• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Key West Wellness Center

Your Clinic of Alternative Medicine

  • Services
    • Acupuncture
      • Acu-Lift
      • AcuGraph
    • Massage – Manual Therapy
    • Vitamin Injections
    • Herbal Medicine
    • Skin Care
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Physical Medicine
    • Additional Therapies
    • Wellness Programs
    • Total Body Wellness Chart
  • Our Team
    • Dr. Ashley Hoyt, A.P.
    • Amber Petro
    • Lillian Mendez
    • Petra Ross
    • Jan Baker
    • Lori Hatch, PT.
  • VETERANS SERVICES
  • Our Office
  • Testimonials
  • Patient Info
    • Verify Your Insurance
    • Intake Forms
    • Wellness Feedback
  • Contact Us
  • Dr. Ashley Hoyt’s Blog
  • Health Quiz
  • 305.296.5358
  • Book an Appointment

Zen and the Art of Spearfishing

spearfishing ashley hoyt

 

By Dr. Ashley Hoyt, as published in Island Jane Magazine, Feb. 2015

The ocean is a great mystery to many people. While we are familiar with it, its life, its culture and its dynamics are still so foreign.

My experience is very different. Mine is of a warm, flowing world full of living creatures as conscious and curious as the rest of us.

Through experience I learned that the way to capture a fish is to be calm, serene and focused. Any sudden movement, even a flash of sudden emotion, could send a signal to creatures for yards in all directions.

Success in spearfishing requires finding peace. When I enter the water I seek that peace, I get comfortable in the waters, my mind grows quiet and I simply observe. As I dive there’s no sign of distress to alert the environment. The calmer I am, the longer I can remain submerged. My body relaxed and mind clear, my sole focus is my aim. I look where to shoot. Then, I get the fish.

I remember the hunters back in my Missouri home. I’d see the bubba boys gathered around the gas station with dead deer strapped to their trucks, swapping stories from the wilderness. When I became a spearfisher in Key West it finally made sense. This is not fishing – it is hunting.

Spearfishing becomes a meditative art of remaining calm and collected with singular focus. Just as hunters immerse themselves in the woods, I commune with an element not my own. I become subservient to the ocean.

I remember a particular occasion when a barracuda joined me on the hunt. As it approached it began to swim parallel to me. I realized by its demeanor that it saw me as a fellow hunter.  If an ocean predator approaches at a perpendicular angle they indicate that they view the target as a threat or even prey. But by coming alongside me it told me that I was an ally, a fellow predator and was willing to cede its hunting ground.

This is the zen of spearfishing. Peace brings success, and calm yields respect. We become just another fish in the wide ocean.

Dr. Ashley Hoyt

Stay in Touch

Footer


Dr. Ashley Hoyt, A.P.
Acupuncture Physician

  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Massage – Manual Therapy
    • Vitamin Injections
    • Herbal Medicine
    • Skin Care
  • Our Team
  • Patient Info
    • Verify Your Insurance
    • Intake Forms
  • Testimonials
  • Dr. Ashley Hoyt’s Blog
  • Health Quiz
  • Book an Appointment
  • Contact Us

Connect With Us

  • Yelp
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Trip Advisor
  • LinkedIn
  • Google Reviews

Key West Wellness Center
3420 Duck Avenue
Key West, FL 33040
305-296-5358

Hours of Operations
Monday & Tuesday: 9am – 5:30pm
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday & Friday: 9am – 5:30pm
Saturday: 9am – 2:00pm
Sunday: Closed

Copyright © 2023 Key West Wellness Center. All Rights Reserved.
Massage establishment license #MM15324

Website by Silver-Logic Web & Print Services