There is one quiet place in the city. One quiet place that you can forget your thoughts and leave all the baggage behind. One quiet place there are no phones, no technology, and no work that need to be done. One quiet place that people can’t reach you and you don’t feel the urge to reach people, too.
And that place is underwater.
This morning, I grabbed a quick breakfast, did a new meditation session, then headed to the swimming pool near my house. The meditation was not as good as usual since I was getting distracted. I failed to stop thinking.
But when I left my stuff on the dock at the swimming pool and plunged myself into the water, all of these thoughts and feelings…they just magically disappeared.
What was on my mind as this happened? It was…nothing.
I spent half the time doing breaststroke pull, and the latter with freestyle stroke. Whenever I needed a break, I switched to backstroke and enjoyed the blue sky outside the rooftop window above.
There was not a thought to consider, nor a thing to worry about.
I couldn’t speak to people in the water. I couldn’t listen to music. I couldn’t notice what swimmers in other lanes were doing. I couldn’t think or do anything outside of the prescribed motions of swimming.
My phone was out of reach. I was not getting distracted by any technology stuff nearby.
I just focused on each stroke. Counting the number of laps per length, noticing its rhythm, keeping it adequate. Noticing the feeling of the wetness on my skin. Listening to the sound when my arms tapped into the water. Feeling the pressure in my ears as my head goes up and down to breathe. I felt my full-body sensation when I was moving through water.
“I’m not just existing. I’m…alive!”
I was entirely present in the moment I swim. This was exactly what the term ‘living in the moment’ saying. There was just me, the sounds of swimming— and the sexiness of turning off my brain quieted for once.
Back to this morning, by the time I had turned back and pulled myself out of the water, I was both exhausted and energized.
When I focused on JUST swimming, I gave my brain more space by stepping away from the daily grind and doing nothing. My mind was clear, my body was activated and I was ready for whatever would come next.
In other words, I was experiencing all the benefits of being healthy and mindful — at the same time. It just also happened when I finished a good meditation session and completed a long and exciting walk in the morning.
Swimming worked for me, and I hope it can work for you, too.
Many aspects of our lives are performed for someone else.
At work, I’m performing for my company. When I go out with friends, I adjust my behaviors, my language, my stories for the type of friends I’m hanging out with. And sometimes, it’s not the behavior that reflects myself, the language I usually speak or the story I want to talk about.
Sometimes, I just want to be selfish. Selfish with my own time, energy and attention. Sometimes, I just want to be in a different place from anyone else. Sometimes, I need a private space like that.
And I find the privacy when I swim.
I don’t know anyone at the pool. I’m unrecognizable in my blue swim cap, purple goggles, stripe swimsuit. Just like anyone else here — I only focus on swimming. I’m an anonymous swimmer, one among many. No one bothers me. I swim for only myself.
Breathing in, breathing out, swimming backward and forward, water in my ears and mouth and nose. It should feel smothering, but instead, I feel uplifted. I swim because I’m good at it, because it soothes me, because my soul belongs to the underwater.
