Jaimal Yogis is giving a brand new meaning to the phrase "arriving in style."
Braving frigid temperatures, Yogis plans to swim 2.4 miles through the San Francisco Bay to the release party for his second book, "The Fear Project: What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing…And Love." Adventure swimmer Jamie Patrick will freestyle alongside Yogis on the route from Yerba Buena Island to the San Francisco Ferry Building.
Inspiration for "The Fear Project" came while Yogis was promoting his first book, "Saltwater Buddha," in 2009. Throughout the publicity tour, Yogis overcame an aversion to public speaking. He set out to understand the psychological processes behind fear and the best ways to overcome it.
"I really felt that society was experiencing a huge amount of unnecessary fear," Yogis told The Huffington Post. "We live in the safest, wealthiest, longest living society in history, and yet, anxiety disorders are through the roof."
"The Fear Project" combines scientific research from top neuroscientists with Yogis' personal encounters with danger (he swam with white sharks and surfed a deadly break all in the name of research). Yogis hopes his book will help others harness their fears.
The swim through the Bay, which takes place Tuesday, marks the second time Patrick and Yogis have tackled an adventure together. The duo attempted an Alcatraz swim several years ago, but dangerous currents prevented them from finishing. This time, Yogis took extra measures like alerting the coast guard to ensure his safety. He says a night swim through the Bay represents the core message of his book.
"Those are the kinds of fears I'm encouraging people to take: fears you can train for, that can be [achieved] safely, but can empower you in other ways in your life," Yogis said to HuffPost.
Spectators can follow the swim online and catch Yogis' grand entrance at the Ferry Building Pier near the silver rocket statue or online. The swim will kick off a talk and signing beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Book Passage.
Yogis will also give away 50 free copies of his book Tuesday. For a chance to win, readers can tweet about their personal fear projects with the hashtag #fearproject or post to Facebook with the tag "Jaimal Yogis."
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