Yoga & Swimming on the Mind
Posted by Kaileen Elise on June 16th, 2010
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness,
which unites your body to your thoughts.
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been practicing yoga for 10 years. I never thought I’d find a connection to anything else besides swimming.
For 12 years, I raced up and down the lanes. Diving into the water at 5:00 am was something I never got used to, but sleeping every night with wet hair was my norm. I spent a long time—the majority of my childhood, high school years and even a splash of college—as a competitive swimmer, focused solely on earning a scholarship (which I did) and maybe qualifying for the Olympics (which I didn’t).
It was through swimming that I came to yoga. At 15, I searched for a way to calm my mind and my nerves. I found a Sunday morning yoga class that I quickly worked into my weekly routine. Yoga’s focus on the breath resonated, working towards my edge intrigued me, and the concept of not being competitive with myself or others was a unique challenge. (Just Googled “yoga is not competitive” and found this swimmer’s perspective as the 4th entry.)
My yoga practice followed me to college and it was there for me when I retired early from collegiate athletics. Throughout senior year, my love for yoga deepened when Donica and I took classes through our university. When I lived by myself in San Francisco for 6 months, I toyed with meditation and tried to get an at-home yoga practice off the ground.
Once I moved to Raleigh, I joined the YMCA and came back to the mat. For awhile there, yoga and I had a good thing going, but I let go of my routine when I started my new job.
The beauty about yoga is that I know it will always be there for me. It’s in the way I stand while waiting to check out at Whole Foods. It’s in the way I sit at my desk. It’s in the breaths I take on my drive home from work, and in the way I open my heart to strangers.
I might have a shaky Half-Moon and a Wobbly Warrior 3, but my belief in yoga is strong and I know my mat will be there for me when I need it.
image credit: moi ~ training camp ’03
Tags: Reflection, Yoga
Isn’t it interesting how our paths connect. I’ve had a couple of people mention to me that I need to try yoga, including my massage therapist. I’ve been looking for a class but summer is not the ideal time to find one in my area. I need to make a list for “in the fall”. Yoga will be on it. I love the idea that you keep coming back to it. Sometimes I feel like I’ve failed when i start something and leave it. In this case, what you did gain has stuck with you. I like that thought.
Your post is what propelled me to think about this feeling I’ve been having for a while: unhappy being in Boulder. Hearing you talk about 2 things you love got me thinking about what I love. And one of those things are “Starbuck Dates” where we made fun of people in line and talked about how to change the world, yoga mats in hand. Dance Parties, BW3′s, and ANTM.
Where did I go? Where did we all go? I know I can’t go back, but I do know I don’t want to be where I’m at right now. Thank you for this post, and magically running into me at UNLV.
The mat is always right there.
wow, this post really captures the essence of how yoga has affected me, too. not surprised due to yet another correlation between our lives, but intrigued as always
i think that the practice on & off the mat is the most essential element that i’ve learned from practicing yoga. but the open heart, the non-judgement, the intention setting and the connectedness to my breath…ALL that ignites me to further send my open hands upward and my heart forward.
this is a lovely snapshot of how we grow as we deepen and flow with our practice. xo
Ah, reminds me of the only two forms of exercise (though both are much more for me) that I ever truly enjoyed. I grew up as a swimmer, beginning at the age of 2. I never formally did competitive, well for two reasons 1) There was a fire at my high pool just before I started HS, so once rebuilt (my senior year) I took lifeguarding as my physical ed class. 2) Once in college, I wasn’t the best with time management and was afraid that the swim team would deter my from my studies, so instead I took swimming as a physical ed class (again) with the assistant coach. Interesting, it was in college that I discovered yoga and have been practicing ever since.
I really agree with this, that you can go back to yoga anytime. I need to be better about putting the breathing and stretching into practice in my non-class life but I love that even when I’m gone for a bit, I can go back and still do…pretty well.
yes! yoga is always there for us. yoga provides us unconditional love no matter what. i think that might be one (of many) reasons why it appeals to us. hugs!!