The Little Things

Relaxing, calming, soothing, and enjoyable would have to be my quick definition of the word “meditation”. My meditative swim touched every one of those aspects to say the least. Throughout the swim, I swam for a total of about 50 minutes with a little break about 35 minutes into it. Shortly after I hopped in, I was back at it, back at enjoying the water fully engulfing my body. Although it was a peaceful swim, I had trouble finding a speed that fit me. When I first started, I was swimming too slow, causing me to sink, but when I sped up, I begin to get fatigued and exhausted quite quickly. After finding a pace I liked, I started focusing on the little things. The water running through my hands, my finger nails cutting through the water causing it to slide down my fingers and onto my wrist before I would repeat the process again

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The Bubbles would run down my cheeks before shooting to the surface to whether they belonged. Some of them even brave enough to run across my chest before sliding up through my pecks and the side of my arm and to the surface. The bubbles made a unique sound, a strong sound, a masculine sound in a way. They weren’t hard to hear, but you needed to focus to actually evaluate them. While I was swimming, even while trying to relax, I kept wanting to look over into the other lanes. I would compare my speed with those in the other lanes, watching their technique, observing how their feet came out of the water and all the bubbles it made. After about half an hour of swimming,  I tried racing the guy swimming two lanes down from me, even attempting the flip turn. Of course it was very sloppy, but I tried to make up time by swimming very quickly. After a few laps, I was tired and took a break.

pretty accurate

I focused mainly on my arms and legs while swimming though. After I had found the speed I felt comfortable at, I noticed my arms were barely coming out of the water.  They were doing what was necessary, but my elbow wasn’t the highest point of the water like we talked about. I noticed I wasn’t thinking about it though, it was like a natural action, I didn’t try to alter it when I saw I was doing it wrong, I just let them swim. My legs seemed lighter than normal. I focused on keeping them in the water, using them more as a dolphin would. A far stretch but I still like to think a dolphin occasionally.

I felt good after my swim. I showered after but still could smell the chlorine on my skin. My skin felt really dry, my hair as well. I didn’t realize it until later that night, but I actually went and ate two plates of pasta, which is full of carbs, followed by a salad in my apartment. I felt like I had worked out, but it was a good workout. I wasn’t sore, I wasn’t tired, but I felt like I had accomplished something.