Swimming to Feel Free and Connected

Babylon Village Sunrise Swim, Where Lap Swimming Meets the Open Water.

Sometimes, like today, I think that swimming is the experience that brings me the closest to feeling connected with the universe especially when it involves open water. For just a time, I am part of this indescribable whole. The water, in an endless entity all it’s own has welcomed me in, keeping me afloat and permitting me to feel its power. As expansive as the ocean is, I feel safe here, just swimming and feeling. I trust that the water will carry me and even though I am working, the water and salt and sky is working with me as long as I allow it to. There is something about my breath harmonizing with the slosh of the water that drives me toward my alignment with peace and I often wonder if that’s how it felt in the womb. Breathe, look down, sand swirls. Breathe, look up sky teaches.

Great South Bay, Swimming One Day at Sunrise. Magical!

Breathe, look down, water churns.  Breathe, look up, sky welcomes. Breath. Look down.  And so on. An occasional fish startles my zen and reminds me that this is their home, and I am a guest. I have always been treated as a guest in the ocean as long as I remember to respect it. On this day, my journey out puts me against the current.  Even still, I am making progress. I realize that it is not necessarily harder, just slower and that is a merely a mental adjustment if I refuse to conform to the judgement. When it’s time to turn around and swim with the current, I am carried with a bit more ease. In this moment, it is not so important that I get to where I’m going quickly. I’m am already where I need to be, right in this very space in time accepting the graces of the water, feeling like I belong. Water. Breath. Sky. Offering the Grace of the Universe every time.

Culebra, PR. Heaven to see the Tropical Fish Set the Pace for My Swim