Unfortunately, I'm not a swimmer (my last teacher said I had the least buoyancy of any of her students). Fortunately, I am a meditator. Dr. Friedman's beautiful description of his swimming experiences mirror what has often happened to me during meditation. This freeing of the mind so that it can then function at its best.
1
Hold on there... It's just not the act of swimming, it's the fact of being one with the water. As already mentioned by fellow readers, taking a shower can activate highly creative ponderings. When I was an advertising copywriter the ideas flowed forth in the shower quickly and were quite good. I would go a step further than what the author has touched on and point out a few more things about water. First, the human body is what percentage water? Second, as human embryos we grow in a highly fluid amniotic sac. And finally, if you're into evolution, think about humans evolving from simple organisms emerging from the primordial goo. As humans we are deeply connected to water. It's more than the physical activity of swimming although as a swimmer, I agree with the author. But there is so much more going on here. There is the sensation of water on the physical body. I think water is the closest thing that involves all of our five senses simultaneously, thus a "mental state" is evoked.
4
I think your experience relates to the feeling of "flow." I get my inspirations while riding my bike through vineyards in the Carneros region of Napa.
1
i find that any animated illustrations or photos in the web issues of the times to be nauseating and distracting, preventing clear focus on what is written and turning the paper into a cartoon.
that being said, this is a fine article for those who wish to get wet...i prefer the mental and physical exercise and view from the back of a horse.
that being said, this is a fine article for those who wish to get wet...i prefer the mental and physical exercise and view from the back of a horse.
1
SWIMMING Has been a great source of strength and recreation, in the literal sense of recreating myself. My thoughts float free and take me to surprising places. I've composed music, written papers and been truly present while swimming, which allows me to do those things and more on dry land. But I must get back to the water to restore myself. As the years go by, I find it more difficult to drag myself to the pool, but am greatly rewarded for my efforts. It's fascinating that in the Japanese culture, communal bathing is considered to be a part of being a member of society. I'm sure that's changed. It is another example of how immersion in water and swimming can create a sense of attachment unique to swimming and bathing.
4
Some of us find similar events doing other activities, mine is walking alone in the woods.
3
Dr. Friedman in his article " Pool of Thought" alluded to his more psychoanalytically oriented colleagues have joked that swimming promotes an emotional regression - back to "swimming" in utero. Dr. Friedman let's not overlook "muscle memory" which I believe has not so much to do with memory/consciousness but is a more deeply embedded and primal.
1
Funny I should come across this I swam in High School but stopped for decades until I took up triathlon in my forties. I would use lunch time swims to roll work ideas around in my head and was always amazed how quickly I had the problem solved while forgetting how many laps I had swam.
Another thing that dawned on me is I swam but also played other sports including football and baseball in High School, was that my fellow members of the swim team by far were more successful economically than the other sports team members. But I would think swimming is not really all that intellectually challenging explain that.
Another thing that dawned on me is I swam but also played other sports including football and baseball in High School, was that my fellow members of the swim team by far were more successful economically than the other sports team members. But I would think swimming is not really all that intellectually challenging explain that.
3
Although w/o an especially efficient technique, I have found a lovely rhythm sets in after a time when I am swimming many laps in free style. Swimming lap after lap becomes a sort of meditation.
10
I enjoyed all the comments! I started lap-swimming,Jan1, 2000, and have experienced just about everything everyone has mentioned! As for creative thinking, one of mine is a pretty good one: By visualizing a small set of discs on the pool floor, I could see a beautiful property that is involved in the solution to the puzzle known as Towers of Hanoi.
Also, I have a question for Dr. Friedman. How did you deal with the strong currents of the Dardanelles? As far as I know, they flow in one direction unabatedly.
Also, I have a question for Dr. Friedman. How did you deal with the strong currents of the Dardanelles? As far as I know, they flow in one direction unabatedly.
3
Thank you for this lovely celebration of swimming. My Iowa home town (population 850) built a pool in the late 1950s and I learned to swim there circa 1960. No matter how well my day goes, when I finish my laps, it goes better. I leave the pool a bit euphoric, yet calm; a bit tired, yet refreshed. A swimming pool is my peaceable kingdom. My joy of swimming was born in a government pool. All children should be so lucky.
14
My freshest ideas come in the shower. I used to call them Shower Thoughts. Bicycle riding is a close second: Bike Thoughts, obviously.
But recently I’ve begun calling them what they really are.
No doubt they in some sense well up from my brain, or neural system generally. A significant part of which is actually in your gut as your enteric nervous system.
But their real name, phenomenologically speaking?
Shower and Bike Imaginings.
When people say they are “thinking,” unless they’re wearing lab coats, they aren’t referring to some covert processes going on in their brains or wherever to which they, and the neurophysiologist, have only theoretical access. (Philosophy since Kant would say transcendental access.)
They are referring to a conscious and mixed occurrent/dispositional process which is simply the imagination operating in that nonlinear, associative manner to which Friedman refers.
As it gets closer to expression in overt speech, that process gets more tightly bound up with language, but with the imagined language which Noam Chomsky et al would call inner speech.
Think about it the next time you type out a Comment to a NYT article.
The inner speech in your imagination flows from your brain – maybe from your gut as well if you are in emotional response mode! - through your fingers and out onto the computer screen in front of you in almost one to one correspondence.
Thought is simply imagination caught linguistic, as Auris Lipinski has observed.
Imagine that!
But recently I’ve begun calling them what they really are.
No doubt they in some sense well up from my brain, or neural system generally. A significant part of which is actually in your gut as your enteric nervous system.
But their real name, phenomenologically speaking?
Shower and Bike Imaginings.
When people say they are “thinking,” unless they’re wearing lab coats, they aren’t referring to some covert processes going on in their brains or wherever to which they, and the neurophysiologist, have only theoretical access. (Philosophy since Kant would say transcendental access.)
They are referring to a conscious and mixed occurrent/dispositional process which is simply the imagination operating in that nonlinear, associative manner to which Friedman refers.
As it gets closer to expression in overt speech, that process gets more tightly bound up with language, but with the imagined language which Noam Chomsky et al would call inner speech.
Think about it the next time you type out a Comment to a NYT article.
The inner speech in your imagination flows from your brain – maybe from your gut as well if you are in emotional response mode! - through your fingers and out onto the computer screen in front of you in almost one to one correspondence.
Thought is simply imagination caught linguistic, as Auris Lipinski has observed.
Imagine that!
1
You could not convince me of the cognitive benefits of swimming by any brain data.
I require the hard data of thought content and its outcomes.
I require the hard data of thought content and its outcomes.
You have described what I call my "theory of percolation". When attempting to find a resolution to challenging and seemingly intractable issues, I have walked away from them, and gone for a bike ride, a run, a walk, or taken a shower. At times a "fiat lux" moment comes from seemingly out of nowhere... a solution. The solution was already within me, I simply had to allow it to percolate into my conscious mind. VOILA!!!
5
Swimming is bliss!
As an EMDR therapist I have to point out the bi lateral stimulation that is present during swimming. As a swimmer myself (and raising 2 adolescent swimmers) I know the feeling of mentally disappearing during a swim and having all of my "world problems" solved during that 60 minutes.
Thank you for your insight!
Thank you for your insight!
1
Some dogs are bred to swim. My lab can swim a mile a day. When she's done she shakes off and pees. I see no evidence that she has had any insights from swimming. We often follow a swim with a run. After those runs, she often writes in her journal.
5
When I swim alone I can zen out in my head but swimming with a team has similar benefits. There's not much time to think during the intense sets with one eye on the pace clock but afterwards the glow develops and what were once problems are now possibilities.
3
A wonderful article. My father also gave me a love for the water. We often swam together. Now, past 70 I still swim, and am immensely grateful for this gift that was given to me.
4
The harder you push yourself the more you concentrate on your body. Idle thoughts come to idle swimmers.
I think the same way as you do about the solace and rhythm of sound and pace in swimming. I think there is a pattern to separating from the outside world when you swim, just like you say when you are bored for the first few laps until you hit your stride and the minutes slide past. I swim to stay on top of my sanity and slow down and reconnect with my own physicality. Swimming training makes me laugh, a lot.
3
So very true on all accounts. One of the last bastions of solitude. The water. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly time passes (and so much of it) while swimming and contemplating.
4
I can relate to your entire analysis, as well as to the comments of other readers, and I appreciate them all. After 25 years of swimming laps, I decided to explore in writing that perennial question of where the mind goes while I'm swimming my 40 minutes of constant back & forth. Shameless plug, my little book came out last year: Cloud Therapy.
2
Perhaps, it's your fish brain.
4
The management of the university recreation facility where I swim 4-5 times a week insists on playing pop music nonstop on the PA system in the pool and locker rooms. Especially when I'm doing laps with a kickboard the music comes right through my earplugs. So much for being able to swim (or do much of anything else) "cut off from sound." As in so many other public and commercial spaces, one's mental space is invaded by the products of the "music industry."
9
I ran ten miles or more every day for many years. Twice, I can remember having the runner's high. I did my thinking while running. On Sep 15, 2005, I decided to start triathlon training. My first goal was to teach myself to really swim. In five to seven days per week, it took me nearly a year to get really comfortable in the water. I biked, swam, worked out with weights, and swam daily for several years. Then my knees said: "no more". Running and weight lifting had to stop over a few years. Now swimming will keep me alive. Although I will need knee replacements soon, I have excellent lungs and blood flow. Being in the water is magical for me. After an hour in the water, I come out a better person physically and mentally. I don't know what I would do now if I had not taken up swimming nearly eleven years ago. A former coach at the local high school and avid triathloner inspired me to start swimming after a stroke put an end to his passion. He has since passed away; and I will always be grateful to him. Thank you, Vaughn.
14
I have always loved swimming, and often find that in the pool, somewhere around lap number 30, knotty personal or professional questions simply untie themselves. I always feel like I emerge from the water a better, calmer person.
This summer, I'm trying to swim a marathon's worth of laps in my town pool, charting the distance I've traveled along the Boston Marathon route. So far, I've gone 7.6 miles--from Hopkinton to somewhere in Framingham.
And on that note--I'm off to the pool. Natick, here I come!
This summer, I'm trying to swim a marathon's worth of laps in my town pool, charting the distance I've traveled along the Boston Marathon route. So far, I've gone 7.6 miles--from Hopkinton to somewhere in Framingham.
And on that note--I'm off to the pool. Natick, here I come!
3
Other people pee in the pool. If you enjoy that sort of thing...
2
I too swim nearly every weekday morning, a hundred and twenty laps, the first set a straight eighty and I always say that swimming is my psychiatrist. Its that first abstract experience of passing through those decimals, ten, twenty, etc and the push to try harder and with better form until the decimal sets are diminishing, 'only thirty, twenty, ten to go' and your nearing the end with all the urgency you can muster; and realize, what a miracle the body is! and you touch -its pure joy. Decades ago when I consulted a psychiatrist for depression, he offered me six different pill choices of which I carefully asked what the side effects of each was. In the end I feared they would interfere with my imagination and instead a friend coerced me into a swim. I went and found that afterwards something was missing, mentally, basically, the lead weight in my mind. So I returned. Back then I couldn't cross the pool without stopping, but continued to go till one day I was able to correct my breathing and did fifty straight. Wow, I was ecstatic. And so began the true odyssey of my swimming and its central importance to my creative well-being as well as physical and mental. I have and could write much more on the subject, but for those of us who wake at six and hit the pool knowing that the day will be more fulfilling, no more is needed. Thanks for the article
20
I swim most mornings and find this article supportive of the cool calm that comes over me which begins the minutes my head goes under. Lapping leads to clarity and floating afterward to deep breathing so satisfying, it rivals the end of a yoga practice. The elderly can manage movement that outside the pool might not be possible; aches are often washed away. To be somewhat free of pain, even for awhile, gave my Mother's last years peace in a pool unfound on foot! Thanks for this lovely piece.
11
When I saw the headline for this piece, I thought "I'm not the only one!".
I too am able to really lose myself when I'm swimming laps. I can focus on whatever is on my mind whether it's things I need to prioritize, or a design challenge for work, or whatever. My mind focuses on that and before you know it, I pop out of the water and look at the clock on the wall and 30 minutes have gone by.
I too am able to really lose myself when I'm swimming laps. I can focus on whatever is on my mind whether it's things I need to prioritize, or a design challenge for work, or whatever. My mind focuses on that and before you know it, I pop out of the water and look at the clock on the wall and 30 minutes have gone by.
1
When I'm swimming laps all I can think about is:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3
3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3
3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3
2
Great article. Slipping into a pool, lake or calm ocean to swim is otherworldly. Full support, effortless movement and a sense of isolation does indeed free my mind and transport me to more divergent thinking. I grew up on water, am totally comfortable in water, yet have never had lessons or been an intentionally proficient swimmer. I love it because it is a spiritual experience. Gentle breaststrokes, or a strong crawl, don't miss out on this if you have the opportunity.
2
Amid all the news of violence on the front page, there was this small video of a swimmer. The pull of the water felt like that of my pool and I made my first choice of what to read in the Sunday Times. Even now, I feel a little of the deep relaxation I have after a swim: all stress of caring for my disabled daughter is relieved. It's far better than a glass of wine for dialing back the breaking points. Yes, and solutions come more easily. Thank you for this respite. And I didn't even have to drive to the pool!
2
I would swim every day if I could. Pools, lakes or oceans, the feeling of cool water and the buoyancy one experiences is like none other and add some natural scenery like the White Mountains of New Hampshire or the shores of Cape Cod and it is euphoric. Oh, and then there is the benefit of exercise.
1
The most beautiful illustrated gif accompanies this article. Thanks so much.
I get a lot out of swimming as well and have thought long and hard about why. The things you list are true but they can be attributed to many other forms of regular exercise. I've decided that what makes swimming unique, special is the medium. Water provides this light but complete undercurrent of tactile and auditory stimulation that both relaxes and piques. It gives my thoughts this lovely but subtle background audio track while cutting me off from the standard noises that are the normal soundtrack of my day. It surrounds and muffles, isolates and dampens. This, combined with the repetitive act of swimming, gives my brain just enough to chew on to let me springboard deeper into my thoughts.
2
Can't swim like the author, just can't get the breathing down, and probably too old to learn. But showering sometimes works for me. Sort of like swimming: the water, the lack of distractions. Things pop into my mind: need to do this, forgot about that, what an interesting thought. Maybe that's when I came up with this unusual question about music: do you ever hear music in your dreams? I also find cutting the lawn, raking leaves and shoveling snow are other settings for interesting observations.
4
Friedman writes that "the brain regions central to encoding long-term memory don’t develop sufficiently until around age 1." Neural pathways for "explicit" memory don't develop until later, but those for "implicit" or procedural memory are functional by the time of birth.
2
Richard- thanks for sharing your experience. Working in a corporate world, I find it is incredibly difficult many times to think in the office while sitting on a chair as you are constantly get distracted. It is only when I start runnning or walking in the morning, ideas start to flow and clarity emerges. I have started liking walking meeting with my colleagues. A great way to get some exercise as well good discussion.
Swimming is probably even powerful as you are even more out of touch from rest of the world.
Swimming is probably even powerful as you are even more out of touch from rest of the world.
I experience the same phenomena except that it occurs when I am gardening, not swimming, most Friday afternoons going into the weekends.
I've thought about why. On Friday afternoons when I am mindlessly gardening my thoughts drift to subjects and events of the day and the week. Now I find that the phenomena feeds on itself.
I've thought about why. On Friday afternoons when I am mindlessly gardening my thoughts drift to subjects and events of the day and the week. Now I find that the phenomena feeds on itself.
4
I swim just about everyday, a pool in the winter, because the lake is frozen, and the lake in summer because the water is warm. I don't think. I count strokes, or kicks or laps! I walk better afterwards and think I seep well at night.
2
Just perfect. I get it.
Sometimes I hit the water and it's as I'm being reunited with a cherished friend. The silence, the understanding, the ease on your joints, the quiet strength.
Just love the water!
Sometimes I hit the water and it's as I'm being reunited with a cherished friend. The silence, the understanding, the ease on your joints, the quiet strength.
Just love the water!
3
For me swimming laps has a freeing hypnotic quality due to its rhythmic, repetitive nature. My hands slice silently through the water and my breathing slows as my strokes propel me smoothly forward. Suspended somehow between the past and forever, I am part human part aquatic in a buoyant blue; my thoughts are no longer tightly bound. Free of gravity, I can loosen my mortal coil, leave my cares, and dispassionately consider my past, contemplate my present, and conceive/can see a future with a fluidity that seems impossible in our distracting and demanding world.
8
I share virtually every aspect of your observations about swimming save one.
I swim in order to *stop* thinking rather than to think better. Consciousness without content -- a break from the compulsive mind chatter -- is the preferred state I seek, and nothing achieves that as well as swimming.
I swim in order to *stop* thinking rather than to think better. Consciousness without content -- a break from the compulsive mind chatter -- is the preferred state I seek, and nothing achieves that as well as swimming.
11
Absolutely agree! I wrote most of my thesis chapters while lapping away in my local pool.
YES to swimming.....it's essential for my sanity as well as my physical body. Bliss! Wonderful editorial!
1
I'm addicted to swimming. In the summer, nothing takes precedence over my daily swim in the municipal pool, which is only open when school is out. I can't say that every session produces a breakthrough, but I have had some good ones.
The only other thing that produces the same result is my daily meditation practice. The two practices together are pure bliss.
The only other thing that produces the same result is my daily meditation practice. The two practices together are pure bliss.
How fortunate you are! I have been swimming since I was a child: my parents had me take lessons as a three year old. But the practice has never been so easy for me. Even after spending hundreds of dollars for coaching as an adult, even after joining a masters swim group, even after training for three sprint triathlons, each 25 yard length of the pool is a difficult chore which requires turning OFF the Greek chorus in my head, yelling, "Stop!" Nonetheless, your euphoric experience, and that of two other swimmer/writers, NYT health writer Jane Brody and Chicago Tribune columnist, Barbara Brotman, makes me want to keep hopping in the deep end and hoping for the "flow." I can see the happiness in the eyes of the other, faster swimmers in the pool (not the ones in the far right, "loser lane," with me), so I know it's possible. Just one more lap...
5
The idea that people get their best, most creative thoughts at a particular time or at a particular place or engaged in a particular activity such as shaving or taking a shower?
Obviously the first question to ask is if these particular times, places, activities have anything about them particularly conducive to creative thought or if there is something about most people's environment which really leaves only particular times or places or activities for creative thought.
My belief is that society makes it difficult period for a person to have a creative thought and that the more a person goes against the grain of society and makes own time, place, activity toward creative thought the more one is at odds with society in at least that fashion.
I recollect when in school so much pressure to "provide sources, cite this or that, support this or that, use proper grammar, do not plagiarize, etc." that it really came to the point that why bother to try to form a thought at all, somebody is just going to shoot it down--which is to say there seemed no concept of one's betters (adult, educated) just being able to look at a raw idea and see if there is any merit in it (whether it is worth investigation).
I simply gave up on life to attempt to think. Removed myself from people, worked late night security guard jobs, read a lot, no television--essentially solitude, reading, reflection. Penury. But with one's own mind. Thoughtful in any place, at any time and at almost any activity.
Obviously the first question to ask is if these particular times, places, activities have anything about them particularly conducive to creative thought or if there is something about most people's environment which really leaves only particular times or places or activities for creative thought.
My belief is that society makes it difficult period for a person to have a creative thought and that the more a person goes against the grain of society and makes own time, place, activity toward creative thought the more one is at odds with society in at least that fashion.
I recollect when in school so much pressure to "provide sources, cite this or that, support this or that, use proper grammar, do not plagiarize, etc." that it really came to the point that why bother to try to form a thought at all, somebody is just going to shoot it down--which is to say there seemed no concept of one's betters (adult, educated) just being able to look at a raw idea and see if there is any merit in it (whether it is worth investigation).
I simply gave up on life to attempt to think. Removed myself from people, worked late night security guard jobs, read a lot, no television--essentially solitude, reading, reflection. Penury. But with one's own mind. Thoughtful in any place, at any time and at almost any activity.
2
If as a veteran swimmer you are thinking while swimming then it is a bit of a waste in my opinion. The idea should be to stop thinking, let go and dissolve in the flow. Swimming allows you to be sensual and reach a zen like state at the same time. There is a nice essay by Lauren Groff on this at https://www.pshares.org/issues/spring-2012/swimming-plan-b-essay
1
There is nothing as freeing as swimming.
its,a,great exercise but as the writer expresses a feeling of being complete with nature that's for me is the most peaceful whether in the ocean or a pool at night under the atars.
its,a,great exercise but as the writer expresses a feeling of being complete with nature that's for me is the most peaceful whether in the ocean or a pool at night under the atars.
1
Agree wholeheartedly. Probably the greatest mental benefit of swimming is that you are unplugged from electronic gadgets for the duration!
For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, swimming is an activity that clears and refreshes the mind in a way that is done by nothing else. Among my fellow swimmers, we often remark on the reason that we swim. We swim because of the way the way that it makes us feel when we walk out the gate from the pool: alive, awake and ready for anything. I have been keeping track for 30 years about the days that it has made me feel better and more alive and those when i have felt the opposite. The percentage score is 100 to 0.
6
oddly... or not so oddly, a shower is that for me. I have no idea how long I'm in when it clicks and I'm done. like your swimming... i'm cut off from of the world. only sound is shower. and my "shower ideas" are always my best.
2
All great ideas are born when rotating one's arms over one's head.
1
Perfect... Just what we needed. Now the pool is going to be even more crowded...
5
Swimming frees me from recently acquired physical disabilities. When I swim laps, I can ignore land-restrictions now imposed on my body and mind. That has to make my brain feel and work better. Every day, I thank my own swim teacher-father and God for swimming. Next up, returning to my bicycle.
1
My sister swims seven days a week. She tells all who ask that she takes the time either to try and solve the problems of the world or try to work out how she's going to add a pocket to her new pants. While I don't see evidence that she's succeeded with the former, her redesigned pants are a smash.
3
Yes: go with the flow! I also low to swim-- great, low impact exercise, a sort of aquatic yoga to really stretch-out. And I especially miss Temescal Pool in Oakland which is an outdoor pool open nearly everyday year round, but here in Budapest there are of course thermal pools to bath and swim in. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research on the flow state makes the case that humans crave and seek out experiences that challenge them sufficiently (but not too much!) to loose their normal self absorbed mental chatter and egoistic. And if we can't find healthy forms of flow state, we'll look for other ways to flow--like speeding in a car. Swimming is for me one of the ultimate ways to flow, an aquatic form of meditation--focusing on the breath, letting the thoughts come and go. For some folks swimming laps is as boring as, well, doing sitting meditation. For me, both are invaluable tools, essential practices for sanity and well being.
2
I have been swimming since I ever remember. For the past 20 years I have had the luck to swim in the waters surrounding Turkey and Greece. I have made it a point to spend a few weeks a year in these waters and log few km of swimming per day. I am in complete agreement with the writer. Swimming long distances in the sea frees my thoughts in ways I have not experienced on land. The combination of rhythmic breathing, the strokes and floating body, almost puts me in a trans. Unfortunately, I do not feel the same way swimming in a pool. So, the euphoria has to be experienced from Summer to Summer.
1
"No drug — recreational or prescription — capable of inducing the tranquil euphoria brought on by swimming... You suddenly become aware that time has passed. You are not sure what elapsed in that strange discontinuity, but the solution to a problem that escaped you on land is perfectly obvious emerging from the water — a rapturous experience."
Psilocybin.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906025/
Psilocybin.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906025/
1
Thank you for this beautiful essay. I may need to get back in the pool! For people like me with chronic pain, swimming also offers us relief from constantly aching joints.
3
So many times I have thought that swimming is the perfect mental and emotional retreat. It is zen in the smooth repetitive stoke and even breathing. I am a designer and have generated many wonderful pieces of jewelry while swimming. Swimming is so personal that I surely thought I was the only one enjoying this. I, too, have a connection to my parents with swimming and it is sweet.
4
Lovely article.
Two questions: Is it possible that the explanation is the slight uptick in oxygenation, or the slight modification to the blood's acid-base chemistry, that comes with exercise? I am not much of a swimmer, but I have always noticed that doing voice warmups - which involve a lot of breathing - always yields a trove of interesting and satisfying thoughts.
And (perhaps the answer to this one is more obvious): Why does swimming always make one feel so SEXY?
Two questions: Is it possible that the explanation is the slight uptick in oxygenation, or the slight modification to the blood's acid-base chemistry, that comes with exercise? I am not much of a swimmer, but I have always noticed that doing voice warmups - which involve a lot of breathing - always yields a trove of interesting and satisfying thoughts.
And (perhaps the answer to this one is more obvious): Why does swimming always make one feel so SEXY?
1
Our water aerobics teacher's mantra, recited faithfully at the end of a workout, is "...there, everybody feels skinny and pretty after that!"
2
Thank you! Your insightful writing on swimming reminds me of why I love to swim. Except I stop after 10 laps, but you describe getting over the hurdle of boredom, which is often what pulls me out of the swimming pool. In the future, my approach to swimming will be to reach the moment when my mind is free to revel in nonlinear, associative thought. A place that is familiar when I meditate or practice yoga. Swimming was always about exercise and breath now it will be that and more.
What's old is new again. Laborare est orare. It took me a long time to realize that this motto isn't just about making a virtue of necessity, It is about effect of repetitive actions on freeing the mind,
3
the failure to grasp this, call it health of the mind, is a social as well as a psychological/
medical issue...not simply play or leisure (although more of that would help) the reflective aspects of downtime are essential to the refurbishing of mind needed for meeting the day-to-day head on, especially in these fast past, information (and inanity) crammed days...the situation is extremely critical for those whose work does not permit or encourage "down time."
while the strict institutionalization of "the tranquil euphoria" is not recommended, policies in the working world and preparation in the educational world for grasp and practice would be the least expensive form of social advancement (or rehabilitation, if you will),
imaginable.
medical issue...not simply play or leisure (although more of that would help) the reflective aspects of downtime are essential to the refurbishing of mind needed for meeting the day-to-day head on, especially in these fast past, information (and inanity) crammed days...the situation is extremely critical for those whose work does not permit or encourage "down time."
while the strict institutionalization of "the tranquil euphoria" is not recommended, policies in the working world and preparation in the educational world for grasp and practice would be the least expensive form of social advancement (or rehabilitation, if you will),
imaginable.
I learned to swim when I was four years old, and still remember how gracious my parents were when we'd go on road trips and they'd purposely reserve rooms at motels that had pools. Even now, at age 50, the sight of pools and the smell of chlorine excite me like a kid on Christmas morning. Something about them just lights a spark within, the way the presence of cats and dogs in a house do, although that's a different conversation, I suppose.
And it's that spark that draws me in, knowing that I can be where other people are - I never swim where I'm alone; too dangerous - but still tend to my thoughts without interruption. The underwater "noise" is incomparable to any other experience for me. Perhaps it's a throwback to the tender sounds within my mother's womb.
Great article.
And it's that spark that draws me in, knowing that I can be where other people are - I never swim where I'm alone; too dangerous - but still tend to my thoughts without interruption. The underwater "noise" is incomparable to any other experience for me. Perhaps it's a throwback to the tender sounds within my mother's womb.
Great article.
7
I have been a daily swimmer for a year now. I can do 45 laps without stopping --- a year ago I swam half a lap, had to stop, swam half a lap, had to stop again. Now it is one continuous flow and I know that feeling of letting go of which you write. There is nothing like it. Swimming has improved my weight, sleep, it had made my vacations great and it is where I met the man with whom I have fallen in love. We swim together regularly. The feeling of the water running over my skin is delicious. Of course, I spend A LOT more on shampoo and conditioner, but it is worth it. Thank you.
31
I swim first thing every morning in my Endless Pool. I don't even néed to be aware of the upcoming wall. Part exercise, part meditation I know it makes my day. When I can't swim I feel that something is lacking. Some of my best ideas, best outlines for writing come as a result of being in water for the first 40 minutes of each waking day.
2
All of us who swim know the Zen you speak of. It is, indeed, why we do it.
2
Thank you for writing this and the graphic is cool. I never was attuned to the scientific basis for why I feel like the pool is my sanctuary and why I know in my gut it is the best exercise for me to help with physical and mental health. It is indeed a place to be free of noise and commotion in this crazy world and a place to rest one's weary soul. The scientific parts as you have explained, will only make me feel taller after I swim and lead to a bigger smile on my face. I have spent many years in the pool and I too have such terrific memories of swimming in all kind of pools. I was on a team from the age of 8 and thru college and was never top dog, but I so loved the camaraderie of swimming on a team and working hard in workouts against the clock. Certain workouts were very tough but the stamina and will to get it done and try hard made me feel all the better compared to an easy one. I hope I am able to keep swimming until I am very old.
2
Swimming laps or distances is repetitive and meditative. There is no scenery, so no visual distractions. You can feel where your stroke needs work if you like, and work on it. And of course, there is the counting of laps, and if you like, of strokes, and kicks. Everything else is pushed out of your brain. What a tremendous relief. After a while you can just go on autopilot, which is like wiping your conscious thoughts to nothing. This lets your unconscious kick things to the top, solving things that have been stuck.
2
Dr. Friedman got part of the way there, but maybe he should get back in the pool to figure out the rest. Not only is there no sound, as Friedman mentions, there's no distractions whatsoever: nothing to look at but a black lane stripe on a concrete pool floor, no smell, and even very little physical sensation compared to running or aerobics. If you've ever swam in both a pool and in the ocean over coral for exercise you'll quickly notice a difference in the amount of thinking that Friedman describes.
And the increased blood flow to the brain, not only due to the increased vascular pressure from the water and the increased blood flow from constantly contracting muscles, but also because of the body's prone position in the water, helps as well.
And the increased blood flow to the brain, not only due to the increased vascular pressure from the water and the increased blood flow from constantly contracting muscles, but also because of the body's prone position in the water, helps as well.
8
It's not just the repetition, which competent swimmers can do without thought, which allows thoughts to float. It's also the regulated breathing and the lack of pain from outside (e.g. pavement) sources. Any pain is internal, and you're in control of it.
1
What a coincidence! Just two hours ago I was swimming in a neighborhood pool, thinking, "This is the only place I have space to think." I had been stuck on an article I didn't know how to shape, but as my body flowed through the water, the words at last wove together. Such happiness! Thank you for the solidarity and the lovely piece.
- Lillie
www.AroundTheWorldL.com
- Lillie
www.AroundTheWorldL.com
3
Couldn't agree more.
At the age of 55, I divide my workouts between swimming, biking and running to "rotate my injuries". While I typically listen to rock'n'roll while I run, and listen for traffic when I bike, nothing beats the silent meditation of breathing and pulling through the water in the semidarkness of an early morning pool.
Thanks for sharing, and for planting the idea of swimming the Dardanelles (if things ever settle down in Turkey).
At the age of 55, I divide my workouts between swimming, biking and running to "rotate my injuries". While I typically listen to rock'n'roll while I run, and listen for traffic when I bike, nothing beats the silent meditation of breathing and pulling through the water in the semidarkness of an early morning pool.
Thanks for sharing, and for planting the idea of swimming the Dardanelles (if things ever settle down in Turkey).
As a lap swimmer, I share your enthusiasm for being in the pool. People sometimes ask me if I get bored going back and forth. Never! It frees your brain doing an activity that is vaguely sensual, sliding through the water, yet otherwise not distracted by the constant input to the senses when out of the water. One factor that has received too little attention is being weightless suspended in water. I think this is what differentiates swimming from any other form of exercise.
2
This says it all for those of us who swim every day. Therapy, meditation, exercise, solitude, rebirth, a constant immersion in a stream of rejuvenation. Swimming is balm for the body and massage for the mind.
2
Swimming is true zen for me. I count laps, so my focus is on what number lap I'm swimming. Thoughts come & go, but I always have to go back to my count. One, one, one, two, two, two.... I subscribe to the Blue Mind. Being in or near water is essential to me.
3
I, too, consider swimming my favorite drug for its benefits to body and mind. The weightlessness of my body in the water dials down achiness while increasing the suppleness in my joints, spine and muscles.
But it's the regular rhythm of breathing and movement that I most love for producing both invigoration and relaxation. My best swims are free of thought—my own version of mindfulness meditation.
While deep problem solving may be an outcome of a good swim, it’s not a goal. Yet judging by how earnestly my coworkers and family members will exhort me “to get in the water,” I am sure my post-swim disposition allows me to perform more clearly and calmly.
But it's the regular rhythm of breathing and movement that I most love for producing both invigoration and relaxation. My best swims are free of thought—my own version of mindfulness meditation.
While deep problem solving may be an outcome of a good swim, it’s not a goal. Yet judging by how earnestly my coworkers and family members will exhort me “to get in the water,” I am sure my post-swim disposition allows me to perform more clearly and calmly.
14
Maybe it's just me, but there's something about immersion in water -- anywhere -- that quickly removes extraneous thoughts from my mind and "clears the deck", so to speak. Call it stress relief if you like. I don't need to swim or even jump into a pool because a shower works just fine. Surprisingly, in place of a shower, even running a wet washcloth over my face for as little as 5-10 seconds can have much the same effect. In fact, having lots of water on one's face is probably the key because simply washing my hands doesn't produce the same result.
I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
5
I regularly have similar mental breakthroughs when doing resistance training, but only when I'm doing it with my trainer. When working out on my own there are no breakthroughs.
The difference is that when on my own I'm counting reps, trying to sense the degree of muscle stretch, and even planng the next set. When working with my trainer, my mind is not engaged in the activity and is free.
The difference is that when on my own I'm counting reps, trying to sense the degree of muscle stretch, and even planng the next set. When working with my trainer, my mind is not engaged in the activity and is free.
1
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
1
Just as I stopped swimming 5 years ago they had introduced technology that let you listen to music while you were swimming. I've always enjoyed listening to music when I hiked but I resisted the urge to spoil the solitude that one feels when you're underwater by listening to Motown. It may or may not be fetal but there is a feeling one gets when swimming that can best be described as primal. We didn't come from dust, we came from the ocean and something happens when we return to that primal environment. And if you want to add a little Motown, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.
2
Sleeping and swimming outdoors have been among my most precious activities for health, relaxation, and "recharging" throughout my life. Nothing else comes close.
1
I've found the same thing with my best ideas coming while swimming, but I think it's the presence of water, not the exercise. I've had so many programming breakthroughs in the shower that I joked with my boss that I needed a home-office deduction for my bathroom. But showers are for single problems; swimming is for the bigger issues.
13
Thanks for your confirmation of the effect I mentioned in my comment. Also, I remember reading somewhere that JFK had a habit of taking several showers every day during his time in the Oval Office. Maybe power showers are even better than power naps! (Not so sure about 3-Martini lunches.)
1
Thank you for your wonderful essay on the joy of swimming. I, too, have been swimming all my life, and associate it with a loving and admired parent (my mother). I've been swimming daily at our community pool during what has turned out to be a very hot summer where I live. My husband and I share a lane for lap swimming, which lends a nice communal feeling to what is generally a solitary activity. Swimming in cool water also lowers the body temperature, which I find mentally and physically exhilarating.
6
What ever happened to theories of 20 years ago, that distance swimming's repetitive, whole body activity occupies and/or calms your mind enough to free you to get a different perspective, whether from endorphins (runner's high), more alpha waves (people commonly notice as the associative state just before you fall asleep, while meditating, or zoning out like when you lick an ice cream cone or other treat of childhood), or because having some of your brain occupied frees up other approaches to thinking?
5
I totally agree with this.
For me, a swim is like taking a tranquilizer. Afterwards, any stress or anxiety I entered the pool with just doesn't seem so important.
For me, a swim is like taking a tranquilizer. Afterwards, any stress or anxiety I entered the pool with just doesn't seem so important.
1
Let's begin with the story: the local tyrant contracts the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes to detect fraud in the manufacture of a golden crown. Said tyrant, name of Hiero, suspects his goldsmith of leaving out some measure of gold and replacing it with silver in a wreath dedicated to the gods. Archimedes accepts the challenge and, during a subsequent trip to the public baths, realizes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced--making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume. Because gold weighs more than silver, he reasons that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier to reach the same weight as one composed only of gold; therefore it would displace more water than its pure gold counterpart. Realizing he has hit upon a solution, the young Greek math whiz leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying "Eureka! Eureka!" Or, translated: "I've found it! I've found it!
2
Lovely essay that conjures my morning lake swims. Mesmerizing illustration by Rebecca Bird.
I swim, too, but if I start thinking about anything else, I forget to count my laps; I try to swim at least five-six hundred yards about three days a week. One thing I do sometimes is to convert the yardage into meters. Then I don't forget my distance traversed.
When you swim in a pool, you are exposed to multiple chemicals, urine, and other body fluids. When you cross the Dardanelles, you are exposed to raw and treated sewage. The insights of swimmers are tainted. The best exercise for insights is curling, where you are exposed only to newly swept ice.
1
I swim. And I have never read about the experience I have in the water that so succinctly and beautifully describes the why of it all. Thank you.
1
This happens to me, too, when I swim.
Absolutely! For years I have swum regularly in my university pool around the middle of the day. When I was still writing and doing research, I would often return to the lab a fresh idea about whatever had been bothering me during the morning.
1
Water does it for me, too...but even the shower will do. If I got stuck in writing my Masters' thesis, I hopped into the shower, clean or not. Helped tremendously.
What a lovely piece of writing ...
And, I thought I was alone in experiencing that !
I have always wondered - is it because swimming is unnaturally natural to us ? is it the atavism of our life in a broth 4.5 billion years ago ?
I have always wondered - is it because swimming is unnaturally natural to us ? is it the atavism of our life in a broth 4.5 billion years ago ?
2
First world problems.
3
My husband is an international playwright and has written several novels. He says he gets his best ideas in the water. He swims about five days out of seven. Plots and characters take shape in this suspended state of bliss and flow. It's magical. By the way, Carl Jung believed that dreams of immersion in water represented an opportunity for the wedding of opposites and personal transformation. Cool, yes?
2
Thanks for sharing this. I feel much the same way, and other regular swimmers I know feel the same, too. In 60+ years, I've tried many types of exercise and nothing comes close to the way I feel when I swim - healthier, happier, energized. I'm not sure I get my best ideas when I swim, but I do know that if I'm having a stressful day, it only takes 10 minutes in the water to de-stress. And if I go a week without swimming? Well, let's just say I'm a nicer person when I swim three times a week. :-)
2
Same thing happens to me!
Me too. I was reminded of this yesterday morning at Walden Pond, which I hadn't visited for several years.
There's nothing else to do in the water but think. Before the invasion of the cell phone and the Internet, swimming was just an escape from phones and people and going to the postoffice. Now that there's so much more noise to flee, it's even sweeter, and probably more shocking to the system, this one place where we're completely alone, sans phone and www.
Thanks for the lovely piece.
There's nothing else to do in the water but think. Before the invasion of the cell phone and the Internet, swimming was just an escape from phones and people and going to the postoffice. Now that there's so much more noise to flee, it's even sweeter, and probably more shocking to the system, this one place where we're completely alone, sans phone and www.
Thanks for the lovely piece.
8
I had a spiritual experience in the water years ago while swimming: I was swimming laps when I felt these words in my body--There is Love. It was the message that I needed to hear. I will never forget it. And I am often reminded of that thought/sensation/feeling and how remarkable it was. I have not had anything else like that happen while swimming, but I do some of my best thinking in the water while rhythmically doing freestyle.
2
As an engineer I solve most of my design problems while swimming rather than at work. My only difficulty is that it's hard to take notes or make sketches ... everything has be done mentally.
1
While swimming is one the hardest sports to adopt as your main wellness activity, completing a workout of laps provides a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment beyond any other sport I've experienced. As you go from struggling to complete one lap to the point of losing all sense of time or number of laps completed, you not only get a physical benefit of stretching your body through the water but also attain a sense of joy from the confidence that you come back to this same good feeling the next day. Actually, the best part of swimming is knowing that you may still be doing laps, maybe a little slower, after many other things from your youth are unattainable.
6
Rejoining the Community Center on Monday. Thanks!
3
Too bad suitable pools for laps are incredibly scarce in NYC.
1
This is true. I cycle and swim. But only swimming matters. I say we were fish once upon a time, and we love it still.
10
I, too, am an avid swimmer, and can't imagine a week without it. It is a constant companion that restores not only my body, but also my mind. Apart from the myriad benefits already mentioned by the author, I also find the water to be one of the only environments these days for complete technological escape. No head phones, no music, no chit-chat...
I relish, and depend on, the uninterrupted, contemplative time it allows! Many days, I step into the water high-strung and stressed from the days' events, only to step out an hour later, feeling 100% relaxed, focused and in-tune with my mind and body. The best drug, in my mind.
I relish, and depend on, the uninterrupted, contemplative time it allows! Many days, I step into the water high-strung and stressed from the days' events, only to step out an hour later, feeling 100% relaxed, focused and in-tune with my mind and body. The best drug, in my mind.
14
i love this article -- it perfectly describes how I feel when I swim laps... which is nearly every day. At first I thought I needed a waterproof ipod but I decided it was better to disconnect and listen to the water, my breathing or just the nothingness. I think about everything and nothing and when I'm done I feel calm, with organized thoughts. Oh, and because I never learned to breathe proficiently I swim with a snorkel. Thanks for writing this piece.
18
Yea. Another snorkel swimmer. Can't breathe without and keeps my neck from hurting.
I love swimming for the same reasons. I can completely unplug and focus on my breathing, my stroke, my turns...at the same time, I can think through things too tough to do on land. Thankfully, it's impossible to cry underwater.
2
I too enjoy the fluid autonomous repetition of a body in motion. I originally found it in distance running. The zen'ish tranquility of moving smoothly while working hard frees the mind to ponder and reflect. I always felt better after a run unless it was a race. Then not so much reflection.
Later I was able to find this again in construction. Once you are proficient in labour it often frees the mind to think. Again this can be found in many repetitive things ie. needle point, cycling, gardening etc.
I too have ended up in a pool swimming laps. Bad knees from all of the above. Second replacement days away. Hooray!
By the by, Cannibis, in my estimation also frees the mind to think and enjoy tranquil euphoria. Your reaction may differ.
Thanks for the reflective thoughts. Empathetically agreed.
Later I was able to find this again in construction. Once you are proficient in labour it often frees the mind to think. Again this can be found in many repetitive things ie. needle point, cycling, gardening etc.
I too have ended up in a pool swimming laps. Bad knees from all of the above. Second replacement days away. Hooray!
By the by, Cannibis, in my estimation also frees the mind to think and enjoy tranquil euphoria. Your reaction may differ.
Thanks for the reflective thoughts. Empathetically agreed.
1
Thank you for writing and sharing Mr. Friedman. I relate very much so to the flow of swimming. I think what you are relating here is similar to the idea of "transcending" the self or the constantly thinking "monkey" mind that can torment us humans; an idea that my studies in Buddhism often refer to. When one is in the flow of a swim, one just exists in the act.
14
Taking time out even if it is just to do nothing is absolutely necessary for optimal cognitive function and development.
I think of the brain as a computer that needs periodic downtime for maintenance and hardware/software upgrades. Your brain cannot shut down for maintenance and work at the same time.
Sleep is probably covering some of the needed downtime but my experiences with acquisition of skills such as playing a musical instrument suggest more downtime is needed. Sleep is just not enough.
I periodically take breaks from my practice discipline, sometimes for several days, and it is not unusual for me to notice that my brain has 'installed a new feature' when I return to my instruments.
Unfortunately, people are not generally able to quiet their minds when doing purely nothing. Thoughts abhor a void.
Repetitive physical motion quiets the mind very efficiently. And, of course, the activity itself is highly conducive to health. Once the mind is quiet, it is able to link to the great stream whence all truly creative thoughts arrive...
I think of the brain as a computer that needs periodic downtime for maintenance and hardware/software upgrades. Your brain cannot shut down for maintenance and work at the same time.
Sleep is probably covering some of the needed downtime but my experiences with acquisition of skills such as playing a musical instrument suggest more downtime is needed. Sleep is just not enough.
I periodically take breaks from my practice discipline, sometimes for several days, and it is not unusual for me to notice that my brain has 'installed a new feature' when I return to my instruments.
Unfortunately, people are not generally able to quiet their minds when doing purely nothing. Thoughts abhor a void.
Repetitive physical motion quiets the mind very efficiently. And, of course, the activity itself is highly conducive to health. Once the mind is quiet, it is able to link to the great stream whence all truly creative thoughts arrive...
79
This comment should be a short article! It is succinct, informative, and simply wonderful!
1
@ Taopraxis
Nice comment. Any idea what that " great stream"
Is? I play also and perceive its existence when creativity is flowing.
Nice comment. Any idea what that " great stream"
Is? I play also and perceive its existence when creativity is flowing.
1
totally in sync w writer. I do same in salt water swimming where I swim until only chaffing halts the effort . The littleness vs bigness immediately quiets my churning thoughts. Want to make that same swim!!!!!!! Thank you for wonderful article.