As an avid swimmer, water has always been a comfortable and pleasurable place for me to be in or around —I love even just looking at water, finding a beach or lake or pond to walk around or pool to swim in. Summer vacations since I was born were on Cape Cod— tiny cottage on the bayside- the ultimate children’s playground. We continued the tradition with my own family.
Life on the bayside tends to focus around the ebb and flow of low and high tide. Your plan your day around it! High tide brings the swimming, rafts, paddle boards, boating, whatever you enjoy AND the anticipation of all of that as you watch the water come in. I love all the stages of the tide flowing in- the different levels of shallow: ankle, knee, waist deep end of a salted pool until it’s over your head. And the bay water temperatures- very warm in the summer. Enjoy it while you can because just as it reaches high tide, the water turns around and begins its descent back out. Six hours later, at dead low, you can walk sometimes nearly a mile out, with tide pools in between the sand flats—another world indeed! People who are unfamiliar with Cape Cod’s low tide are usually amazed (first timers -some believing it a very big drought 😊). Interesting article about the moon and the tides (I digress). The rise of Cape Cod Bay https://capecodlife.com/gunkholing-cape-cod-tides/ My Cape Cod memories are ingrained in me forever and I suspect where my love of water and swimming began.
In the grander scheme, water and all its various forms is getting more and more attention as a therapeutic modality, not just for exercise but also stress management and healing from injuries. Even just consider the multitude of stress management audios that use the crashing of the waves or trickling of a stream to help lower your sympathetic response. In terms of actually getting wet, more and more pools are including various water therapy classes both in shallow and deep water, more people are treading water for exercise with or without a waist belt. The word is getting out that water can be very friendly to those who are not able to swim and want to move their body (though I recommend everyone at least learn the basics of swimming and water safety).
I’ve belonged to a number of different pools over my life- a lot of YMCAs but I’ve found a home in my current pool. For the last two and half years, I’ve been swimming at a local pool that is continually maximizing the benefits of this water gift: therapy pool, diving well and lane pool -also used by the local public and private swim teams but also by many others including, special needs and seniors. I swim or tread water nearly every day. Though my time in the pool isn’t as rigorous as it used to be, I get my hour of pool/water time and always feel better when I’m done. Along the way in my new pool venture, I’ve become friends with and been inspired by so many who have found this blessing too.
Short story—this week I was swimming and saw an older gentleman who I’ve seen many times. He is a regular at the pool—a bit slow, but a very steady swimmer. Seeing him this time was different because he was walking on the pool deck getting ready to get in the water. I’ve never seen him out of the water, so I didn’t realize how compromised he was—he walked without assistance, but clearly had difficulty walking and keeping his balance. It took him several minutes to walk to the bench where he placed his gear and then to the pool. Some people use a chair lift to help get in the water or just assistance from another person. So, I wondered how he would get in the pool. Little by little, he made it to the pool edge and then “SWISH”, he jumped in OR maybe a better description, he “tipped himself in” and off he went. Out of the water he had limited mobility. In the water, he was swimming like a fish.
Water is one of our greatest gifts —our bodies are made of water, it hydrates us to keep us alive, we bath in it to keep us clean. It’s gentle to our body when we use it for exercise, though at the same time provides resistance for building strength and also improving range of motion.
Water is beautiful in all of its forms. I hope you all find some pleasurable moments with water- watching it, listening to it, or being in it. And of course not to forget drinking it. Water feels refreshing on the outside, but if you’re exercising in water, drinking it is still important for your insides.