I love swimming and I find it an enjoyable way of exercising! I can undoubtedly say that now although this wasn’t always the case when I was learning to swim. It has taken me quite a while to be able to say that I truly enjoy swimming.
Learning to swim by holding onto a pole
I grew up, as many did in the UK, learning how to swim while holding onto a long pole held by a swimming instructor who was not in the water with me, but standing on the side of the pool yelling. I would hold onto this pole for dear life gasping for breath, feeling terrified of letting go. Eventually when I did let go and somehow managed to stay afloat, the pole would follow me, giving me a little prod now and then. This made me feel even more terrified.
Then, as I was learning to swim, it was all about keeping my head above the water at all costs. I felt that if I went underwater, surely I would drown. My time in the pool was full of gasping through my mouth, swallowing and breathing in water, spluttering, not being able to see (no goggles offered at the time), feeling terrified of being splashed or pushed under – and a little bit of swimming!
I’m sure many people can relate to this – swimming for survival is the way many learn to swim. For me there was a severe lack of joy and a great deal of anxiety associated with learning to swim this way.
Later on as an adult I bought myself a pair of goggles and taught myself to swim breast stroke while putting my face partially under the water. This was progress but I was still full of fear of getting a mouthful of water and not being able to breathe.
Learning to swim – breathing through my nose
About two years ago I was introduced to a completely different approach to swimming by Simone Benhayon…
I was invited to breathe in and out through my nose, not my mouth. This initially created more panic in me as I couldn’t imagine ever being able to get enough air. The gasping was an old and ingrained habit! But slowly, slowly I taught myself to do this… initially by not swimming and simply getting used to being under water and breathing out through my nose. I began to find a beauty in this and marvelled at the quality of my breath under the water and the wonderful bubbles that I would create. This felt gorgeous, and for a while it was enough just to do this.
After a while, with the help of my goggles, I felt confident enough to go completely under the water and glide along while breathing out my amazing bubbles. No swimming involved… just gliding and stopping, gliding and stopping. I found a joy in this which felt totally different to any other time in the water. It started to feel like fun!
Over time I have taught myself to swim front-crawl (freestyle) while breathing through my nose. It is still a work in progress, but I am discovering how to remain connected to my breath (and my bubbles!) while swimming. I can still panic a bit, but what I have discovered is that if I take in water while breathing through my nose it does not go into my lungs, therefore I am not going to drown! This discovery has just been amazing, and I have become more and more confident in the water.
Staying with my breath and the bubbles, focussing on the quality of my movement and the sensation of the water (instead of focussing on the fear), has changed my experience of swimming completely. The feel of my body moving through the water can feel absolutely divine.
Growing confidence – in the water and in life
A few days ago I went for my swim, and without thinking I just began to swim. I pushed off into crawl, immersed myself in the water, breathed out my bubbles, enjoyed my body and the way I was moving in the water, and found that I was feeling joy while I was swimming. Even coming up for air was joyful! I cannot express how amazing this feels.
This ongoing experience is giving me growing confidence in my life too. The same principles apply when breathing my way through life. By enjoying the quality of my breath and my movements and staying with myself in every moment I feel more joyful and feel that I can embrace life more fully and without fear.
Breathing through my nose as I was re-learning to swim has enabled me to find joy through swimming; it has truly made a difference to how I feel about being in the water. It has also made a big difference to the quality of my life. What an incredible gift! Thank you Simone Benhayon.
By Rebecca Turner, Beauty Advisor, London, UK
591 Comments
Learning by fear increases the constant anxiousness in the body for any new experience.
Fear based learning makes our whole body contract whereas when we are encouraged to explore our own relationship with an activity we can stay with the joy and playfulness that naturally comes to the surface when we allow it.
Learning to blow bubbles in the water through our noses is one of those things that has changed so many lives as we all should learn to eventually learn to swim without the fear associated with being thrown in the deep end and then struggling to get a gasp of air. As children or even babies we should learn to blow bubbles and play in water and this would save so many drowning’s as fences don’t seem to keep children out.
“By enjoying the quality of my breath and my movements and staying with myself in every moment I feel more joyful and feel that I can embrace life more fully and without fear.” A beautiful way to swim through the waters of life.
I love how your experience in water is also flowing over to give you more confidence in life, ‘By enjoying the quality of my breath and my movements and staying with myself in every moment I feel more joyful and feel that I can embrace life more fully and without fear.’
This is inspiring Rebecca, thank you for sharing your experience.
Surrendering to the love we are within and appreciating the exquisiteness of our divine quality that is innate in us all, is a joy that cannot be contained and through our movements we reflect this glory as we imprint the world with the love we are all here to live. Our power is our connection to our love, our Soul that when embraced we are then governed by a divine quality where fear does not exist.
It is inspiring to read that it is possible to heal the anxiety of being taught to swim. I’m also in the process of teaching myself to swim and to have a different relationship with the water, as I have anxiety left over from nearly drowning in a riptide many years ago. It just goes to show these experiences do not leave us just because we get older.
We don’t think much about being afraid of the water yet as you described the pole I remember the feeling physically in my body of gasping for air and hoping they wouldn’t take the pole away. How much is that transferred into the way we approach life?
It is utterly amazing how supportive it is throughout all aspects of life, to learn how to swim with Simone Benhayon.
Thank you for sharing Rebecca, like you I had a fear of putting my head under water, holding my breath. It would be something new to try to breath out of my nose and get over the fear of the water going down into my lungs. It sounds so joyful for you to have learnt to swim this way and how it has effected other areas of your life.
I used to love swimming and even did a bit of competition when I was young but I had never truly connected to what it meant to be in the water and how much the water could reflect to me about my quality of movements. Having swim session with Simone Benhayon has changed that completely and has brought major changes to not only my awareness but also to the way I swim.
I’ve recently started swimming and find it really enjoyable. Each time, step by step learning something in each swim. Reading about you enjoying bubbles underwater got me reflecting on my own – breathe out as hard as possible to keep the water out! I do feel tired after being underwater like that. Definitely something to play with on my next swim! Thank you Rebecca.
Doing anything with fear immediately contracts us and puts us on the back foot, what is so awesome about the inspiring and supportive way that Simone Benhayon teaches swimming is that the tools we are given are equally applicable in other areas of life and thus we can move confidently in the world whatever we are faced with.