The web site ivillage.com will publish Maura Rhodes’s article on Mindfulness in sport this week. Maura interviewed me to get advice on how to practice mindfulness in swimming.  They asked me to provide a sample practice to accompany the article. Readers of Swimming That Changes Your Life get first look.

Total Immersion teaches swimming as a practice—in the spirit of yoga and ta’i chi– rather than a workout. The first principle of swimming as a practice is to let go of the usual goal of Getting to the Other End. Your new goal is to Be Aware of Every Stroke.  Another word for mindful swimming is intentional swimming. It works best when you target a single, highly specific, element in your stroke. The foundation skill of effortless and enjoyable swimming is Balance–or feeling ‘weightless’ in the water. This series of three focal points are designed to improve Balance in the crawl stroke.

Hang Your Head

While stroking ‘hang’ your head–release its weight–until it feels weightless. Neither hold it up, nor press it down; just let it go.  When you release it, concentrate on feeling that it’s cushioned by the water.  Finally  notice if you feel a new relaxation—and maybe freedom of movement—in neck and shoulders.

Float Your Arm Forward . . . Slowly.

Next focus intently on the extending arm. (N.B. Ignore the one pushing back.)  Feel the same ‘cushion’ supporting your arm as you extend. Watch for—and eliminate–bubbles in your stroke (looking down, not forward.) Finally, explore how slowly you can float your arm forward . . . and try to extend slightly farther  than usual.

Calm Your Legs

Your weightless upper body should help your lower body feel lighter than usual. Take advantage by ‘calming’ and relaxing your legs. Instead of churning them busily and noisily, let them ‘draft behind’ your upper body. Strive for the easiest, quietest, and most streamlined movement possible.

Practice Tips:

1. Before practicing the three focal points, swim a few lengths as you usually do. Count your strokes and rate your effort from 1 (Effortless) to 5 (Exhausting).  Repeat this exercise after each focal point to measure how they affect your ease and efficiency.

2. Practice each focal point by doing a series of learning/familiarizing repeats followed by a series of practicing/memorizing repeats.

• Learning/Familiarizing Swim a series of short (4 to 6 strokes, or 10 yards or less) repeats. Push off the wall, swim a short distance. Catch your breath and return to where you started. These repeats serve two purposes: (i) to break the habit of feeling obliged to complete every length you start; and (ii) to form a new habit of keen and undistracted attention.  Do at least four of these, but continue as long as you feel yourself discovering new sensations or nuances.
• Practicing/Memorizing Once you feel familiar with the new intention and sensation, swim farther—perhaps one, not more than two, pool lengths. Rest for 3 to 5 cleansing breaths after each. Continue visualizing your modified stroke as you do. Continue swimming the longer repeats as long as they feel as good or better than the shorter ones. If they don’t feel as good, resume shorter repeats to better imprint the new habit. Before progressing to the next focal point, count strokes and rate your effort. How do they compare to your former way of swimming?

This lesson is based entirely on whole-stroke practice. But most new swimmers experience find it much easier to learn Balance by mixing skill drills, like Superman Glide and Skate, with the short whole-stroke repeats described above. The next best thing to learning TI from a Certified Coach is to become Your Own Best Coach with the aid of our DVD  Total Immersion Self-Coached Workshop in 10 Lessons. Order one today. Swim better in 2012.