Newbie Swimming

Swimming! Just thinking of it makes me smile. It is so much fun. Despite the fact that it is lethal in one moment of slipped concentration or presence of mind, it is so much fun to float along in the water. My roommate has been extremely helpful in helping me trying to overcome the fear of water and embrace what is natural to the body. The first step was joining in the class and getting into the pool. I had my technique wrong for an hour and was bored easily, as I could do nothing that helped me stay afloat. But, I got into the pool of water. I got into it, period! And that to me has been a phenomenal achievement. The next day, despite the sore shoulder, I went into the pool, flapped my legs and started kicking. It took me most of the hour to get the technique to a decent shape, but I managed to kick once or twice with great gusto. It was a revolution. By the time I came out of the pool, I hardly had the strength to even hold a knife. I managed to glide along the day, with little gusto, but feeling the pride in me of taking another little step of conquering the fear of water. The next day, I gave it a rest. And the next day, I was determined to float in the water. It was fun. I took a breath, I held it, put my head in the water and just relaxed. My feet lifted, while I had the sensation of going down, I held on to the wall and continued to sink below, when all of a sudden, I started floating. As I experienced the feeling of floating, the analytical part kicked in and said, as long as you have air in your body, you will float. Just don’t breathe in and remember to hold the air in. That was a revelation. After trying to float for a few minutes in the water, holding my hand to the wall, I knew I enjoyed floating. I loved it. I did not kick, I did not move my hands, I just held in the breath and voila, I was parallel to the pool. I also noticed, that when I lifted my head over my shoulders, my feet started to go down and when I gulped in another quick breath and put my head under, I could float again. As I went past these simple steps, my confidence grew. My roommate was surprised too! And then, I tried to let go of the wall. That was still a big thing for me! I did. I can float without touching the wall, though since my breathing techniques are little shaky, I still need to stand for my breath. I could not get a stroke correct, my shoulders were tight with tension of letting go of the wall. When my roommate held my hand, I managed to stay afloat. But, despite the fact that I could not swim even for two strokes, I got out of the pool, feeling richer and filled with joy. I floated. Yay!!!

“There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational- or in simpler terms, fears that make sense and fears that don't.”

I know that my fear for water was and still is irrational, but I still cherished this little step forward to try and over come it.