by Josephine Bell, Personal Assistant, Pottsville
I’ve been staying in a hotel for about a week. Above us is an elegant rooftop swimming pool with spa and sauna facilities. Early yesterday morning I found myself feeling that a swim would be nice. It’s something I very seldom do, but this time I had even packed a pair of goggles as well as my bathers, so I was well prepared and had everything I needed for an enjoyable experience.
It felt very lovely to be swimming in the dawn’s early light above the city and to watch the skyscape change at that special morning time. But it felt even more lovely to be with myself in the pool as I experimented with some simple exercises I had learned from Simone Benhayon an international swimming instructor. As I was playing with breathing through my nose and keeping my head under the water I could feel various tensions in my body and then a melting away of a feeling of driven-ness, of moving forward, which allowed me to feel my body more deeply. But more than that, I could feel the innate joy and playfulness of just being me in my body in the water. This took me back to being a child and how I used to play for hours in various friends’ swimming pools, and the simple delight of it.
I contemplated the fact that over the years I had lost much of the joy of simply swimming, of just feeling the grace of my body in the water, and had therefore stopped doing it very often. Even when I did get into the water and swim, it had become overlaid with the sense of being another thing “to do” because it was good for me, or needed the exercise, or to be more toned, or whatever mental construct was running at the time! I could feel the mental driven-ness of that approach, its narrowness and constriction, and how that way had actually become the norm in so many areas of my life – not overtly perhaps, but it was there in the background all the same. It was a beautiful moment to fully feel just how much this way of living had closed me down to the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body. In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.
As I felt all of this and how the beauty of my own symphony was beginning to emerge once again, I also felt a deep gratitude to Universal Medicine (UniMed), Serge Benhayon, and the many UniMed practitioners who have helped and inspired me to start to open those doors in myself that had long been closed and thus find myself, after so many years, inspired to take a delicious dive in a pool on a rooftop in Sydney.
I have never been the biggest fan of swimming. Not because I didn’t like it, but because my ears did not cope with the water going into them but, also the strength water has when it’s in large quantities. Not learning to swim from a young age didn’t help either. I hated swimming sessions and a couple of times I nearly drowned.
I however appreciate the support water has on our bodies when we respect the water. Just recently I went to the pool for rehab, to nurture a sore back and the ability to perform a range of exercises and stretches I am dubious about doing on dry land. It was super supportive. Whilst there I observed the children, playing jumping and having fun. It was an outdoor pool, and the sun was shining. It sure was joyful to be with them. They bought the lightheartedness to how water can be fun, it was beautiful to be a part of.
Water can be fun, it’s how we perceive it that makes the difference. Like anything on this planet, it is something that needs to be respected.
‘the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body’… that is a stunner of a quote to connect to and realise is the truth of our every moment.
Spot on Richard, the way Josephine has shared this piece of writing allows us to feel all she felt too in the process of the swim and how transformative this was and is.
The drive to do things can easily take over if we switch off our sensitivity and the communications of the body.
Spot on!..Drive stops you from many things and the body cannot be heard. Until it speaks so loud you have no choice but to take heed to its calling…
It is so easy to get caught up in the list of chores, the next thing to do or get done and loose sight of the importance of just being and allowing the body and the bubbling joy inside to be free to express.
Those moments of having nothing being asked of us and us simply being free to feel ourselves and all that that entails is like magic, like a gift so precious and beautiful. It helps us to re-ignite our relationship with self, and that is worth so much more than Gold.
“It was a beautiful moment to fully feel just how much this way of living had closed me down to the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body.” It’s a great inventory to take to look at the lack of richness our lives have because of imposing belief systems such as placing what needs to be done before ourselves. As we age we tend to lose the sense of our preciousness and the joy of life, life can become very heavy and focused on doing and surviving.
How lovely to reconnect to that innocent joy of childhood where we could play for hours and be ourselves. Unfortunately all this gets left behind as we grow up and we step onto the tread mill of what we call life which to me feel like an existence. This is not how life is meant to be but we have reduced and diminished ourselves so much that we except it. It reminds me of Elephants in captivity they have been so conditioned since birth to behave in a certain way that when they are grown up in spite of their huge strength they do not stray from the posts they were tied up to since young.
How lovely to feel the joy and playfulness that is always inside, ‘I could feel the innate joy and playfulness of just being me in my body in the water.’
We have lost the joy of simply being. Watching children they experience so much of the world and their daily tasks with wonder and joy, they are in the beauty of themselves and they bring that in full expression to everything, even tying their shoelaces is an expression of the joy they are! It is a great conversation and something to explore more fully – our joy (or lack thereof) in life.
Allowing wonder and joy to infuse our every day activities, mundane as we may consider them to be, changes everything.
This is a great nomination, I certainly can relate to parts of what you share, as I am sure many more people can, ‘ Even when I did get into the water and swim, it had become overlaid with the sense of being another thing “to do” because it was good for me, or needed the exercise, or to be more toned, or whatever mental construct was running at the time! I could feel the mental driven-ness of that approach, its narrowness and constriction, and how that way had actually become the norm in so many areas of my life – not overtly perhaps, but it was there in the background all the same.’
As we learn to negotiate our movement in life, we seem to lose that sense of innate joy that needs nothing, and we are having to be entertained and stimulated to think that we are enjoying ourselves.
Yes that first swim – well actually any swim – can tell us so much about ourselves – a beautiful way to get to know ourselves and understand what is happening for us..
The more I live in connection to and as such led by the wisdom of my body the more I am inspired by the richness of life that is possible to live and the always deepening depth of divinity we can connect to and bring to life.
No matter how we get there, the joy of feeling oneself is incommensurate, particularly when this helps us to connect to the depth of our being.
I am learning that how I am in water is no different to how I am out of water, in water we can more easily see the ripple effects of how we move and the way we move. I am learning how even before I move the energy I am choosing is reaching out before me. And this to me is joining the dots of life because we can feel for example when someone is sad or angry that energy is felt, they don’t have to say anything. So for me it’s to rely more on what I’m feeling/ sensing rather than the person standing in front of me.
Bringing it back to energy all the time, and what we sense and feel makes sense.
Before I met Simone Benhayon and had a swimming session with her I would never have imagined what swimming was like without the stress, nervous energy, and survival approach I had up until only known.
Beautifully shared Joshua – and the scary thing is that we get to feel how symbolic this is to the way that we live life in general.
I have been living in a different country for over a year now and haven’t got back into a regular rhythm of swimming every week like I did in the UK, so reading this blog today is very timely as I had been thinking about going again – I have access to a local therapy pool as long as I book and go with a buddy, so it will be warm and quiet and just perfect. I just have to make the effort to check with a friend when they’d like to go and then make the call to book. There are other swim centres nearby where one can just turn up in the early morning and swim, but I haven’t got to know them yet or built it into my rhythm.
Simone Benhayon is amazing when it comes to swimming. Not only for survival (not drowning) or fitness but showing how we are in the pool reflects how we live everyday life. This awareness makes each swim so different and brings a lot of understanding. Theres a lot of joy swimming this way.
Theres a lovely sense of freedom and naturalness here, thank you Josephine
I swam a lot as a child as we were living in a hot country and it was a great way to keep cool. We played a lot, diving under each others’ legs, diving for stones or paddling about on a big rubber inner tyre. As an adult I used to swim lengths, they were my keeping fit and ‘thinking’ time but as an older person, I now once again enjoy swimming for pleasure, especially if the water is warm, just moving gently, breathing gently and not feeling I have to swim loads of lengths, just enjoying the feel of my body moving through the water.
“It was a beautiful moment to fully feel just how much this way of living had closed me down to the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body. In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.” Ah pure exquisiteness. Through your expression I can connect to the symphony within me. The power of reflection is felt across the world and through time and space.
Its so great to open up to swimming again and to actually find out that there is another way of swimming, not just surviving through the water (keep yourself up in the water), as this is what I have been taught since very young. Hence, even though I enjoyed the water surprisingly as a playfulness came alive in me and loving the feeling of water around my body, there was always an fear of swimming in the deep, where I could not stand. The water sessions I have had with Simone Benhayon, have changed my relationship with swimming immensely in a very good way, and supported me to actually start swimming from a joy, instead of a fear or trouble – with connection to my breath and body first. The sessions gave me a deeper understanding of myself and trust that I can actually swim and experience joy!
Pool sessions with Simone Benhayon are amazing. Swimming is a metaphor for life, Swimming shows me exactly how I’ve been living – in detail – no hiding!
Coming back to this blog I am reminded of the exquisite feeling being in the water can offer us, my experience of swimming changed profoundly after having swim sessions with Simone Benhayon, her lessons are deeply powerful.
Swimming gives us a very tangible feeling of how moving forward with ourselves could feel in the body.
Recently I was in a swimming pool for the first time in more than 20 years, and what came to me very strongly was how being in the water magnified the otherwise overlooked habitual movement I execute with my body. There were very different qualities in both sides of my body and each had different ways of coming up with a management strategy, and the more I noticed, the more awkward and clumsy the movement seemed to become. I felt rather exposed by that. It felt like I was re-learning to allow myself to be supported by what is already supporting me.
Just like appreciating the flow of our body as we swim how often do we attend to our responsibilities in life enjoying the whole process from start to finish rather than just focusing on the end result.
I have never enjoyed swimming primarily because of a very unpleasant introduction to swimming lessons when I was told by the instructor to jump in the water and swim to the pole he held just out of reach in front of me. It was ‘sink or swim’ – I sank and my father actually jumped in to get me out. Having lessons with Simone Benhayon and my whole relationship with being in water has completely changed to one of constant learning.
I love how you appreciated the swim and totally connected with your body and what was going on around you. Those times of being in a pool at early dawn is very magical. The world is resting and it allows you to simply observe what is happening.
“the symphony of me swimming through life.” I can feel the harmony of your movements through the rhythm of your words.
I have always loved the water and swimming and to be able to feel the weightlessness of our bodies and the flow and ripples of the water is beautiful and reminds me of the rhythm and flow of our movements too.
I can relate very much to what you describe here Josephine. When I was young I loved playing in the water in the front of our house so I was already able to swim before I was going to the school swimming classes which were organised in primary school. Later on I also joined a swimming club and entered into the world of swimming games and waterpolo. At the end I can now feel I was so far away from the joy I had with swimming as a little child because of all the impositions that were put on swimming because there was an outcome required, be it a swimming diploma, a golden medal, my best time ever or the winning of a waterpolo game.
This is so true and I know swimming as well as life became all a bit seriously rigid. The pool and the swimming is a great marker for how we are in life and you can’t ignore the ripples in the pool. I remember growing up how the pool was for me and it was a lot of fun and then how when I grew up it became more of a thing I had to have a reason to do. The pool, when I am in there now is a fun reflection to what’s going on everywhere else and visa versa.
Beautiful to feel in flow with the rhythm of our bodies… in and out of the pool. Lovely.
It’s a gorgeous metaphor as we are constantly swimming through life – in and out of the water. The pool is energy and how we move makes our life the way it is – same as how we move in a swimming pool makes the ripples and swirls of the water – essentially setting the environment we live and swim in.
I couldn’t agree more, swimming is an exquisite way of spending some time connecting within and flowing in the water.
Sure it is Heather. whenever I have time to swim I am really enjoying it with whole my body as I then can feel more clearly how joyful, gentle and delighted my body actually is.
I totally agree, Heather. However, I never knew or appreciated this until I had water sessions with Simone Benhayon.
Beautiful – inspired by the works of Serge Benhayon.. Including a beautiful swim teacher that is evolutionary in the way she teaches swimming – fearless based.
Thst is extraordonairy and super needed.
It is a sad fact that we as a society have settled for and accepted a way of being that is far from our true and natural way. That we have even forgotten what our natural way is, highlights just how far we away we have wandered as a civilisation so that varying degrees of abuse is now considered a ‘normal’ for us. Thank you Josephine for all you have shared, as with you and as you say here ‘…the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body’, is a quality for us all to realise is our true and natural way of being.
We can easily turn the most enjoyable things into another part of our driven to-do list. The more we appreciate, care and nurture our body, and put quality first, the more we enjoy being in life and doing whatever is there to do next. What’s becoming clear is that fighting against life, fighting myself, is an exhausting and draining way to live.
Great read Josephine and very inspiring to just be ourselves with no need to complete any laps in any time frame, but to enjoy being in the water and take note of what is being reflected to us, about how we are living.
Ah yes – we either swim in harmony with the great flow of life or we thrash against it. And thus the way we move will determine whether we get waterlogged or not.
“In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.” This is something that is easy to do when we disconnect to the wisdom within our bodies that allows us to be in the flow of life and instead meet life through the ideals and belief from the mind.
Thank you Josephine – the wonders of swimming through life and what we miss when we do not ! What a wonderful way of allowing oneself to feel , when swimming or on land, and observe how we move through life and what are we using to keep us going or succeed, and if that quality of drive is either supporting us to flow through life or build stagnation. A beautiful way of feedback we can give ourselves, even if it is uncomfortable, as we are offered if needed a change. By being aware – choosing to be aware, we can start to see and choose differently in life and recognize things that do not longer work.
‘…it had become overlaid with the sense of being another thing “to do” because it was good for me, or needed the exercise, or to be more toned, or whatever mental construct was running at the time!’
Ah Josephine, I so hear you! What you’ve expressed here feels like a big part of my life – the mental overlay I’ve placed on just about everything I do. I love the feeling of freedom you found in being, not doing; feeling your body, the simplicity of the swim and the enjoying the gorgeous location and early morning sky.
Isn’t it interesting how when we grow we complicate everything.
What a most beautiful and revealing moment in time for you Josephine; a moment to treasure when you “felt the beauty of my own symphony was beginning to emerge once again”. I can feel you swimming in tune and in joy with the water.
A very stilling read, a bit like I’m in the pool with you, I love how you surrendered and just allowed yourself to feel and observe, ‘I could feel various tensions in my body and then a melting away of a feeling of driven-ness, of moving forward, which allowed me to feel my body more deeply.’
What is so special about what you share here Josephine is that you allowed yourself to feel all that what you felt, and simply observed, and the deep gratitude you felt what had all been given to you. It is such a stark contrast to the always critical and striving for more and better mindset that is so prevalent in this world. No need for that – but simply a surrendering to what is there.
Inspiring to read Josephine, and yes it is common for people to run their lives with ‘I could feel the mental driven-ness of that approach, its narrowness and constriction, and how that way had actually become the norm in so many areas of my life’. Great to be aware of this, at every level, then we have a choice to let it go and not run our lives, as you did.
There is something about going for a swim and doing laps — It is a whole body experience and especially breathing through your nose that supports your connection to your body as taught by Simone Benhayon.
Ah, this was lovely to read Josephine. How important it is to enjoy the simplicity of being with yourself in the moment, what ever you are doing.
It is lovely to follow what our body tells us Josephine, what you’ve share really confirms this and then inspiring us through your beautiful blog.
There is so much to appreciate in the simplest moments in our lives isn’t there? They rarely involve accolades, awards, praise from others, cameras, recognition. Mostly they are moments of real connection and heartfelt joy, harmony, love, stillness and truth. What you share here is one of those moments – wonderful thank you.
Simply being with my body as it takes the lead and moves is so delicious and enjoyable. It vanishes all the complication I could and would indulge myself in otherwise.
To simple be and enjoy the movements of our body is extraordinary and yet something so natural to us. It is a blessing and very freeing when we allow ourselves to come back to this way of being and live it every day more.
It seems there are many simple joys in life that we rush past in our pursuit of happiness, or security, or recognition or approval. Is it worth the trade off I ask myself?
That was beautiful Josephine, it gave me a moment to feel the space that resides within. When this space is felt, we feel the enormity of who we are, and as you shared how small our world becomes when this enormity is not lived.
How beautiful… the symphony of swimming, and it can be like that can’t it …. So graceful and fluid and harmonious, like being held in a wonderful consciousness.
There is a way to move through life where we are not affected by the hum and buzz around us. It requires us to connect to the innate pool of stillness deep within us and allow our movements to be guided from this. This helps us to observe life and not absorb it. A stark contrast to this is the alternative way that has sadly become the norm whereby we harden our bodies and let the mind drive our physical vehicle in such a way that we become a part of the cacophony of life and not the symphony we in-truth are when we allow ourselves to sound our true note through such true movement.
Yes, since I had a session with Simone I have begun to see swimming very differently. There’s something magical about water, and when we surrender in water we can defiantly feel a lot more.
I am not great at swimming but I realised when I surrender it is very difficult to sink under water. Our body naturally wants to float unless we choose to tense up or harden our body.
A beautiful read, I can relate to what you share about swimming becoming another thing to do, when in truth swimming is a moment to reflect and be joyful in life. Moments to truly enjoy the flow of water and flow of life in just allowing, no doing.
I, along with 9 others, had a whole day in the swimming pool with Simone Benhayon – Boy oh boy was it revolutionary! What was taught goes way beyond form and technique, focusing on how we move with our bodies in every moment.
It is deeply beautiful when you can reimprint something that you have always done with a new way of being with it, due to the deep connection you have now developed with you. Thanks to Simone, I too have realized the power of water and the lessons or delight on offer within it.
It is beautiful to read this again Josephine and reflect on how empty it feels to be driven by a concept of the mind, an ideal or belief, thinking we have to do something a certain way to achieve a certain result that gives us recognition of some sort. Yet all the while we forgo a far deeper and greater wisdom that knows what is needed and is awaiting to guide us, in honor of the oneness that we are and belong to. This is the deliciousness of our connection to ourselves, one that we can choose to live with through whatever it is we do.
I love swimming, being in water, exercising in water and yet I very rarely do it. I don’t like being in swimmers and I don’t like being cold… bit of a problem! But your blog has inspired me to approach it differently and I can feel how much I could approach this differently, not out of need but simply because it would be fun again!
Its remarkable when we return to an activity that supports us and we realise that we had stopped doing the activity or removed the quality in the movement, making it less than it could be. I find this occurs for me many times, I return to doing something just for fun and how good that feels and realise I had disconnected from letting myself feel how good it is. Perhaps with exercise this relates to how conditioned we have been to make exercise a doing before it is the being that makes it so enjoyable.
I love how great a reflection swimming or even just gliding or walking through water can give us of how we have been living!
I love swimming and gliding through the water. I find that it is an incredibly effective way to be playful with myself. However, I also know how easy it can be to go into drive to get to the other end etc.. But the moment I let that go and just allow myself to be, all the tension in my body drops and when this happens I feel incredibly held.
The other day I was in the pool and I felt how I made swimming about prooving how far I could swim and breath through my nose, it was not playful at all.I knew I could choose differently and I did. Just like you Josephine I enjoyed my body and the silkiness of the water, the ripples and how I could glide under water. And I remembered that as a child I loved to be under water, like being in Heaven.
I loved being in water as a child before it became all about swimming and survival, then I wanted to avoid it at all costs. I feared swimming lessons and being pushed and prodded to move along, even though I felt like I could never breathe and I was sinking. The fun and joy of just being in that quiet weightlessness was far from me, yet, Simone Benhayon supported me to get back to that feeling in the water and to feel and listen to the instant communication coming back to me from my every stroke and movement.
Allowing ourselves the pleasure of a thing we love but held back from is truly healing, letting go of the mental constructs surrounding it.
Dear Josephine,
Thank you. I am not one to swim, but I too feel the joy of the symphony of life. There was a time where I would have looked at you with a lost look on my face if you had mentioned symphony and life in the same sentence! Now though I feel the truth of symphony in life, in fact it is a joy to feel and to live by. Is it always easy? No, it is not easy to feel what my body holds from the years of living that were without symphony. Yes it is the most beautiful feeling in the world, to stay with myself as I feel what I do, knowing that the beauty and warmth inside me is me.
That is such a great analogy, swimming through life, it really illustrates the flow we can be in and the grace of our movements. Because, effectively, we are in a soup of energy with space being our water, so every movement is a ripple and is felt by all. We are in it all the time! So… are we in the joy of swimming through life or the struggle?
Every time I read this blog I really want to jump in the pool!
I love this line “In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.” Very beautifully expressed.
There’s something about swimming… it’s like it magnifies how we are feeling. When we feel joy and playful it is absolutely amazing to be in water
Thank you Josephine for sharing your beautiful rooftop swim with us, I remember floating in the water with its ebb and flow moving my body and feeling the joy of being held in weightlessness. A beautiful surrender.
What a beautiful reminder that all we have to do is being with ourselves – with that everything is joyful and full of purpose.
I had always loved playing with the feeling that I have had while in the water and maybe it is because the thing I miss the most is being weightless?
Awesome sharing and that conclusion you came to Josephine about “the symphony of me swimming through life.” is very appropriate and relatable. Water surrounding us and feeling holding of our presence in it, brings that joy of lightness and expansion as we were when children. Is there a reason this needs to shut down in adult life? Only as you state because we take on the heaviness of expectations and react to the feeling of pressures imposing on us instead of remaining complete in who we are and appreciating our own symphony as we swim through life.
What Simone Benhayon teaches in (and outside of) the swimming pool is ABSOLUTE GOLD
“I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life”. What a most beautiful realisation Josephine, and as I read it I could feel how I too had been dis-connected from my divine inner “symphony” for way too long. I just love how particular, and often unexpected moments in time, can bring us such life changing and joy-filled messages.
Movement for movement’s sake. In that is revelation, for if you stop and think about it, what makes one movement enjoyable and not another. You lift a fishing rod and it is joyous. You lift a crowbar and it feels like work. That sounds like common sense. However, if you learn to appreciate movement for the joy of the movement alone, you start to realise that there is no difference for example between work and play, or one activity and another. It is all the same.
I love what you shared here Adam, and how it brings to light just how ridiculous it is to actually judge one movement as more enjoyable than another. When I have begun to focus on making all my movements gentle and felt how flowing and spacious this can feel (Esoteric Connective Tissue exercises have really helped with this as taught by Kate Greenaway) I am slowly feeling just how beautiful it is to be with our body in all our daily movements.
What also rings out loud and clear throughout your words and as symbolised by the pool – is appreciation. Appreciation that no matter where we are nor what our age, we are all the children of God, held by his majesty and learning to swim all over again.
How precious is the time that I have from being playful and feeling the joy of connecting to my soul.
There is something very womb-like about being submerged in water; the stillness, the quietness, the harmony, the symphony – yet even this we have turned into a ‘push’ activity where we let the mind drive us instead of the body guiding us. Your experience feels like a moment of grace in which to feel the playfulness and openness we all had as children that still lives deep within us all, just waiting for a pause in the giddy momentum that so drives us, so that it can bubble up to the surface and be felt once again. I was right there with you Josephine, playing like a child in a pool on the rooftop in a Sydney hotel sitting right here at my computer.
I love how getting into a pool offers me a reflection of how my life is going at that moment – and the ripples that spread out are so visible in a pool. Yet in life outside of the pool we can also choose to feel the ripples we spread out and those coming back to us from others.
I am just starting to understand and feel how exercise does not have to be a chore, a ‘must do’ or something to be avoided at all cost. This too is thanks to a Universal Medicine practitioner who in just one session supported me to feel that exercise is a really amazing opportunity for connection with myself. For me it also felt like a union with God. This has changed everything for me and I now look forward to my exercise every day. That’s pretty amazing I can assure you!
It is lovely to let go of our ‘driven-ness’, because when we do , we can start to re-connect to the graceful and delicate us that is always there within, simply waiting for us,
An inspiring read that makes me want to get back in the pool!
I lived in the Caribbean andat the end of a jetty that was a stretch of water that was like a swimming pool. The water was so warm that my body was at ease. I have fond memories of being in the water and simply playing. I would move my body in all kinds of glorious ways simply enjoying how it felt to move. It was pure joy.
Thank you Josephine for sharing your swimming experience, it reminded me of the times I lay in the water when the ocean was calm, feeling the gentle swell rocked my body gently back and forth, I was in the gentle flow of life being upheld by the ocean. isn’t this how our lives could be, gently upheld by the flow of love within and without and all around us.
Simone Benhayon is an inspirational teacher of swimming and of life, as she manages to bring the two together so beautifully. From the simple techniques that she has shared with me, there is now no difference between swimming in the pool and walking on the ground, mainly because the responsibility is the same, as in both cases we are always leaving an energetic imprint behind for others to walk or swim through. This is a vital key in life and when even just started to be lived, can deeply transform one’s perspective and understanding.
A great reflection of how we swim through life either with a drive to get ‘things’ done or to feel the movements of our body in everything we do.
I LOVE swimming too – not just because it feels amazing to glide through water, but also because overtime I swim I learn something new about myself and about how I’m going in life.
Thank you for this delicious dive in the pool Josephine without any agenda other than the purpose of enjoying yourself in full.
This also reminds me of being a child and the countless hours spent in the pool – just swimming and playing without an agenda or drive. Hmm… perhaps time to consider doing some more swimming again!
Josephine, great to hear the reversal, or the return to swimming for the joy of it as apposed to the doing of it. This caused me to reflect in the many things that are a part of our lives that have gone to the doing and has lost its joy. Thank you Josephine this a great reflection.
Thank you Josephine what a beautiful reminder to simply be and enjoy the moment.
ha ha I was just laughing at myself as I read my comment, because I have a tendency to do things for so called beneficial reasons as you have described and I absurdly imagined myself to covert simply being into “doing” simply being because that would be beneficial!
I can relate to the idea that the simple joys of just being in the moment slowly dissipate as we age.
But is this a normal sign of ageing? (I think not!)
We get caught in the mundaneness of life and the simple joyful nature that was once default becomes a conscious task to connect to.
Why is this?
Maybe now isn’t the time to answer that question however the value in committing to that has its rewards as this blog beautifully expresses.
I love to swim and I love the joy of making my stroke in the water effortless and not splashy. It is only recently I have started to really get how much swimming can be a reflection of life. How each aspect of my stroke reflects how I have chosen to live. I also love the idea that how I swim could be considered similar to how I interact with others, am I creating a big wave for others to have to swim through or am I moving in gentle ripples for others to enjoy.
I love the reflection being in water brings. Sometimes I find after being in the water for a while and feeling my body, releasing tension, and feeling the weightlessness that can be felt in water, when I get out I am very aware of a heaviness swishing down on my body, like I am feeling all that has been weighing me down prior to being in the pool. After a while it settles, like it has cleared, because of the letting go I was prepared to do whilst in the water. Being in water for me is very healing.
Josephine your writing is truly lovely, I would like to read more from you please! I can very much relate to what you have shared about how we turn life into a series of “must do’s” effectively draining the joy out of simple pleasures like swimming. It’s also been a long time since I have swam or done anything with my body for no other reason other than because it feels delightful. What beautiful inspiration to return to enjoying life as we did as children, thankyou.
We all have a graceful and extraordinary symphony that is our life, and together we are apart of an wonderful orchestra of love.
It’s unpleasant to realise just how driven I have been in my swimming of the past, using my body as a machine, up and down the pool, with a target number of lengths in mind before I’ve even begun and completely missing the opportunity to simply feel the grace of my own body in the water. Thank you for the inspiration to experiment and enjoy that ‘depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body’ next time I go for a swim.
Josephine thank you for sharing how you simply enjoyed being with yourself whilst being in the pool, it is beautiful when we take the time to connect to ourselves and feel what is going on with our body.
I enjoy swimming but would not would be classed as a good swimmer. Still I have always found the steady rhythm of the strokes and the feel of my body moving through the water to be very calming. What I have noticed over the past 12 months is that my swimming has slowed down more as I take my time to enjoy the process rather than rushing through it so that I can move onto the next thing I have to do in my day. I find that on the days I have swum, my body is more fluid in the way I move. Swimming definitely works for me in terms of enjoyment and in supporting me to learn to pay more attention to the messages from my body.
This is lovely to read Josephine. I’ve always been a water baby and never been one to do laps but always enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness and support for the body that being in the water offers.
“The symphony of swimming through life” what a glorious description of the grace and ease we can choose in the way move through our life, knowing the wonderful loving ripples we are leaving in our wake.
Swimming now for me feels extremely graceful… I love the whole package and swim every day where possible… sometimes one facet really stands out, like today the gentle stream of bubbles leaving my nose underwater and the sounds that this makes, and the rhythm it creates.
I was there in the pool with you Josephine. It is a joy and playful time to be with ourselves as the water gently keeps us afloat. To connect to our bodies as it gently starts to let go of held tensions. Swimming gently through life – there feels a flow to that.
Gorgeous Josephine. I can see that we take all of the joy and loveliness out of life when we choose the narrow focus of a mental construct. How beautiful it must feel to enjoy the swim through life. This inspires me to be more aware of why and how I choose to do things.
Yes that is beautiful Josephine. It is when we loose touch with ourselves that life can become so very much just about doing and there is no joy in that! I found this very much last year in my whole life, everything got done yet I felt exhausted and not really myself. Now I am bringing in more of me in what I do and feeling how much I enjoy doing every thing I am doing.
Thank you Josephine I can really relate to having ‘lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life’ and the lightness and joy of that flow. You have inspired me to let go of the mental driven-ness of getting things achieved on my ‘to do list’ and rediscover the simple pleasure of me being in my body.
‘It was a beautiful moment to fully feel just how much this way of living had closed me down to the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body. In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.’ Beautiful and inspiring to read Josephine. It is about time for me to make some space for a swim.
Loved hearing about your experiences of swimming and how simple techniques are very supportive for our physical health.
A beautiful sharing Josephine on the joy of swimming, I also enjoy swimming and am learning to explore my body in the water rather than feel a need to exercise or push myself – a feeling of grace and an opportunity for my body to completely surrender.
Thanks again Josephine for this beautiful blog about the exquisite depth of grace and beauty found in self connection, self appreciation and self expression.
I had a session with Simone myself too which also helped expose and understand how much the way we swim and are in the water is related to how we are in life. It is almost like the way most of us learn to swim is a bit like how we learn to live in life – which is aimed at survival and not simply living openly, freely and full of joy that it could otherwise naturally be.
That sounds lovely Josephine. To be feeling so free while swimming in that pool would have been an amazing experience. I had a small swim yesterday and could start to feel how beautifully simple the water was and how beautifully simple I can be too.
Thank you for sharing the exquisiteness of your connection to ‘the depth and richness of life pulsing within’ your body Josephine. When we actually stop and connect to our quality of grace in our bodies, the love we are magnifies naturally through all that we do, from All that we are.
“It was a beautiful moment to fully feel just how much this way of living had closed me down to the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body. In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life”.
What you have expressed here Josephine is really beautiful and profoundly wise.
The joy is rediscovering life pulsing within you is awesome, hang on to it!
Your blog has made me reflect that, as with swimming, many have lost much of the joy of life, of just feeling the grace of the body, because we believe we should be doing something with it rather than enjoying the being in it.
Josephine, your writing really inspires me. I always loved water and enjoyed swimming. But over the years it was not for just fun anymore but, as you said, for a purpose of fitness, firmness…. I swam laps in olympic pools and it was more a chore.
I did not go for nearly 2 years now but really miss the water. You inspired me to go and have fun and be with my body, swimming, playing in the water again. I also had a couple of swimming lessons with Simone Benhayon where I learned to breathe through my mouth which felt great. No grasping for air or overdoing it. Now that I live close to a heated pool I look forward to some swimming fun.
In the past I’ve just got in the pool and swam my lengths with no moments to feel into my body what I was doing. Other than making sure I did not swallow too much water. As you share Josephine it felt more like an exercise regime or a routine that was good for my health. Even having just a couple of swimming sessions with Simone Benhayon this all changed. My body responded in similar ways to the Gentle Breath Meditation as presented by Serge Benhayon. Listening to my body, the movements and in particular the way that I breathed through my nose and not my mouth I could feel the whole of my body. My rhythm changed from fast inconsistency to constant gentle movements, this felt like a complete work out without the pushing or striving. All of my body was involved in this activity, and that busy brain was not fixating on taking me away from those playful moments in the pool.
I can so relate Josephine, I sometimes go to the pool and just play, my head then tends to come in, commenting that this is not proper exercising, however my body feels great afterwards. It is so beneficial to listen to the body and go with its needs and not with what the head thinks should be good for me, which is just picked up and regurgitated knowledge from somewhere.
Josephine your blog has been a great reminder and analogy for me, that as we swim through our daily life, just as we do in water, we can do it with a push and drive for whatever we think is good for us, or swim with the flow, with a grace and a joy that allows ‘the beauty of my own symphony’ to emerge again. Beautiful blog, thank you.
I love swimming and really enjoy playing around in the water, it allows me to connect to my younger days. I used to really struggle to breath in water and after several sessions with Simone and understanding the important of breathing and what it’s reflecting in and out of water, my body just automatically adjusted. If ever I struggle to breath in water now, I just reflect back to how I was living that week to help me understand and as I slowing connect to my gentle breath, my breathing starts to flow.
If ever you get an opportunity to have a swimming session with Simone Benhayon it is worth it. She fosters an appreciation not just for the water but for oneself in the process – truly healing.
I do enjoy swimming, I feel very connected to water and love the natural flow, freedom and grace that can be experienced in the water. Your experience was a joy to read, I could a feel wonderful sense of freedom and appreciation when I read it.
I’ve rediscovered the joy of swimming again, with the help and guidance of Simone Benhayon. For me its the way there are so many different ways to swim to suit how I am feeling: for the exercise, for the connection, for the feeling in the water, for fun… all depending on how I am feeling and what my body is calling for at that moment.
Yes Simonwilliams, Simone Benhayon helped me too, to re-discover my joy of swimming. She taught me a whole different approach and style of swimming, which has been a great tool to observe and discover things about me that I previously was not aware of.
Very beautiful crossover between how we can be in the water, and how we can be in life. We can simply swim in it, or make it a challenge/struggle. You have such a beautiful way of expressing your appreciation, Josephine.
I love this crossover too Fumiyo that Josphine makes between being in the water and being in life….. ‘we can simply swim in it or make it a challenge/struggle’. These days, I prefer to swim, in the water (without any fear) and to swim in life (without any fear).
Josephine your experience takes me back to the joy I also found in taking myself to the local swimming pool as I child. I would spend hours playing tea parties under the water and just floating on the top like a star fish! There was a freedom and pure joy in just being in my body then which is such a lovely reminder that is our natural way in or out of the water.
Yes Sharon, thank you for the reminder. I also loved the water as a child, as does my own children. When we go on holiday to the beach or where there is a body of water we know that the hours will be wiled away joyfully!
the combination of gentleness, feeling my body, feeling a deeper connection with everything around me, has also opened up a lovely connection with the wonderful grace and beauty that can be had simply by swimming.
Doing something just because – with the joy of being me. I could do more of this! Thank you Josephine.
I agree Helen. Me too, I could also do more of that!
I don’t have this relationship with swimming, but feel inspired to give myself space to explore this, thank you Josephine.
I know that ‘drive’ you speak of here, it’s a way of being that I’ve subscribed to for most of my life and yes it really does steal the joy from life and creates a deep level of exhaustion. It’s been so beautiful to begin breaking this momentum and to start to rediscover my true self again.
I love your comment katechorley as I too know that drive. It is one that does indeed ‘steal the joy from life’, driving us further away from living in connection to who we are and All that we are connected to. The richness we feel from our connection to our stillness within is beyond comparison to any of the false riches we drive ourselves to seek from outside. I absolutely agree that it is ‘beautiful to begin breaking this momentum and to start to rediscover my true self again.’
Josephine, I felt I was there with you immersed in the grace and beauty of gods early morning splendour. I felt connected by the same knowing sense of fluidity and loveliness you mentioned. So I ask why I/we would choose anything less than… “the depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body.” Thank you for this gift.
I can picture you swimming under the the dawn sky and feel how beautiful and playful you felt Josephine. Simply delightful.
Returning to the pool after many moons away from it recently – I appreciate so much how the water allows me to feel my self with such clarity. I have always loved the water and really value the opportunity to float and splash with me a couple of times a week.
Another word that always comes to me when describing swimming is support – yes the obvious physical support of my body afloat in the water, but also very definitely support on many other levels. I find it surprising how different I can feel in just a short swim, which always gives me pause to consider what was going on before I got in!
A delight to read your blog Josephine. I recently had a group swim session with Simone that was very exposing in the fear that came up in me, but what this showed me was the fear I still carried in life…and an old belief of mine; ‘ I can’t do life’. During the session, I felt hugely supported and was able to let go and trust, trust that I could breath through my nose underwater, something I had never done before or even put my head under water while swimming, so a biggie for me, just to let go and trust, trust that, ‘I could do this’, and I did, and wow what a positive impact this has had on me in my day to day life, as that old belief no longer holds true!
Thank you Josephine for sharing your experience, I love the water and the feeling of my body being held in weightlessness. I am not a great swimmer but I loved being in the flow of the water as it gently moves my body. Maybe this is like being in the stillness of our souls with its effortless flowing.
Lovely blog Josephine and a wonderful reminder of how easily we can lose touch with the gorgeousness of just being, “In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.”
“the beauty of my own symphony” what a great expression. I don’t swim much but you are definitely laying the foundation for when I next do. Thank you Josephine.
Lovely Josephine your blog is very inspirational for me. You remind me that following the impulse from our body is always a gift.
Following the impulses coming from the body brings deep healing experiences and greater connection to self. Your experience Josephine sounds like it has been one of those, impulsed straight from the soul. Thank you for sharing.
This is beautiful. I love how you expressed the feeling of your connection to you, your breath and life. As when we are in connection with who we are there is a beautiful rhythm and flow with living in this way that does feel truly delicious. Thank you Josephine for this powerful reminder.
I could really relate to this! For me I have lost touch with delight being a good enough reason to enjoy an activity. I have been very caught up in “have to’s” and having a reasoning behind everything – very joyless! I was remembering my own childhood in friends swimming pools and the joy of being with my body and enjoying life to the max. How natural that was, as opposed to the heavy seriousness of needing a purpose, planning, driving and organising life now. When I look back I can feel I have lost that ability to just enjoy being in life and delighting in simple activities.
Sounds so beautiful. I haven’t played around in a pool for years.. maybe it is time!
I agree Kate!
Beautiful writing, Josephine. I can hear the symphony of your body from my place.
Even reading your blog made my body to recall this simple playful experience – being in the sea as a child, silky sensations of the water on the skin of my arms, going under water and feeling how powerful this element is. It brought a broad smile to my face.
“Swimming through my life”- I like it!
Thank you Josephine. I used to approach going to the gym in exactly the same way, seeing it as just another ‘thing’ to do. Being open and aware of what my body needs has changed all that so going to the gym now is so much more joyful because I am going when I want to and not because society says that is what we need.
I never liked swimming nor the water, I always loved the beach and the sun, but the water was only to refresh from the heat.
When I learned swimming with Simone I started to go to the pool at my gym and started an amazing experience of swimming with myself. I also discovered how much avoiding the water was actually avoiding life. I learned to embrace both life and swimming and now it’s a huge marker for me, like now I haven’t gone for a swim in a long time which is actually showing me that I am not fully in my true rhythm of life. Great sharing Josephine!
I can so relate Rachel, both you and Josephine have inspired me to take to the pool and investigate just how I am in the water.
Your blog is a gorgeous reminder of how much I love the beauty of water. Feeling your body within it is a true delight and a powerful way to connect.
I have always loved being in the water, but never really enjoyed the idea of doing laps, perhaps it’s because I am not a strong swimmer, so rarely go swimming. What I can feel with that is the judgment on not being a good swimmer, so I won’t go in the water. What I love about what you have shared Josephine is the joy you are sharing with simply being you in the water and the playfulness this brings. Thank you.
Recently I have been drawn to swimming again. I have always loved the water, but always it has been with a surfboard or spear gun in hand. Recently it has been so freeing to let go of such attachments and enjoy the simplicity of just being in the water with nothing more than myself, knowing that I need no such distractions to enhance the experience.
I can relate to this Adam – in the past my enjoyment of the water has so often centred around some other activity to make the experience more, but then we lose sight of the elegance and simplicity of just being, in the water.
This is why I love the activity of swimming and practising breathing through my nose because I have to become really focussed and it’s not something I can rush either. It slows me down to start bringing more focus to what my body is doing. Sometimes I live my day very rushed and not seeing a point to come out of it when I am supposedly getting so much done but when I swim I am reminded that quality is equally important, or in other words, how I am, focussed and with my body is equally as important as getting things done.
“The beauty of my own symphony”; what a beautiful phrase Josephine.
I can feel the exquisite joy of you swimming, to your own tune, on a rooftop pool in Sydney.
Thank you, I really was inspired by your blog.
I always loved swimming- when I started to have swimming sessions with Simone Benhayon as well, I totally re-discovered swimming for me. Before, like you, it was more a workout; now it is feeling ME time.
Yes Steffihenn, and swimming has alowed me to feel my fragility, sensitivity and playful joy back again (a feeling I had deeply in me when I was a child). I actually feel how gorgeous my body moves in the water, this has offered me to look and be aware of my movements during the day.. Actually cool. I have found out that my movements in life where pretty hard – which does actually not match that incredible sensitivity and joy I felt in my arms in the water. It is since then that I know I must be way more careful and loving with myself in how I move. I take this in my every day. I am now taking this truth with me, and I will be more loving with me today and everyday. Time to stop, listen and feel – I can not continue in this hard & contracted way.
Beautiful, how you discovered your fragility and tenderness through water..Indeed water hurts even more when we move harsh in it, although it allows it, it represents everything but hard movements. I always feel like flying and flowing when I swim…
I love swimming Josephine, and particularly outdoors. I love the feeling of my fingers moving through the water and I experiment with moving my fingertips ever so slowly out of the water.
Swimming is joy in action. It is a time out for learning from oneself, for feeling and listening to the body. It also provides an amazing reflection of where is one at in a particular time. It also offers the opportunity to re-imprint where we are.
I can feel that freedom in the water when I was young, floating and being with myself in a pool. Free to move and flow as my body wanted to not what the world was telling me to. Thank you Josephine for writing so beautifully.
Love the words ‘the symphony of me’. I went swimming yesterday and can relate to what you write, both the ‘doing’ as the joy. Swimming is a great reflection of how we are in daily life. I perceived yesterday I could swim for a few minutes in thoughts whether it was my to-do list or thinking of something that happened. So where was I? Not with my body. Then I started to connect deeply to my body, truly be with my movements, and then the symphony started to play its music for me. My arms, my legs, all tenderly making their movements. I even spontaneously made pauses in between the movements. A magical stillness in my symphony, wow. A reflection of how my days can be!
I love the playfulness of this Josephine, it has reminded me to take more time to play whether in the pool or just enjoying the moment wherever I am.
I remember loving the water when I chose to swim – but when I had to do it for a class or school or training I found it harder to be in the pool and let go. I love the freedom of water it is so wonderful to float and drift with your own body of love.
It is really beautiful what you write Josephine: “In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.” How true it is that when we start to live from our heads that life is restricted compared when we live from our bodies.
Josephine what a wonderful piece of symbology between life and swimming and the actual experience itself too, your words “in effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life”. I can relate completely to the joy of swimming and feeling so clearly the way life is lived through the swim(s) – the way the body moves, breathes, feels, expresses, flows, stretches, there is nothing that cannot be seen or felt in the water, even the ripples around us are like our ’emissions’ to the world and what ‘we show’. For this reason swimming has become and is the absolute marker of living life and a life lived for me, and for this I have deep appreciation for Simone Benhayon for reawakening this activity.
This reminds me of my recent experience of life in Hoi An, Vietnam where the traffic, at first glance, appears chaotic but it soon becomes evident that there is a flow and grace to the movement of each vehicle: be it a bicycle, motorbike or bus.
The best analogy I describe it with, is considering one of those tv documentaries showing life in the ocean and two schools of fish swimming past (through) one another.
Absolutely, swimming through life is an awesome expression of how to be.
Thank you Josephine for bringing this up. I have not been a swimmer. I have used water to cool down or play. As a child I can remember my mother taking us to the local pool where one of the games we would play was to swim the length of the pool in one breath. Where I live we have a small pool and I swim when I can. But I swim to be with me. I get to feel my hands pull through the water, I feel how I turn my head to breath, I feel how I breath. The water supports my body, it does not jar my joints, it does not put my body under pressure. The water feels silky and holding. I swim with a calmness, I am not thrashing about trying to achieve something. I swim to be with me.
Thank you Josephine. I have not been a swimmer. I have used water to cool me down on a hot day or as a child to play. I remember my mother taking us to the local pool, a 25mt pool, and one of the games would be to dive in and swim the length of the pool with 1 breath. Today I live in a town house where we have a small pool. I swim when I can but I swim to be with me. Feeling my hands pull through the water, how I turn my head to breath or do I move my legs, or not. The water is supportive to my body, it does not jar or put pressure on my joints. It feels silky and holds me. How I swim has a beautiful calmness, I am not thrashing about to get somewhere or achieve something, I am just swimming with me.
I love this blog, I can imagine how amazing that swim would have been. I love swimming, the feeling of the cool water, completely freeing. I wanted to be a mermaid when I was younger so that I never had to get out of the water, could breath underwater and swim super fast with my mermaid tale. Still when I swim today I remeber back to how much fun it was being a mermaid in the pool. I wonder why it’s so much different walking on the ground. Can we walk and go throughout our day with this same feeling I felt as a mermaid..
The analogy is lovely: swimming – and swimming through life. How I swim is how I swim through life. Just so great and simple! Thank you.
I absolutely love being in the water. I could easily splash around like a child for hours until wrinkled. When I take myself for a swim now, I often find it hard not to get caught up with where the others are in my lane. I try to pretend they’re not there, and let them overtake me if they need to, but even whilst I’m taking my time, there is still an anxiousness that stops me from connecting to my breath and my body. The swimming becomes counter productive then, as I end up swimming for everyone else and not for me. A work in progress.
Thanks Josephine you can add yourself to the list of people who inspire as you have inspired me to go for a swim just for the joy of it and not for exercise as I usually do.
when I was younger I used to jump in the pool to swim to get fit, be faster, be stronger, be more competitive, and every time I stood at the top of the pool, I felt resistant to getting started. The nerves would start in my belly and I would procrastinate as I would dread the pain I was about to put myself through. It was a relief and a blessing to have water sessions with Simone Benhayon, who assisted me to see the beauty of just being in the pool for no other reason than for the pure joy of it.
Thank you Josephine, I wanted to be there with you playing in the pool. This blog has reminded me of how much fun it was when I was younger to play in any kind of water, for hours. There was no sense of worrying about anything other than what I was doing at that time, enjoying me and the feeling of the water.
Then when I got older, the water became all about pushing to get fit and over exercising – the fun had gone out of it. Thank you for the reminder.
Thank you Josephine for a light and joy – filled read! I too have enjoyed returning to swimming in the last couple of years. I find it a great moment to feel and connect with my body and how it is feeling, as well as enjoying the freedom of movement in the warm water! It is certainly no longer about how many lengths I am doing, but to feel the quality of how I have been living.
Great analogy Josephine, between swimming in the pool and swimming through life. I can relate to having a background constriction or tension and lack of flow sometimes in life which can be really exposed and made obvious when we exercise. A great reason to take the time to stop and connect with our bodies and do some gentle movement or exercise.
I love how you described enjoying the grace of your body in the water while you swam, Josephine. I remember feeling the same way as a kid and sometimes as an adult when I was simply feeling the water surrounding my body and enjoying the fluid movement in the pool. These times only came once I let go of any agenda or mission in the pool (like my past triathlon training that had numbed my body to such feelings).
I find swimming to be so telling of what state of being I am in. Am I present with my movements? Am I flowing through the water or is it a struggle? Is my breathing in a steady rhythm? Am I kicking my legs just enough to move along? There’s a lot that a few laps in the pool can show me if I am open to seeing it. I do love it as a form of exercise and always felt very natural in it. Learning to breath on both sides of my head as I do front crawl was challenging, but now I wouldn’t do it any other way.
I have so enjoyed reading your blog again Josephine I love your words, “the symphony of me swimming through life” and how easy it is to lose touch with this by seeing swimming as another box ticking exercise to get fit. I have been finding that how I swim in the pool can reflect the day I have had. Some days I can swim effortlessly to the end of the pool and other days I can feel my breathing is laboured and I struggle to reach the end of the pool. If I look back on my day I can often see that my swimming has shown me exactly how my day has been.
Yes since having swim sessions with Simone Benhayon I have been amazed at the reflection that swimming is of where we are in life and what it can teach me if I am open to seeing it.
This is gorgeous to read Josephine, ‘I could feel the innate joy and playfulness of just being me in my body in the water.’ I loved swimming as a child, just being me in the water, having fun, as an adult swimming I became very mental about it, it became all about how many lengths I could do and I was doing it to be ‘fit’, but reading the joy and playfulness of just being me in the water feels beautiful and I feel inspired by your article to swim again.
Great article Josephine. I have also been very fortunate and have received swimming instructions from Simone Benhayon, who has helped me to transform my swimming; as before I was just trying not to drown, but now I can actually swim and I love it. Simone Benhayon has shared with me the joy of swimming and how much this can benefit all aspects of life.
This is beautiful, Josephine. Connecting to our own ‘symphony’… I love it. Being in the water certainly helps me to feel my body more, and life can become very simple and playful when it is just you, your breath and the water.
For me, swimming provides a great awareness of how my body is feeling and being in the water is such a supportive environment to be active in. This blog is a great reminder to enjoy the benefits of swimming beyond the physical act.
Such a beautiful blog Josephine, thank you. I love how you share, that how we feel in the pool, is a reflection of how we swim through life.
Swimming just for fun or for the shear joy of it as an adult? What a novel idea! Takes me back to when I was a child and we used to swim in the river at the back of the farm all summer long and what fun it all was. Thanks for the reminder Josephine.
Thank you Josephine, I loved what you wrote about just feeling the grace of your body in water. Such a great reminder for us all that we can choose this for ourselves too.
I love what you present about the mental constructs of why we are swimming, to tone, to get fitter etc, that for me is something that has always been there. I have found with swimming recently that when there is no trying and no pushing for an outcome then it becomes an effortless flow, and an awesome connection to my body.
Love this Josephine, swimming can indeed be very supportive and when you are connected with yourself it is a great way to clear stress and tension in your body.
Hi Josephine, This is a beautiful sharing thank you. How lovely it is to allow ourselves to enjoy the simplicity and grace of movement in the pool and for that reflection to continue through other aspects of our lives.
So true that we can be put off exercise when we make it about an outcome, thank you Josephine for your sharing on the joy in swimming.
Inspiring Josephine, I am going to swim through my day!🐳Thank you.
Thank you Josephine. I had swim lessons recently and the instructor got quite frustrated with me as I kept stopping once I reached the deep water. She was super stern, not much fun. You have inspired me to just play in the water, have fun being with me and in doing that there’s less room for fear and I can trust that I’m always held.
Makes me feel like having a swim today, pity it is about 2 degrees and freezing cold. Maybe a float and a play in a hot bath instead!
How lovely, the ‘symphony of you swimming through life’, it is wonderful.
Beautiful. Thank-you Josephine, for allowing us to share your experience of being – just exquisite.
Simply delicious and something I will definitely play with as I also recognise in me this doing of things because they are good for me rather than the innate joy and delight of doing them.
Josephine, what you have shared about rediscovering your ‘symphony’ is beautifully inspiring – we all have one and when we follow our own rhythm (as you did on the rooftop) its majesty begins to play. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your delicious experience. It was beautiful to read. I especially loved how you wrote “depth and richness of life pulsing within my own body. In effect I had lost touch with the symphony of me swimming through life.”
I also have an unending appreciation for the many who have helped others reconnect to the symphony of themselves.
Yes absolute agree Josephine and Johanna. What I came to feel was how I have been used to struggling through life – it in was one of those moments : for example a swimming session of Simone or sermon of Serge Benhayon – that I realized that living in flow , joy and love included, is possible. When swimming now I am reflected my relationship with life and my flow, and where I seem to go well and also struggle. Therefore swimming has become my marker of where I am at. I love swimming , it is an honest and honouring time to be and feel my body. Great blog!
Exquisite… Thank you Josephine.
“A symphony of me swimming through life”. Simply sublime, a truly sweet song Josephine.
Thanks Josephine. I likewise felt such a stark difference to how I moved in the water after having a group session with Simone. Beautiful stuff.
Swimming is so different when we can just be. I too have loved getting used to swimming again just for the fun of it.
Josephine that was gorgeous, I could feel the simplicity of the swim and the grace with which you write, I was up there on the roof top with you.