Years ago, Tobin Heath travelled to Mexico with a group, where the USWNT star took part in a surf retreat. While enjoying the picturesque views and sun on the beach, one of the surf instructors who also happened to be their friend suggested everyone partake in a ceremony to honor the Gemini full moon. Heath, having her star sign as Gemini, felt more compelled than others to connect with her own moon. But it wasn’t the kind of ceremony she expected it to be!
In this ‘strange’, ‘funny’, and ‘amazing’ experience, people had to dig their own grave into the sand, oh wait, wet sand, which of course, is quite ironic because when a person dies, they don’t dig their own grave. Questioning whether it was a made-up thing or not, Heath eventually gave it a try, which was more physically laborious than doing a sprint on a training ground. Now that the grave is dug, one has to lie in it, with others putting the rest of the sand all over you until you’re completely covered.
Imagine, heavy, wet sand all around you with little room to breathe; that’s exactly how Heath felt, but with a side of awesomeness. “You just feel like the weight of the world is on top of you,” narrated the former Manchester United star during the retirement announcement segment of the RE—INC podcast that she co-hosts with Christen Press. “The idea was to basically deposit something back into the earth, and then you can come out and be reborn in some way.”
Although Heath had no idea what was going on, the weight of the earth on top of her made the former Seattle Reign star feel like she was surrounded by the entire universe. “I had this very spiritual moment where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it.’ I’m going to deposit my gift of playing soccer back into the earth,” added the 36-year-old, stating how depositing herself would help her create space for new things.
Credits: Instagram/Arsenal Women
And by new things, she meant a restart of her soccer career, to be precise. Well, for someone who had been out of action, desperately hoping to make a comeback, that was all she needed. And this entire thought always made Heath burst into tears. “For two years, I’d really held on to it, and I tried f—ing everything to get back,” she added.
“I spent tens of thousands of dollars and [had] two surgeries, one crazy surgery. And the whole time, I believed I was going to get back,” continued the former Arsenal star, before admitting how she couldn’t believe that was all for her soccer journey. “The writing was definitely on the wall, and I just couldn’t accept that was my ending.”
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