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.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
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.
Great article Josephine. Swimming can indeed be a big reflection if we choose so. I got a big “Oops” moment from reading this article as I realized that I am also still swimming (which I do a lot) to build muscles first. Yes, I appreciate the reflections, but I have made swimming not about playing and enjoying myself first. That is a big reflection of how I am living my life, which my swimming is showing. Doing, struggling, improving myself, instead of just enjoying myself frist.
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 the same. I never really liked swimming as it was a too serious business. I just was swimming the normal ‘ swimslag ‘ as learned in the Netherlands. Your arms make a side ward stroke. And your head is above the water all the time. This way you learn it here as a kid. Like to survive. But with Simone Benhayon I learned that swimming is not about that. Swimming I got to experienced as a playfull joyfull thing to do. I bought googles so I could start to put my hand under the water and started to do freestyle. What an amazing discovery that was. I feel now I am one with the water just very playful and lovingly enjoying it.
“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.