Overcoming water fear and learning to swim at the age of 41 was like a dream come true for me. I took more time than normal but with regular practice and small steps at a time, I learned this skill in 1 year. After achieving success in learning this skill, I am more confident in doing things that look impossible and no item on my bucket list is like those new year resolutions I had earlier that I never worked on :)
Though my initial goal was just to overcome water fear and be able to swim I didn’t stop there. I got into regular practice and was working on increasing my endurance. My next goal was to complete one lap efficiently without getting tired. However, I struggled a lot in achieving it, even after regular practice for around 6 months I could swim only half the distance and was not making any improvement.
Then I decided to take a break from swimming before I give up on this goal and I picked other workout practices as a part of my daily routine. Along with that, I made a conscious decision to practising meditation and learn different breathing exercises. For more than 2 months I did not swim, but I learned breathing exercises regularly.
While looking for the benefits of breathing exercises, I got introduced to box breathing through this video by Jay Shetty on Five exercises to gain mental strength, as I have been following him for quite some time without giving it a second thought I started practising box breathing.
It was comparatively easier to focus on my breathing during this exercise, I was not distracted as I did in other practices. When I started practising it, I didn't have any particular goal in mind. I just did it, without knowing it would help me achieve the swimming milestone I had nearly abandoned.
After learning the box breathing practice, I thought of trying it while swimming and went for it. I went into the pool and as I decided without thinking of my destination I got started and every moment the complete focus was on my breath and counting of box breathing practice.
To my surprise, when I stopped I found myself at the other end of the pool, without getting tired I could complete 1 lap very easily, that was like an ahh moment for me :) I wanted to scream and share with everyone… I hope this experience of mine helps someone to take that first dive in the pool and learn this fulfilling skill.
Today when I look back I think, this journey of learning a new skill was not just about swimming technique but has helped bring an overall positive transformation in me. Sharing a few takeaways I got through this experience:
1. As we hit 40 we often have this perception that making any change or learning new skills is going to be difficult. Well, that’s not the case, rather, after my experience of learning to swim after 40, I realised that it is the other way. I think, after learning multiple skills and life lessons, we get better at discovering our own qualities, I was more organised, and could apply different learnings in my ways. The only challenge was in taking that first step and deciding on going for it, it’s the only mindset change that is needed!
2. Now it is like I am starting my new journey where I am open to new possibilities and ready to discover a new me.
3. Define your goal, but then when we start working for it we should not get distracted by our destination. The focus should always be on the now and current small step that we are working on. Like in my swimming case, every time before starting I used to see the destination and get stressed and wished that hopefully this time I will reach there and compared to what I did later. I started with the thought that I am going to complete every cycle of box breathing properly and focus on it. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for four counts, exhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, and so on… The focus was always on my breathing, the tiny steps I was taking towards my goal.
4. Never give up, take breaks, take tiny steps and focus on the current moment.
5. How much ever less time we have or higher is the target, it is important we follow the pattern of Work - Rest - Work - Rest … This helps improve our performance.
6. Lastly, the most important point is, breathing exercises have multiple benefits, give it a try for a few months and you will see excellent positive results in your day-to-day activities. You just need to take some time and get started with daily 15 minutes of breathing practice.
Thank you for reading, do share your thoughts on this read.
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