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
559 Comments
This blog has taken me back to my early experiences swimming which were in some ways different to yours. I remember loving swimming and remember my swimming teacher was always in and out of the water with us. She was passionate about it which has given me a wonderful foundation to swimming and a love of the sport. I was though, taught to breath through my mouth which invariably meant gasping for air. When I was first introduced to breathing through my nose I felt this was impossible but over time I have learnt to adopt this way and have found a grace emerging in the way I swim.
Thank you for your lovely flowing blog Rebecca and gorgeous to read how that joy and confidence through your connection to your body in the pool is naturally reflected in other areas of your life.
Thank you Rebecca I loved reading about the joy you have discovered in re-learning to swim using the amazing techniques of Simone Benhayon and how this has supported you in other areas of your life as well. I feel inspired to have another go at swimming and work on my breathing which I have found so challenging in the past.
Thank you Rebecca. Reading your blog has been very healing and inspiring for me to reflect on the quality of my relationship with swimming.
So true…I’ve only had a couple of sessions with Simone, but the difference in how I breathe, move and feel while swimming is amazing. It’s gone from a chore to a joy.
I love the way Simone introduced breathing through your nose while swimming. I haven’t had a swim lesson with her before but I heard that’s what she teaches so each time I go swimming I give it a go and it is so beautiful so joyful and such a great activity that you can do to just be with yourself and feel your body going through the water.
Rebecca how amazing that what you have learnt and experienced in the pool has also become your experience out of the water. You are enjoying being you both in and out of the water.
What a great blog Rebecca- thank you. It was a total joy to read and it is the first blog that I have read about a truer way of swimming, so this was refreshing. The way you learnt and I suppose many many others have learnt to swim seemed very damaging.
It’s also lovely to feel how it’s never too late to reimprint something in a way that is supportive, expansive and joyful for the body.
Thank you Rebecca as you described the way you swam and felt the joy of being connected to your breath this supported me to deepen my connection with me. Very awesome, thank you 🙂
I agree Bianca, reading Rebecca’s experience I feel how the breath helps me reconnect to myself. I only very occasionally swim but when I do I love the feeling of gliding through the water and the lightness of the body. Learning to breath through the nose would make the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
Rebecca, I am so looking forward to getting in a pool and spending some playful explorative time with my breath and ‘bubbles’ in the water after reading your blog! Your description of this is absolutely gorgeous, and it demonstrates the power of true teaching – teaching that doesn’t push us, or force us into trauma (that can ‘stick’ for a lifetime), but encourages us to simply claim what our own bodies can do, to explore and discover this for ourselves.
I have swum with Simone Benhayon’s support and amazingly inspiring and joyful tutelage before, and found that it’s actually so easy… Am definitely inspired, and looking forward to more time in the water, especially through our Australian winter this year.
That my experience of swimming can be so different from one time to the next reflects to me how much the way I live impacts on how easily I can swim. I enjoy the practice of breathing through my nose as I know if this comes easier that how I am living has also been simpler and more harmonious. It is great to read of your experience Rebecca as I am sure for many it will be heartening to hear that you can turn around a bad experience and gain joy in swimming through learning and applying some simple techniques. Of course the right teacher always helps!
Hi Stephen G, yes I also find that my experience of swimming can be different each time depending on how I have been living my life. If I am feeling not quite myself I find it quite hard to breathe at all. I spend some time in the shallow end simply breathing out under the water and coming up again over and over again. This always helps me come back to myself and regulates my breathing.
Rebecca, you highlight very well the importance of breathing, not just in swimming but in other areas of life as well. I took up the piano when I retired seven years ago and my teacher is always telling me to breathe! Apparently, while concentrating during challenging passages, I have a tendency to hold my breath and my technique becomes more harsh and laboured, until I arrive at the end, red and panting!
In effect, it’s just like when I learnt to swim!
I find this too Stephen, sometimes when I’m swimming it flows and feels easy and other times I’m struggling, it’s great to have the reminder that it reflects how I have been living, ‘That my experience of swimming can be so different from one time to the next reflects to me how much the way I live impacts on how easily I can swim’
I loved being in the water as a kid but also learnt some ‘bad habits’ with swimming. I was completely focussed on being able to get enough air, and it felt like a struggle to get to the other end at times. I was introduced to nose breathing a few years ago too. It feels so much more natural. I have had to go back to basics but the enjoyment of hearing the smooth breath underwater, the way the water glides over my fingertips and no push to get to the other end are bringing the original joy back that I felt in water as a child.
Reading your blog Rebecca and your experience with swimming is so far removed from how I have ever experienced swimming. When I was about four I was taught to swim in the ocean by my mother and I remember going under and lots of water going up my nose and I have never liked my face being in the water ever since. So to read that you can breath in and out whilst in the water and the water will not go into your lungs was quite a revelation. I can see why you would have a feeling of panic initially but it feels like it was well worth relearning to swim in this way. Very inspiring.
Just to clarify Julie Matson, I do not breathe in under the water. I breathe in through my nose when I come up for air. My discovery about the water not going into my lungs was when I accidentally breathed in some water. Instead of the choking and spluttering I experienced when this used to happen when breathing in through my mouth, I noticed that this did not happen and the water simply went down into my stomach as if I was swallowing it. I can deal with that! It was this experience that made me realise that I do not have to panic and that I am not going to die.
This is a really educational blog Rebecca! I really had no idea that there was a difference between oral and nasal breathing while swimming. I must try this out!
Wow Rebecca, “breathing our way through life” – how beautiful is that. It illustrates so vibrantly the lightness that our way through life can have and the rhythms that are its basis.
Lovely blog Rebecca. I can imagine that learning how to swim by means of a pole was not a really loving experience. I have been re-adjusting to swimming as well. For me, for a long time swimming was something I had to do, a job, required for the then teenage boy that was ‘prescribed’ swimming as way to get the right posture. I had to do it 3 times a week, with no fun whatsoever. Now I am also re-learning that swimming can be joyful in the way it is presented by Simone Benhayon. It never stops to amaze me how swimming is so much related to what I do in daily life, offering great reflections to look at.
Thank-you for sharing your experience Rebecca, such a transformation, and how beautiful your experience is in the water now. Showing us that everything when done with presence and quality, brings about true responsibility towards others and our part in that.
Rebecca, my childhood learning to swim experiences also left me feeling unconfident in the water until eventually as an adult I taught myself to swim, ad hoc mind you and not with my head under the water. I could really feel and connect to the beauty of what you have shared here and am inspired to develop a whole new relationship with being in the water and swimming.
What beautiful awareness Rebecca that life in the water is a reflection of how we are in life.
Absolutely Adele. And what I am finding is that swimming the front crawl is a reflection of how I deal with life. Can I move my limbs, breathe, and negotiate and respect others in the pool? It is exactly the same as life except it is magnified. I have learnt much from how I swim, and as I have learnt to swim more gently, with more space and without rushing this has shown me how I can be in my everyday life.
Rebecca I can so relate to your initial experience of learning to swim. I distinctly remember my swimming lessons as a child and feeling sick before I went every time. I remember not feeling supported and that it just did not feel right.
Now I love being in the water, paddling and swimming and would love to re-learn to swim with Simone as well. The quality you are talking about with your breath and movement in the water does sound amazing – how awesome for you to be able to experience now!
I remember the way I felt before going swimming too Amelia Stephens. I felt so anxious that I would shake. There is something about the swimming pool that magnifies everything, and I would simply feel frozen with terror. It feels so important for children (and adults) to be introduced to the water in a loving and fun way that helps them to feel confident and safe.
I have never really enjoyed swimming as a form of exercise,s and usually only wallow in the water in the height of summer to cool down. However, your blog has inspired me to get back in the water and give it another go, thank you Rebecca.
Thanks Rebecca for sharing this journey. It’s hard to even contemplate that this is how kids are taught to swim. The pole method is not my experience but can feel the disconnection between coach and student and how there is no support to learn but only survive. I loved this comment especially “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”.
This was such a lovely blog to read Rebecca and it actually brought up quite a lot for me too. Although I didn’t learn to swim in this way (with the teacher using a pole), I do still feel quite a fear of the water as swimming as you said was taught as a means of survival rather than enjoyment. I really feel trying some of the techniques you have described, as taught to you by Simone Benhayon, would make such a difference to how I feel about being in the water. Thank you for sharing your story, it has definitely touched a cord in me.
This is such a beautiful sharing Rebecca, what a joy to read the change in your approach to swimming, and the ripple affect this has had on your whole life.
Rebecca thanks for sharing your story about swimming. I have recently taught myself to swim breathing through the nose. Albeit that it has taken some time and patience what I have found that by breathing through the nose there is no way that I can push my body. It has called me to deeply connect with my body and only going at a speed and lengths that allows me to continue to gently breath through my nose. I have found that I feel much more lovely in my body when breathing this way and have applied breathing through the nose in all of my exercise.
I fear water and can barely swim but would love to learn about Simone’s technique. Reading your blog Rebecca I could feel you gliding effortlessly and joyfully through the water while breathing your own breath. A celebration of life!
What a gorgeous reminder that swimming is joyful, when you learn to do it with gentleness and care.
Swimming lessons were different in Australia. Teachers were in the pool with us, but there was a lot of yelling and pushing and expectations and tests.
I could swim, but gee it was tied up with fear and so much anxiousness. As an adult the smell of chlorine would bring up the same feeling of anxiousness I had as a child. My skin would crawl and tingle with the same old fear I had at age 5.
This feeling is still in me, but less so now. You have reminded my to return to the pool Rebecca, and feel the bubbles from breathing out through my nose, and the beauty of the warm water against my skin.
Oh yes Rachel – the memories and the smell of chlorine!
Oh yes… the childhood memory of that pervasive smell of chlorine after being in the pool, that just followed you around all day and sometimes still there the following day even after showering again! Then the memory of the blue skin, the chattering teeth and the mug of hot bovril or oxo trying to restore the circulation again!
I agree with you Rachel – Rebecca’s blog has me feeling I just want to go and get back into the pool again and enjoy the bubbles and the silky feel of water gliding over my skin when being connected to myself.
I can relate to this. While I wasn’t taught swimming in quite the same way as a kid (there was no stick involved) I still remember having this feeling of panic. Swimming was a large part of our life and I became known as a strong swimmer. I had endurance and could swim lap after lap however as I grew up I broke my nose several times and I could no longer breathe through my nose. After this I would panic when swimming and could no longer even make a lap of the pool without either holding my breath the whole way and nearly passing out or trying to take a breath and getting a mouth full of water. While I would still swim at the ocean for fun, I gave up swimming laps at the pool.
When I met Simone and she mentioned breathing in and out through your nose while swimming, I thought that would be impossible for me because of how my nose now was and my past experience. I had to start with small steps of just gliding and breathing out through my nose. I could manage this easily. When it came to doing a stroke and putting my arm over my head, the panic would set in I would automatically try and stand up quickly gasping for air and in the process often get a mouth full of water. It took patience and persistence, taking it one stroke at a time and learning to settle in my body not jump straight into anxiousness. Buliding it up in this way made it possible and over time I was able to swim a lap with fins on then progressed to swimming laps without fins. Even though my nose was in the same condition swimming had become possible again. This had come about by not being so anxious, learning to relax and have a go. Simone’s lessons in the pool go well beyond improving swimming, there are many great life lessons too.
Swimming is such a natural everyday activity in the Australian climate. When I first heard about how kids in the UK learn to swim with a pole I was a bit shocked as something like this is unheard of in Australia. Its so wonderful to hear how you have transformed your swimming experience to one that is joyful and that you look forward to. And yes that glide, flow and caress in the water – just divine.
I agree Marika, even having grown up in the UK, I was shocked to read about learning to be taught on with a pole, it sounds like something from the past and is no wonder that it instilled fear rather than a sense of joy to learning to swim.
I remember feeling quite challenged at the notion of breathing through my nose as I swam but now do it easily, and in fact, swimming and breathing through my mouth now feels awful as I gasp for air. There is an ease I feel in my body when I now swim and breathe through my nose, and a lovely rhythm that develops between my breathing and how I move my arms and legs. This is all based on what I’ve learnt from sessions with Simone Benhayon.
I have to say I am horrified at hearing how children are taught to swim in the UK. It’s completely different to my experience as a child and is not how I taught children when I worked briefly as a swim instructor. No wonder there is a lot of fear held about swimming, or rather drowning, and it seems like a dislike of swimming. This is not something I can comprehend as I have always loved being in the water and started swimming lessons at school so am also very confident in the water. I wanted the same for my son so as a new Mum I took my child along to baby swimming classes but he hated them and yet when we were playing in the pool by ourselves he clearly loved being in the water. So what was going on? I then heard Simone Benhayon talking about how learning to swim is really learning not to drown and so it is driven by fear. This made so much sense to me when observing my son and I decided I didn’t want him to have any fear when being in the water. So I never took him to another baby swim class but played with him in the water and let him discover in his own time what he can do in the water. At age 9 he loves swimming and playing in the pool. I can feel the same joy in you Rebecca as you write of re-learning to swim. I’ve played around a bit with breathing through my nose and I have to say the stillness I feel when I do so is exquisite. It’s not mastered yet but is definitely a whole new way of swimming.
Wow I love your blog. I too grew up in the UK and never had great swimming lessons. I taught myself how to stay afloat and I am able to do a few meters of swimming but then I start to tense up, get tired and sink. So I swim with contraction in my body. Your blog have just reflected to me that I hold my body in contraction also when I am out of the water. I would love to relearn how to swim with joy and openess in my body. I am very inspired, thank you.
An amazing blog Rebecca. One that will inspire so many of those who have had the similar experience of swimming that you had in your childhood. I was one of them myself and always terrified of deep waters where I could ‘possibly drown’. Simone Benhayon has and continues to inspire countless people with her ground breaking and amazing teachings. Teachings that can bring changes to your whole life and not just in swimming.
Thankfully our experience learning to swim in Australia is ‘poles apart’ from yours. Our instructors at least get in the water with us (maybe it’s too cold in the UK?). But in all other respects it’s the same, and here maybe with an overlay of being ‘beach fit’, able to ‘survive’ in the surf which can be rough. I remember as a child being dumped by waves on a number of occasions and thinking I was going to drown: this was seen as unpleasant but a normal part of beach life. Today, no way would I stay in a surf that was rough in any way.
This is an amazing story Rebecca. I don´t know any better swimming teacher in the world than Simone. Great she gave you the needed support to overcome your fear in the water. I can really feel your joy whilst swimming now- gorgeous.
Thank you Steffi. Yes it is very gorgeous and very joyful. When I go swimming now I can’t wait to get in the water. It is so much fun.
I have always loved water but at the same time also feared it somehow. I could swim but was not really enjoying it and always had difficulties to breathe. Breathing through my nose while swimming had never occurred to me until I was introduced to it by Simone Benhayon. With breathing through my nose and learning how to crawl instead of breaststroke, I have slowly come to enjoy swimming. Thank you Rebecca for sharing your joy of swimming.
I too love the water Esther but just thinking about having to put my head under water and coordinate my breathing with the movements of my arms, legs and whole body really leaves me feeling quite uncomfortable and to be honest a little bit fearful too. Maybe its time I did something about it.
I am sure many people have been instilled with fear by the way we are thought to swim. Simone is in the water with those she is teaching and helps everyone feel confident and playful. I have learned a lot from her even though I had no fear and always loved to be in the water. I can now feel where I am with myself by simply feeling the quality in which I move and breathe in the water. So simple yet so profound.
What a difference in swimming there is. The way I learned it, was out of fear to not drown. Nothing playful in that experience. An achievement is what it felt like. Learning to swim with Simone has changed my confidence in myself and in life. I especially love feeling every tiny detail of my body (when in the water). This connection to my body and staying there, being present with what I feel my body is builds so much confidence. Is also makes sure I don’t overdo it. And I love what I get reflected back when in the pool with bouncing onto people or the opposite: very fluently swimming with each other, hardness in my body, water in my nose or ears ect. Always a mirror of what is happening in my life as well.
A great sharing Rebecca. I relate well to your experience of learning to swim, very fear based and filled with dread and fear of drowning.
I love how you finish off here;
“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”.
Great how swimming has supported your confidence and joy on a daily basis. A true inspiration.
Thank you Rebecca. This is truly beautiful to read. When I learned to swim I loved being in the water but not the swimming classes. It was terrifying and especially swimming under water would make me feel very scared of not being able to come up and breath again. I love how you reflect on breathing with swimming and breathing in life. I can reflect that I was afraid of being out of my home and in the world for a long time. This has now changed a lot as I learned to stay with myself in the world so I am really looking forward to go and swim again.
What a wonderful blog, Rebecca. I can feel the joy in your description of the bubbles and how they are a constant reminder that life does not need to be feared. By staying connected to the loveliness of your own breath and the quality of your movements, you are choosing something beautiful that can stay with you every moment of the day, whether in or out of the water.
Feels very inspiring and also very revealing about the otherwise functional way we have been taught to swim instead of the true joy truly swimming with ones body. That swimming breathing though the nose bit is huge.. it causes so much tension in the body if you don’t..
Beautiful sharing of your experiences and learning Rebecca, I loved your conclusion: “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”. It makes all the difference doesn’t it – and the breath is the key in all.
Until 2 years ago, my head was never under water. Sometimes I would make my hair wet and go under water, but always with my hand closing my nose. Even under a rain shower, I would not go fully underneath it, as this panic came over me. I would never dive into the water, as I needed to close my nose and it’s quite weird to dive with one hand…but then I had swimming classes with Simone Benhayon and everything changed. I started practising and within 1,5 years, I dive, I swim under water from one end of the pool to the other, I jump, I have fun and, this is the ultimate, I can actually do the front crawl and breath through my nose. At age 41 I have learned to swim, thanks to Simone.
Thanks for sharing Rebecca, as swimming has never come naturally to me I have avoided the pool; but now you have really inspired me to dive back in and work on my swimming breathing through the nose.
Dear Rebecca, I have never been a swimmer, I do enjoy being in the water and such, but as for swimming, it is not something that I have ever chosen to do for fun or exercise. On reading your experience though I can feel how so very supportive it can be to swim. Thank you for sharing how much you have learnt here for your self, as it is not just about the swimming, but about a dedication to ourselves, to truly support our bodies in every activity we choose to do.
Wow, what a horrible way to first learn how to swim! (The big metal pole thing) no wonder many people don’t find a joy in swimming.
I really loved hearing about how you re-learnt about swimming and it gave me a few tips on how to start breathing through my nose and getting used to it…I’ve tried a couple of times but the old habits kick in and I haven’t quite got the knack of breathing out of my nose whilst underwater just yet. It will be fun to try and practice !
I know what you mean Emily. I’d heard of Simone Benhayon’s swimming methods and this summer gave it a go. At first it was difficult but it became easier as I persisted and didn’t worry too much about breathing in a little bit of water. It’s a trust exercise in many ways! I didn’t know about the bubbles part so that’s super-helpful.
Rebecca I can’t imagine what it would be like learning to swim hanging onto a pole. No wonder there was so much fear about the water for you. I remember as a child the joy in hanging off Dad when I was in the water. He was never too far away for me to explore. I don’t spend a lot of time in the water now and have felt to get back into the water and certainly re-establish the joy that I experienced as a child as well as teaching myself to nose breath when swimming.
Reading your blog Rebecca resonated very much with glimpses I have had from learning to breathe through my nose whilst swimming, and it also brought back the potency of the swimming classes I have had with Simone Benhayon. In fact your expression of the joy you have reconnected to in swimming and spreading out further from that into the rest of your life made me want to go and jump in the pool immediately.
So true Josephine – the Joy is contageous.
I love your blog Rebecca – as a swimming teacher, it is awesome to hear how you have begun to enjoy swimming and being in the water, it really is a lot of fun! From what you have shared it seems many other adults may benefit from the technique of breathing through the nose as suggested by Simone Benhayon, I have swum this way for a long time now also under the recommendation of Simone, and find it is fantastic!
Rebecca I really enjoyed reading your experience of transforming your childhood swimming to on filled with joy. Thankyou.
Thank you Rebecca for sharing your story of learning to swim, it is great to read of how you have discovered a love for being in the water that wasn’t there before. There are so many people in your situation who were not given a positive experience of swimming, how wonderful that you found a teacher who brought the whole experience to life for you.
Absolutely Stephen – finding a teacher that makes swimming about the quality of being in the water, enjoying it and using your stroke as another way to express is something very, very rare.
What I love about this is how you have taken what you have learnt to support you in the pool with swimming, namely connecting to the quality of your breath and movements, and brought this outside of the pool to support you in life. Something we can all be inspired by.
After I swim I am always left feeling so strong and solid in my body. So much is going on when we swim – arms are moving, legs are kicking, we are turning our head to breathe, sensing when the end of the pool is, and feeling how lovely the water feels to move through it. I love how when I focus and feel all of this happening there is no room for anything other than the moment I am in. Such a simple activity has become so enjoyable.
That’s so true Vicky, there’s something really whole-of-body about swimming. I love feeling supported by the water and weightless too!
Gorgeous Vicky, I can now relate to what you are sharing. What a joy!
Yes at times there seems to be a lot going on – kicking, arms, breathing (and sometimes even tumble-turns), but when we bring a focus to our swimming everything seems to become much less complicated and our stroke falls into a smooth rhythm.
It was gorgeous to feel your words become so joyful when you started to describe this new way of swimming Rebecca. I could sense it especially when you said how you glide. I remember learning to swim, and passing a test when I was young swimming with all my pyjamas on. My memory of this, like yours of the pole is more like an advanced kind of water torture than fun. So powerful then to feel how you are today and appreciate that swimming is in so many ways, a perfect reflection of how we are in life.
I almost felt like I was swimming along with you Rebecca Turner – a very beautiful description of your experiences. I am definitely inspired after reading this to have a bit of a play in the pool next time. I have been relying on my ‘pool noodle’ and kickboards to keep my head out of water, but it is time to take the plunge….with playfulness.
I love your sharing of swimming so much that I want to get into the pool and share the fun with you. Rebecca this has been very inspiring to go and play with the nose breathing technique. It’s great how you explain that you took it step by step. How amazing would it actually be to learn swimming from young by Simone Benhayon.
I have never heard of breathing through the nose instead of the mouth while swimming – this inspires me to give it a go. I can see from the comments though how it would connect you more to your body which is a good thing. Thank you Rebecca.
Me too Christine, I have never heard that either, however I have given it a go, breathing through my nose – it feels very different and is something I want to get more used to.
Thank you Rebecca for sharing your journey with swimming from the frighten child reaching out for the pole to a woman in the joy of her breath and body in movement. Feels absolutely gorgeous.
Great testimony of how enjoyable swimming can truly be when we are connected to our body and breathe through our nose; it makes so much sense and it takes the fear and anguish away.
It is so beautiful and healing to re-claim oneself and hence enjoying oneself in whatever one does, like taking something back that seems to be lost by an event in the past or that simply slipped away. Coming back to oneself, the fullness of who we actually are is an amazing joy.
Alex I can feel the joy and freedom in re-claiming something that, for whatever reason we didn’t feel we could do or like doing. These experiences are a simple joy as the tension is released and the relaxation returns, freeing up a huge amount of energy so we can just be with whatever it is that we are doing. There is no unnecessary taxing or draining on our bodies and we have the energy and vitality to complete the task, then more than enough for what is next.
Do so agree Alex and Sandra. When I was supported to find my own form of expression through sketch notebooking I was amazed at how much the grade e art report (some 50 plus years ago) had been affecting my life..without my consciously being aware of it.
A beautiful testament to our having a constant choice, which if we let go of what used to be, can bring a different result
I enjoyed reading this Rebecca. I could feel your fears as I, too, have experienced the same feeling of panic when attempting to swim and breathe at the same time. I loved your analogy of enjoying your breathing and movements not only in the water but in life.
When I first swam with Simone Benhayon I used so much force to get me through the water. A few years on and I am now gliding through the water with a grace and a power – amazing really, and that is with almost no instruction but a hugely supportive and loving presence on her behalf, allowing for my self-awareness to grow as she responds to questions and comments in the clear and equal space she holds. A great article, thank you Rebecca.
I have never been a strong swimmer, and I spoke to Simone Benhayon about it a while ago, and she told me to practice breathing through my nose under water – which I have been doing every time I have a bath, and I could feel how tense my body was when I tried it the first time, and I am gradually getting used to allowing my body to just be. I can see how being in the water relates to how we are in life as well.
It is such a joy to be able to swim with no fear. I was there with you in the water bubbles and all. As a youngster I was taught to swim in the North Sea Brrr!!! add to the fear the immense cold and jelly fish was not a good combination. Swim I did – to survive. Hearing your experience Rebecca fills me and I’m sure many others with inspiration. Thank you.
Yikes, I remember learning to swim in jelly fish too, in a natural sea pool – very off-putting! It’s interesting how we can have all these ‘adverse conditions’ experiences when learning to swim. Is this supposed to toughen us up, prepare us for the ‘rigours’ of life in some way?
I am sure we could collate a great book of learn to swim stories that highlight how the impact of the swimming lessons have been with us ever since. I remember feeling the cold and never being able to last long in the water before shivering and turning blue. Somehow this always went un-noticed and I had to remain in the lesson until the very end.
Thank you Rebecca for sharing the beauty and harmony that one enters when movement, breathing and being fully present in the body all comes together in a unified way.
I can totally relate to the panic that swimming lesions would entail – minus being poked with a stick, more often than not I would prefer to swim on my back so that there was no possible way I could drown. The struggle to keep ones head above the water – just as I remember those times I remember the tension in my neck especially. But what was once an experience of stress and fears of drowning then for years after I have avoided swimming – what reading this blog has got me thinking is what if it doesn’t have to be that way? This blog has got me wondering not only about my avoidance to swimming because of past experiences but are there other parts of my life I am avoiding due to holding onto ‘the last time I did it is was horrible’. What if it was how I approached the situation rather than the actual situation? I am curious now to see how I would respond in the pool without the fears from past experience. Thank you Rebecca.
Loving this attention given to fresh starts – no longer do I need to be a victim of past experiences – every moment is new and up to me to choose. Thank you.
Lovely Matilda, “no longer do I need to be a victim of past experiences “. This is very true, we have the power to re-imprint all the time with a brand new joyful and loving experience.
Leigh, I also found swimming on my back safer and that’s how I swam for a long time. With the understanding and support from Simone and how to feel joy in the water, now I love swimming on my front and playing with my breathing. This has also supported me in looking at what I was avoiding in life for many years as the fear of survival was there for me.
I went and had a joyful swim yesterday that was most confirming, so it was so lovely to read your blog Rebecca.
As you say ‘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 so reflected my experience of swimming and hence life. Through learning again in later years I am now able to connect to the joy and wonderment of swimming under the water, as my joy in life grows too.
Breathing through the nose is a work in progress but as I connect more to my body I find that my anxiety lessens and I am now able to move through the water with more ease. I still am surprised when I can look through my goggles and see the underwater world, and I too love to see the bubbles bubbling up to the surface and just enjoy the fun of bubbles.
I still am surprised that I trust myself more in the water, and although there is still a little residual fear of drowning I am gradually allowing myself more fun in the water without constant anxiety. I know I will visit your blog again as my joy in swimming increases.
For me too this new way of swimming was a very profound experience! To not survive in the water, but live in the water, the same as I would on solid ground.
My first swimming lessons were from men from the Navy, they just threw me into the water and I would be punished because I had so much fear. Not a very nice way to connect with water.
Now I love to experiment with breathing through the nose, making slow movements so I have plenty of time to breathe and to be playful.
Swimming has always come very natural to me… I love the water. Thank you for sharing your story. I really enjoyed reading your article on your journey with swimming…. it all makes so much sense. I too have felt how amazing I feel as my body moves through the water when I am truly present with myself.
Hi Rebecca, even though swimming has never been a big thing for me, I really enjoyed reading your blog. The way you describe your feeling in the water, the joy of breathing through your nose and the confidence it has brought into your life in general, I am asking myself; where is the nearest pool for me? I could feel the amazingness you portray, – thank you for writing about the true joy of swimming.
I very well know this feeling of being scared to drown, and actually feel very uncomfortable swimming, Thank you for inspiring me to look at this as a way of not being scared in life, as I have the opportunity I will surely get back to swimming and exercising with my breath.
And the water may help Benkt, if you see it as something that can support and work with you rather something to be feared.
Susie. Just love the way you see the water as a support mechanism, and not something to be feared.
Thank you Rebecca for sharing. Simone Benhayon is amazing and teaches a way of swimming that is entirely different from any other way, and it works.
She also suggests that the water in the pool is a reflection of the sea of energy we are ‘swimming in’ in the outside world, and that every movement causes a ripple and effects everyone else, everywhere as the ripple never stops. Hence, “The same principles apply when breathing my way through life”.
It is also interesting to note that when we are learning to swim, how we are so scared of sinking to the bottom and can’t understand how we could stay afloat, but when we have learned to swim, we can’t understand WHY we were so afraid, is in fact easy. Is it just a state of mind, after all many babies can swim under water without any hesitation, with their eyes open, then one day that all changes and the fear comes in and we tell ourselves we CAN’T swim, just shows how the mind has control over us.
That’s really interesting about babies Sandra Hendon! I’ve seen those amazing pictures of sub-aquatic infants and they seem totally in their element. Perhaps they think it’s a bit like the amniotic fluid that they were living in, not long before.
Brilliantly put Sandra, the teaching that ‘every movement causes a ripple and effects everyone else, everywhere as the ripple never stops’, is extremely practical, and knowing that I have this responsibility has made a huge difference to the choices I’ve made over the last few years.
Great point Sandra. Illustrating that fear and anxiety are indeed created by the mind, and that when we connect to and trust our body it knows exactly what to do when we allow it to just be. This applies to so many aspects of life.
Wow Rebecca what a beautiful turn around in your swimming and your life and so inspiring. The work of Simone Benhayon is changing peoples lives and bringing a real joy to swimming for everyone, something much needed in all our lives and the confidence and commitment that comes with it .The true way to swim and the way we are taught is revolutionary, being brought to us by Simone Benhayon and has completely changed my breathing , swimming and life also.Thank you.
Thank you for sharing Rebecca. I have always loved being in the water especially the sea. However, when it has come to swimming pools, like you, I had the fear factor of drowning come in. The thoughts ‘can I make it to the end etc’- usually this was with swimming pools where I could barely stand, so I literally had to get to the end! I too have also been supported by Simone Benhayons simple and very practical approach to swimming, along with finding the pool she runs, creative aquatic extremely supportive, I can stand anywhere in the pool. What it means is if I feel to stop I can, no panick. I now find it a real pleasure to swim there whereas before I would hardly ever go in a swimming pool.
Gosh Rebecca you describe so joyfully the experience of swimming with your body instead of swimming for survival. I remember the pole although I was never prodded by it! It was totally about survival and that fear stays with you in how you swim so to learn to swim so joyfully is a miracle.
Your comment Judy makes me realise just how much we teach our kids to do things from the perspective of survival rather than the perspective of fun and enjoyment. How gorgeous for all those kids who have the opportunity to learn to swim with Simone, where the emphasis is on learning to have fun in a very safe environment. This is surely the way we should be teaching all our kids all their life skills.
Yes, absolutely Rowena. We are taught school subjects in much the same way – to have security and safety in our future. When there is that ‘push’ or fear running the show, our bodies harden, shut down – and our awareness and focus becomes limited. How different life would be if learning did not come from this fear, but instead, allowed children to feel supported to open up and enjoy expanding their awareness and understanding of life.
The energy in which we are taught as children seem to stay with us forever so it is so important for the educators to bring all the care and love in their way of teaching as possible. Love back into education please !
I was re-taught to swim by Simone Benhayon too and now I’ve got to say it’s one of my all time favourite things to do! Not that I couldn’t originally swim, but the way I was taught freestyle was with such panic – always gasping for breathings and with the possible fear of drowning. So for much of my early adult life I only did breaststroke – because it was safe. Learning to breath out my nose in freestyle and to actually enjoy swimming to the max has been incredible. It took me a LONG time to really understand that swimming does not need to be a horrible survival experience, and that there’s so much grace and power in it – no more breaststroke for me!!
I can really relate to your story here Rebecca. For me, learning to swim was a painful business, full of fear and panic
and perhaps most memorably, that ghastly smell of Chlorine!… Also, one’s towel never seemed quite big enough to absorb all of one’s moisture and I can remember getting on the bus in the depths of winter with wet hair and soggy socks!
The English indoor pool had a grim municipal functionality to it, with very little evidence of the joy you describe. I suppose I was about 10 or 11 years old and anything, even double maths, would have been preferable to being sent to that Aquatic Temple of Doom! Somehow or other, I managed to survive all this and went on to learn to swim, but I have always had a slight phobia of underwater swimming because of the obvious drowning connotations. The only time I ever attempted Sub-Aqua, was in the lovely sunny Aegean sea in August with a one to one instructor, and even then, I was constantly told to slow down my breathing as otherwise I would use all the air up too quickly!! I must say that those lessons with Simone Benhayon sound inspirational, (no pun intended)!
Jonathan, I love your writing style! “even double maths, would have been preferable to being sent to that Aquatic Temple of Doom!” Although my experience wasn’t quite so intense, there was still no joy associated with learning to swim. It was just going up and down in drills practising the different strokes. Having observed Simone teach children, she offers a lot of fun in the pool …. to have had a teacher like her when little would have been amazing.
Although swimming for me was never truly joyful I did break my fear of the water when I learned to scuba dive in the sea at aged 21. When I realised that I could control how I floated or sank with the amount of air in my lungs I learned to relax a little more. When I am deeply connected to myself in the water now I love it and I find the breathing much easier. I have also observed Simone Benhayon teaching my own children and the emphasis is very much on fun and all the kids have an awesome time!
A great point and opportunity, Andrew, to bring awareness to the fact there are no compartments in life – how we are in one area affects everything else – so no work face/home face yo-yoing. Rebecca’s article celebrates a transformation for her that permeates every aspect of her life, which is inspiring.
A beautiful post Rebecca, you have expressed this so well ‘ the joy of re-learning to swim’. I certainly can relate to the school experience of learning to swim, it felt like torture. I too love swimming, have been through different phases but only recently discovered how to swim. Swimming under water and breathing was not a problem for me, I enjoyed this, breathing and swimming the crawl always felt like hard work. Thanks to Simone Benhayon and her group water sessions, I learned how to breathe in out through my nose swim and with practice found a lovely breath rhythm while swimming the crawl. It felt miraculous when it all came together. It’s amazing how gentle guidance can help. I threw out my cheapie goggles and invested in a pair that protected my eyes. It made a huge difference to the quality of the swim. How I swim now mirrors my life: I once felt life was hard work, it now feels like a miracle, simply because I have found a loving daily rhythm that supports me.
This is a gorgeous and celebratory blog, Rebecca. I loved reading how your relationship with swimming had changed. I have also experienced swim sessions with Simone Benhayon and I can honestly say she has “blown me out of the water” with her unique teaching style and outlook on this activity. Each swim lesson is an incredible gift in personal awareness.
That is a great description Rachel, it really is a celebration this blog of the joy Rebecca has found in swimming. It can be challenging to go from survival mode in water to enjoying those bubbles and the simplicity of the movement. The more the focus is on those little joys in learning, the less room there is for the fear that water causes to so many. This fear of water I see in so many people seems to run so deep and it is always a celebration when this is overcome.
‘Blown me out of the water’ – I love it Rachel.
I totally agree – Simone’s lessons are awesome – ‘blown me out of the water’ is a great description of them!!
Beautiful article Rebecca and one I can very much relate to. I have always been so afraid of putting my head under the water, and like you was terrified of being pushed or dunked. How amazing that by using one simple breathing technique it has enabled you to befriend the water and teach yourself to swim. Simone Benhayon is a wonderful swimming instructor who takes immense care in her teaching, being present in the water with you, teaching you how to breath through your nose and take time to build a new relationship with water, breathing, movement and finally swimming. Thank you for sharing your journey and also to show how by mastering breathing and movement in one medium we can bring that enjoyment into other aspects of our daily lives too.
Hi Rebecca, thanks for sharing your experiences with learning to swim. Its so interesting how a simple thing like changing the way you breath can have such an enormous effect on your experience both in the water and out in life. That you can now ’embrace life more fully and without fear’ is something to celebrate.
That’s true Debra. And thank you Rebecca for sharing.
In my teenage years I was called lovingly ‘little iron duck’ by our swimming teacher at school. He was understanding about my inability to swim but could not really help me out of that. Somehow in my adult years I learned by myself to keep me over water, but through just two or three water session with Simone Benhayon I got joy and confidence back without any pressure that I can learn swimming. And yes that helped me also to understand how I ‘swim’ through life.
Thank you Rebecca. I can completely relate to your blog about swimming. I learnt to swim in the sea, and never really learnt to swim but rather just learnt how not to drown or be swept away by the currents. So water became a symbol for how to stay alive in adverse conditions. Simone Benhayon has taught me that swimming can be fun, playful and a very real tool for living in the world with the presence of myself.
The opposite happened for me, Shami. Like Rebecca, my early swimming experiences being taught in the pool were difficult and frightening. It was an outside pool, freezing cold, the water only changed every six weeks, so most of the time covered in green slime and leaves, and being made to go under water. I actually learned to swim in the sea, which felt buoyant and warmer (it was summer), and calm at that time. But it was not until I also experienced Simone Benhayonn’s teaching and the wonderfully warm and gentle pool at the Sound Foundation, that I began to feel the joy of just being in the water. Thank you, Rebecca, for expressing what I am sure many of us feel who have experienced this.
Amazing to hear the support and inspiration that Simones classes offer. Bringing the lessons and reflections that occur in the pool out into the world to learn and grow from. A ground breaking way of deepening our awareness of ourselves in the world and our connection to our body.
Like yourself Shami, I learned to swim more for survival than enjoyment. The vagaries of the British climate always seemed to pour cold water (literally) upon the notion of swimming as fun. However, I’m glad I did, as I am now a boat- owner which is hardly compatible with having a fear of water. I approach swimming rather in the same manner as the Hippopotamus, a convenient way to cool off during an August heatwave!
Thank you for the gorgeous sharing of re-connecting with yourself and swimming. I can completely relate with your early experiences with swimming and also the amazingness of losing the fear of swimming through the support of Simone Benhayon.
Originally learning to swim like that, relying on a pole, being prodded with the only incentive being to not drown – what an awful first experience of swimming! It seems non sensical and no wonder it put you off swimming. When you start talking about playing with the bubbles and learning to just experience floating around under the water that reminded me of how I learnt to swim. For me it was all about playing, and for a time I did not even bother learning to swim above the water realising I could glide around, and simply push up from the bottom, or grab the side for a breath of air when I needed it.
What your blog has reminded me of is how simple and playful the everyday is, and if we relax and just be ourselves then gradually our confidence builds and what we are doing develops. Of course it helps having a wonderful teacher, and Simone has also done plenty to help improve my swimming, and co-incidentally how I am in life.
Beautiful Simon, I love how you describe the playful way we naturally are, with no lessons needed. How odd it is we see things so divided in life, and never consider that the way we are with one thing applies to the all. It’s beautiful to read how you and many others here have benefitted from Simone Benhayon’s teaching. It feels like it is no coincidence that life changes too, when we change the way we are in the pool.
I agree Joseph. I love the quality Simone brings in here with the way we learn when left to our own devices with no expectations or goals and how as you say, “we rarely consider that the way we are in one activity could be applied to all our activities”. Simone Benhayon has helped me enormously with developing my confidence in water and I have completely changed the way I swim. Her focus on the breath and breathing through one’s nose has made all the difference. What appears to be baby steps at first have become a foundation throughout my day, focusing on the quality of my breath and movement can be applied both in and out of the pool with superb results.
Yes it seems so odd to learn to swim with a pole…what happened to the human element of touch and support? It seems that Simone Benhayon has brought common sense back into the UK swimming mentality and that so many have benefited from this approach. I have also been fortunate to have had some swim lessons with Simone when she has visited Australia and they have been very inspiring and supportive for my everyday life.
Yes, Simone’s way of teaching is much needed in the UK. Her whole way of teaching is based on helping people to learn to love swimming. Totally different from the cold and heartless methods that were available when I was a child that were primarily about swimming for survival. Her methods are so supportive and have helped so many people to feel confident in the water.
I agree Rebecca Turner and Marika. Simone Benhayon’s approach to swimming is sorely needed all over the world. Her decision to be in the water with her pupils brings much needed support and care to the lesson and all the way through, the focus is not on perfect technique but on allowing the person to relax their bodies and befriend the water. Her approach revolutionised my fear of swimming and her many awards prove that 100s of other people feel the same way – she is a remarkable swimming teacher and coach.
This is a lovely story Rebecca, I heard numerous nightmare stories about the dreaded stick way of learning. The way I learnt was way more enjoyable but still about survival. As kids we learnt to swim by jumping into a river at the back of our farm and it was sort of a case of swim or drown. My arms would be going round at about ninety miles an hour but getting nowhere fast. Learning to swim again with Simone has been an amazing experience for me as well.
I know the feeling. After years of swimming in the ‘normal’ way, I also relearnt swimming via Simone. First of all to learn the crawl, which was never my favourite. Why? Because of the breathing and the coordination. After some very practical tips I too started to apply them in the pool. I loved the feeling of not having to finish to get to the end of the pool. Just feel what is right for me at that moment. In this way, I dropped the automatism to get in the pool and ‘do’ 20 up and downs the pool. The breathing was the next part. I love the bubbles with the out breath. I am still practicing to breathe in, I had a tendency to grasp for air. Another helpful tip was: just make bigger and slower e.g.conscious gentle movements, with your arms. All of a sudden I had more time to breathe. It felt like a reflection on my life: to give myself time to live! By now, I am loving it, sliding through the water, consciously present with all of me in the water.
Thank you Caroline, Rebecca’s blog and all the comments including yours is like a learning manual for a gentle, loving and fun way to swim. I love the tip about making gentle movements which creates more time to breathe… I will take that tip with me to the pool when I give breathing through my nose a go.
Great blog Rebecca that feels to me to be about much more than just swimming. You have described here how swimming has been transformed for you from a struggle for survival to feeling absolute joy and being at ease in the water all through changing how you breathe. I realised as I was reading that this example could easily be applied to life in general. How often do we feel like we are struggling to keep our heads above water in daily life? And what if there was a way we could simply choose to live differently that would make life joyful and easy and playful and even fun? And what if this simply started with choosing the way we breathe?
I loved reading about how Rebecca has transformed not only how she is in water and with swimming but her life. The joy and playfulness of this transformation just oozed out of her words and I could feel how I could recognise that I could have this too.
I agree Andrew, in Rebecca’s writing there is a lot more being shared than just the joy of swimming. There is the joy of life when we make things simple and life is not about pushing and being prodded as Rebecca was in the pool, but in allowing ourselves the opportunity to make life fun and easy. I teach swimming and I find the best outcomes are when there is no expectation on the swimmer whether adult or child, just a healthy respect for the individual’s learning process and a lot of encouragement.
Stephen it is so true what you share but I know myself it is almost automatic to have expectations of how or what progress ‘should’ be being made. It is a real choice that needs to be made to focus on what is important the breath and being present and enjoying where you are at, not where you want to get to or where you have been.
Every thing we do mirrors how we’re living. I recently had an experience in the pool, I wasn’t fully present with myself, lost orientation and swam into other people. The quality of the swim perfectly matched an imbalance in myself that morning.
Andrew your comment has made me reflect on how we use the analogy of keeping our heads above water in daily life. Great observation. I have found by taking control of how I chose to breathe (outside of the water) also has a profound effect on how I feel. That steady more centred feeling helps me to drop the struggle I felt life was and actually start to enjoy it.
I love this reminder Debra – when we choose to breathe our own breath the less struggle we create with life (in and out of the water!).
It was a joy to read this blog this morning Rebecca, as I am sure many others will find it a joy too. I loved the comparsion or link you made with breathing in the water to; ‘breathing my way through life’… and how by having more awareness of your breath and all your movements, this has helped you to stay with yourself, embracing life and letting go of your old fear. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve always loved swimming and the feel of being in the water, but I have never really gone for front crawl, breast stroke and back stroke is much more comfortable, mainly because of the breathing and not getting water up my nose or in my eyes. Even though I wasn’t poked with a stick in swimming classes, which sounds a little comical but truly must have been awful, I had a float stuffed down my swim suit instead. If I look at swimming as a reflection of my life, then the main theme would be comfort, which is a little uncomfortable to admit. It seems there is a lot of value in re-learning to swim as an adult… in fact there is the potential to re-learn how to be in life.
Thank you Rebecca. I enjoyed your playful bubbles and I too have noticed that as I gain confidence in one aspect of my life in the way I do something that this builds confidence in the way I approach other challenges.
I agree Mary. Building confidence in one area of our life directly supports the development in all other areas of our lives and this includes us feeling the strength of this confidence and how it holds us in such a way that we can address the hurts and challenges that in the past we sometimes did not want to face. I am also realising more and more that this re-building of ourselves also flows on to inspire and support re-building of others too and directly supports their development equally. This whole process is really quite beautiful and something to appreciate.
I love your blog Rebecca. The joy you feel is lovely. I can so relate to how you were taught to swim as my experience was similar. What a crazy approach! Taking the time and making the choice to connect to myself deeply is super joyful – doing this in the water helps to magnify it too. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Likewise Michelle McWaters, I felt the same experience when learning to swim and thought swimming at school, it was something I did not enjoy and a combination of panic and freezing water certainly set the tone. Swimming now and being in the water is a very different experience, the warm pool and a greater awareness of being able to swim at my pace and enjoy the water is miles apart from what I considered swimming was when a child. Reading this inspires me to get back into regular swimming.
Rebecca thank you, a beautiful reminder about what is possible when not only being consciously present when we do something but that the quality of presence we choose in each moment is a key factor. It is an amazing transformation that you describe that has clearly impacted other areas of life considerably too.
Agree Jenny not only is this blog a testimony to her now amazing ability to stay present when swimming but to have this translated (overflow) into other areas in her life as well Life can’t be segmented and this a beautiful example why we would never want it to be.
What an awesome sharing Rebecca! Water can be so frightening if we are not supported and I can’t believe the way we were so called ‘taught to swim’! Cruel really. Your rebirth into swimming with ease and joy was a delight to read and I could feel the playful child there too as she befriended the bubbles, instead of fought to survive the gulps of air. Thank you.
What an inspiring story Rebecca and one I can really relate to. I too felt the lovelessness of swimming instructors and although I didn’t experience the stick, I was pushed off the side as I was in a diving position by a sports teacher and I felt that I was drowning. I haven’t been able to put my head under water since and I can still collapse into tears if anyone splashes me. I have attended Danielle Pirera’s water exercise classes and now I enjoy the gentle exercises she shows us with the pool noodle and feel a lovely connection with the water. I look forward to being able to glide under the water one day.
Isn’t it gorgeous Irene to discover the joy in exercising in water. Super playful and delightful.
I agree, such fun exercising in the water. I am finding for myself that doing exercises in the water or doing laps in the water are very different experiences. Whilst I didn’t get prodded with poles, there was still that swim to survive mentality, which upon reflection, still lives within me.
That was my first ever experience of being in a swimming pool Irene, I was 7 or 8 years old. The swimming instructor held my feet at the side of the pool and as I was (sort of) in a diving position pushed me in the water. That did not encourage me to go back!
What I love so much about your blog Rebecca Turner, is that because you changed the way you are with yourself while swimming in the water you also transformed your fear of life into enjoying life in all its smallest details. How amazing is that!
Thank you Rebecca for sharing your journey with swimming. As I was reading it, especially the parts pre breathing through your nose, I felt my whole body stiffen and I was holding my breath… remembering all the times I swam in complete fear. But when I read how you were so gentle with yourself and took your time with yourself (something that was absent before) while learning to breathe through your nose while swimming… my whole body relaxed and I wanted to go out and give myself that same opportunity to re-imprint with gentleness and no pressure. It so clearly shows we can change and re-imprint anything in our lives.
Well said Aimee, how awesome to feel the difference when we choose to stay connected to our bodies, listening to what it tells us, rather than going into the drive from the head – to do more – to be more. Nobody wins with this constant push. Allowing the natural flow and ease is all the body needs in movement.
This has inspired me to give swimming another chance – I had written it off as too ‘uncomfortable and too much effort’ but I love being in the water so I will have another attempt at breathing through my nose after reading this Thankyou –
Fabulous Debra. It’s great you feel inspired.
you won’t regret it swimming is so incredibly supportive and revealing!
I too feel inspired by Rebeccas article Debra. I have never been much of a swimmer and was forced to go under the water as a child by a fiersome PE teacher which scared me half to death! But after reading this I feel that it’s time I gave swimming another chance. How Rebecca describes gliding through the water so effortlessly feels absolutely gorgeous, so I will also have another attempt at breathing through my nose in the water.
Absolutely. Me too! I remember the old lessons with the teacher by the side of the pool with a pole. It has been transformational to have Simone change this way of teaching swimming and feels far more supportive to have the teacher in the pool. I am also inspired by this to give swimming a go and to experience my own gentle bubbles 🙂
Yes, Aimee, it is really beautiful to learn how to breathe properly while swimming. Everything can flow from breathing harmoniously and when it works it feels really nice.
I really enjoy swimming as well. Recently I experienced something very similar to you Rebecca. I was feeling every stroke in the water and feeling the absolute joy in the exercise.
After the swimming session I felt a lot of the tension in my body released and felt a spring in my step.
The session had completely no impact on my body, instead completely supported the fluidity the body. And your right this translates to every aspect of daily living.
It is so lovely to feel the joy in your article Rebecca, and how the quality of your breath in the water flows equally into your life. I really enjoyed ready and feeling this.
Thank you Rebecca, I could feel my connection with myself deepening as I read through your article…and I wasn’t even in a pool!
There’s such a great lesson here on the marvellous benefits we can enjoy in our lives simply by being present with our bodies, breath and movement.
Same Rod! I connected to my breath and my body, my shoulders dropped and I felt my body much more. The power of sharing your expression heh!
Me too Rod. I too felt a deepening connection with myself as I read Rebecca’s article. I am learning how to exercise in a supportive and nurturing way and now feel inspired to further develop that connection as well as transform my interaction with water and my body through swimming in this way.
I find it’s important to exercise and nurture the body in a loving way, it then is very supportive.
Yes, Rod I felt myself become more aware of my breathing as I read the article. I enjoyed focusing on this as Rebecca’s story unfolded.
Thank you rodharvey for describing what was also happening for me as I read Rebecca’s wonderful blog. I actually wanted to get straight into a pool and start to feel what she was experiencing, but as she wrote: “The same principles apply when breathing my way through life.” – so it doesn’t matter whether I am in the pool or out in life, the principles are definitely the same.
Great point Rod! I feel the power in Rebecca’s blog is the fact that it reminds us of the importance of connecting to our bodies, regardless of what activity we are doing, and that breathing through our nose supports us in being aware of this connection. I have found the Gentle Breathe Meditation as presented by Serge Benhayon at various Universal Medicine presentations a wonderful tool to support this process.
I have always loved water and being strong and fit from swimming laps, training for many hours a week during the summer swimming season and loving the monotony of going up and down the lane. I always breathed with an opened mouth, taking in huge gulps of air and then keeping my head down to get the most power from the strokes. What I enjoyed the most was getting into a rhythm with my strokes and breathing patterns, whether breathing every four strokes on the same side or every third stroke and swapping sides to breathe on. I just did what felt most comfortable at the time. I have since learned about Simone Benhayon’s technique of breathing through the nose and have given it a go in the pool. The contrast between breathing through my mouth versus my nose is profound. I always felt quite connected to my body as I swam, feeling my fingertips touching the sides of my legs and feeling the water move past my upper arms as I pulled through the water. But the connection with my body as I breathed through my nose went to a whole new level. There was no drive anymore, no rush to get to the other end of the pool. No desire to get my exercise over and done with. My technique – the rhythm between my arms and legs kicking needed to be much more steady and connected. I swam much slower but without a doubt my entire body was getting a deeper workout, as each muscle was felt and considered. I wouldn’t win any races, but what I was getting instead was much, much more.
Well said Suzanne! I’ve had a very similar experience, where by breathing through my nose I felt the connection to my body become a lot deeper, and I experienced joy in swimming and a feeling of gliding through the water with ease and no gasping for air! And you have inspired me to re-commit to my swimming routine as it was very loving and builds confidence and strength.
I love the being in water and feeling that gliding. I always knew that water had a quality you could bring to it that made ones being in it refreshing throughout ones body. But I was always disappointed when I swam that I lost that quality because I breathed through my mouth.
With being taught breathing through my nose I can now bring my quality and feel it in the water, always great to see.
I was lucky – I taught myself to swim when I was ten (about the time I saw my first cow in my life as an inner-city boy). First it was dog paddle then just floating, diving and not very good swimming. No trauma but also not a good swimmer.
Learning to breathe through the nose made a big difference – I finally could learn how to swim without breathing in water and gliding through the water that way is very enjoyable.
I love this Suzanne. Whilst I don’t swim, Rebecca’s article and your comment is very, very inspiring. What I also get is the rhythm. There is something beautiful about breathing gently through our nose even out of the pool. Whenever I have been deeply committed to staying with my breath there is an openness and connection internally to my body and I just glide as I walk feeling very focused and strong.
What you say here is great, Shevon. I don’t swim but am now feeling that my equivalent to swimming is walking. Breathing gently through my nose and choosing to be aware of how I hold my body and place my feet on the ground feels lovely, and I agree, it feels like gliding. Walking in this ways feels empowering and fills me with a sense of joy, and if I remain open to someone walking towards me, I am sure they feel this too.
At one time Suzanne I aimed to swim faster. Now I choose the slow lane, no longer in a hurry to complete laps. As you say when focused on gentle breathing and stroke rhythm there is no trying to get there, I’m just enjoying the feeling of being in water.
Yes Kehinde, I too used to rush to get to the other end of the pool. I used to go with the purpose of exercising and completing as many laps as possible. Now I take my time and actually enjoy the sensation of being in the water. My experience is now much more pleasurable and I still get my exercise but without the stress.
Thanks Kehinde, this is pure joy to read about your experiences. It inspires me. I love to have joy and fun with swimming and to feel comfortable in the water.
When I was a child I used to love going to the beach. I was always the first one in the sea and the last one out. I loved to bob up and down in the waves and it felt lovely and supportive, and swimming through them felt like flying, taking the weight out of my body so I could just let go and float looking up at the sky.
I’m inspired too Monika. To make changes that now make you feel so comfortable in the water is wonderful to read and makes me want to get back and start enjoying the beach once again.
Love what you have written here Suzanne about breathing through your nose while swimming: ‘I swam much slower but without a doubt my entire body was getting a deeper workout, as each muscle was felt and considered. I wouldn’t win any races, but what I was getting instead was much, much more.’ Now that is really something!
Its great to feel that you can give your body a deeper workout by not pushing for faster and harder, but considering each muscle and how it feels as we move. Great article.
Honouring our bodies in every movement is true movement, one that our bodies say yes to, without the pushing or driving ‘through the pain’ or wanting to achieve a goal or reach a target.
I can very much relate Suzanne, swimming became for a while something I identified with – being able to get in the pool and swim faster or as fast as the other people there, pushing my body because it was ‘exercise’. But now although I can still get some speed up and sometimes catch myself pushing, I have begun for the first time to actually consider a rhythm to my breathing, rather than breathing only when I feel like I’m about to drown, actually breathing every 3/4 strokes. It changes the whole way I swim and like you said, its so much more beneficial.
Amazing to hear about Simone Benhayon’s teaching techniques transforming swimming for people who are already advanced swimmers – thank you, Suzanne.
Gosh, how beautiful Suzanne and so inspiring!
You share a very descriptive and quite inspiring experience of swimming Suzanne. I am sure many people would love to achieve a deeper workout without the pain of striving to finish or pushing through the pain. Perhaps there is a lot to be said for this way of exercise and nose breathing, where the focus is on the quality of the movement and a heightened awareness of how the body feels and moves every step or stroke of the way.
I have also learnt the technique of breathing through my nose from Simone Benhayon. I have always been a good swimmer, but now I am a more relaxed swimmer and have so much fun in the water. Breathing through my nose is natural. It makes sense really because that is how we normally breathe. When I swam breathing through my mouth I always felt a little panicked and that I was gasping for air and rushing to get my head back out of the water. Now I glide and take my time. My whole experience of swimming has changed.