t recommend this dropzone enough if you’re in the Chicago area! Hell, even if you’re not, jump in your car and take a road trip. You won’t be disappointed.

Blue ones!

Ashley

REVIEW: Infinity Rigs

As a skydiver who just came off student status this year, I’ve had numerous opportunities to jump all kinds of different equipment before making a purchase of my own. This is one of the perks of being a student, actually. You get to test out a variety of rigs, canopies and other gear as you progress through the sport.

You may recall a couple months back when I was lucky enough to attend a local Aerodyne demo tour and test out a brand new Pilot canopy and Icon rig. I fell in love with the Pilot and knew that one day that would be the canopy for me.

In fact, shortly after earning my A license I was prepared to start piecing together the perfect rig. Lucky for me, the perfect complete system was practically dropped into my lap during a random search on Dropzone.com.

The main canopy was a Triathlon. In student training I’d jumped one 7-cell and liked it well enough, and given that it’s an Aerodyne product, I figured it was a good enough option.

What I like most about this system is the Infinity container, manufactured by Velocity Sports Equipment. As soon as I put it on I knew it was the rig for me. It fit like nothing I’d ever tested before. Sure, most of those were student rigs, but even those that were sport rigs didn’t fit quite like this. For a girl with a small frame, it can be hard to find used gear that fits quite this well. I’d recommend Infinity to anyone with a small build – they certainly know what they’re doing.

Other points to note: it’s completely freefly friendly and packs like a dream! Two things that were critical in choosing a rig.

(Climbing out for our three-man rolling train last week)

As you’ll notice, it’s very sharp, too. Purple with blue, black and gray accents. Now, if only I had a matching pair of freefly pants…

If you’re in the market for a new rig, or know someone who is, I highly recommend checking out Infinity.

Blue skies!

Ashley

Aerodyne Demos and Freeflying

If you live in my neck of the woods and you looked skyward this weekend, it may have seemed like a bust for us skydivers, but for me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early to make the trip up to Skydive Tecumseh to take advantage of the Aerodyne demo tour that was in town. With the consistent cloud cover throughout the day, the Cessna was only running hop & pops, but that was sufficient for canopy demos.

Though don’t get me wrong, I would have loved a couple trips up to 14,000 in the Otter, but for the purpose of testing out the Pilot, I was completely content with what we got.

When I arrived, I headed straight over to the reps to get myself a rig and canopy to demo. Naturally, we ran into the issue that I’m a small girl with a low number of jumps. So they had rigs that would fit with canopies that were way too small to even consider jumping, or canopies that would fit into a smaller rig, but then the reserve is entirely too small.

But, with some quick thinking and innovation, the Aerodyne team put together a rig for me to test out. I was happily able to jump an Icon with a Pilot 188. It was a great ride. Still a bit too big for real excitement under canopy, but it got me to the ground safely and smoothly, which is all I can hope for at this point.

Now, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Pilot. It packs easy – well, at least the one’s I’ve packed before – and opens comfortably. It flies flatter than some of the other canopies I’ve tried out in the past (you know, those 10+ different rigs you jump as a student) giving me time to get back from a long spot or just to play around a little longer and still know I’ll get back to my target.

I also learned that the Pilots tend to react better to turbulence than some of the other canopies on the market, too. A huge plus for me!

It definitely looks like I’ll be purchasing a Pilot in the near future. After this hop & pop and the great customer service of the Aerodyne folks, I’m sold!

Once it appeared that the clouds were just not going to cooperate, the rest of Saturday was spent back on the road to Cleveland so I could get home and rest up for a big Sunday.

Sunday morning I was back on the road to Canton Air Sports for my friend Rick’s 200th jump. The weather wasn’t looking so great for us this day, either. 

I sat around the drop zone for a few hours, watching BASE jumping videos with the other regulars, while trying to will the clouds away. Just as I was about to leave we got word that the weather was clearing from the North. So I stuck around. After all, I didn’t drive all that way to miss Rick’s 200th.

Around 5:30 we were able to get into the air. Rick decided on a shirtless, shoeless hybrid (him, not me), with our buddy Tod doing outside video for us. So we piled out of the Cessna-182, with me and Nick as the linked base, and Rick hanging from our chest straps.

*Photo courtesy of Bill Ramey. Thanks Bill.                

This is what our hybrid looked like!

The exit was flawless – except that Tod couldn’t see Rick’s count and ended up shooting video a little higher above us than expected. Nick and I kept a steady base from which Rick hung straight down. He even kicked his leg out for a bit and put us into a fun little spin. We broke off at 4,000 and met up back on the ground to celebrate Rick’s accomplishment. 

So glad I got to be a part of your 200th, bud!

Thinking that was going to be the last of the day, I finished logging the jump and packed up my stuff. Naturally, I was convinced to get on the sunset load – really, who can pass that up – and headed back up for a three-way with Rick and Tod. 

We were going to do the hybrid again, with me in the hanging position, but changed our plans on the ride to altitude. Instead, Rick and I did a train with a rolling exit. This was my first true freefly attempt – yes, I know, beer – and was a little bummed when it didn’t go exactly as planned. But we did manage to exit smoothly and stay linked for about 4,000 feet until we spun apart.

With a little post-jump coaching on the ground I completely understand how it should have worked to get us vertical. Next time we’ll get it!

And yes, I did mention that video was taken on both of these. As soon as they are in my possession I’ll be sure to post them. With three jumps, I definitely made the best of what otherwise would be seen as a cloudy, gloomy weekend.

Blue skies!

Ashley