Swimming as meditation

I love being in the water. Pool, stream, lake, reservoir--I find water therapeutic. My triathlon training has given me a whole new appreciation for the power of water. Race swimming is largely about technique, about moving my body as efficiently as possible through the tremendous resistance that water provides. Mastering effective technique has taken me hours in the pool, many laps, and risking swimmer's ear and pruny fingers.

I used to regard pool workouts as a necessary evil: something to do when I couldn't swim outside. Something to make me strong come race season. Something to bridge the time between when the reservoirs closed in fall and re-opened in the spring. Since my tri race season ended six weeks ago, the unexpected has happened: I can't wait to swim laps. My swimming has become my meditative activity. When I'm having a not-so-great day, like yesterday, I hop into the pool and my mood magically transforms.

Here's the thing about swimming. It's the one activity I do truly alone. I often bike and run with others, and that is one thing I love about biking and running. But by its nature, swimming is a solitary exercise. Even when I swim with friends or training partners, there's no talking mid-stroke because, well, you get the idea. This forced alone time gives me a chance to check out of life and apply focus to one thing: moving my body through the water. For an hour or more, I am concentrating on my breathing, my stroke, how my body feels in the water, the lap number, the distance covered so far. If my mind wanders, the water takes control. I lose count of laps (and being a numbers girl, that really bugs me), I slow, I sink, and I stop breathing.

The tremendous presence that swimming requires from me leaves me feeling renewed when I'm done. The meditative quality of my swim workouts makes them a perfect alternative for me. My desire for movement makes other forms of meditation, like sitting, quite unpleasant. And I wouldn't consider biking and running meditative activities for me--there are too many things to look at and friends to talk to. When I need isolation, quiet time, and to refocus, I hit the pool.

Here are two more benefits of swimming at this point during the season. First, being in the pool where the scenery doesn't change for as long as I am is great mental training for Ironman. Second, I think I'm becoming a better swimmer simply because I'm not trying to. Nice!