Find Refuge in the Water Last September I turned 50. I thought that I was handling “middle age” just fine – until I had to pull out the reading glasses that I reluctantly purchased – I broke down crying. But that’s just one piece of it. The swim studio project I have been pouring myself into has been dragging out, tangled in unexpected regulatory hurdles and unforeseen expenses. Every step forward seems to come with a new roadblock. And beyond my own struggles, there’s the flailing economy, a…

Start on a mat Last week I was in Mexico doing yoga two times a day and swimming in between. While I’ve practiced yoga on and off for decades, something is really starting to click for me – not just on the mat, in the water. The word ‘yoga’ literally translates to yoke, or to unite. Yoke, as in the piece of wood that connects two animals together to pull a cart so that they can work together. In a yoga practice, the aim is to create a union between your mind and your body. As my yoga teacher…

Got a support system? Or just swimming solo? This week in the water, one of my little swimmers pushed off from one side of the pool, picked up a sinky, stood up, and proudly yelled out, “Mom, look!” Mom looked up from her phone, smiled, and gave him the thumbs up he was hoping for. With that simple recognition, courage bloomed—and he did it again. And again. At one point, he came up surprised, choking on water, and looked straight at me. I gently reminded him, “We’re not fish—we can’t breathe…

Learn to Listen to the Water I worked with new swimmers this week—and others I’ve been guiding for years—ranging in age from 4 to 64 (give or take). Some were just learning to hear themselves hum underwater for the first time. Others were exploring how to release tension and let the water hold them. Different ages, different goals. But a common thread runs through them all. The thing that unlocks real progress isn’t found with a kickboard or pull buoy. It runs deeper than watching the clock…

The art of trusting your limits. After I sent yesterday’s email about my own hesitation to turn the shower to cold, a few people responded. One person shared they look forward to cold showers, and another said they’ve done them for so long that a shower feels incomplete without a cold burst at the end. Thank you for sharing—these responses made me feel part of something! And then someone else wrote about a different kind of moment. They had a swim practice scheduled—something they usually…

You know that feeling you get when you… …come out of an unproductive meeting. …finally break away from scrolling social media. …peel yourself off the couch after binge watching a few too many episodes. …get sucked into your phone and can’t even remember why you picked it up. Malaise. Discontent. Annoyed. This is the opposite of flow. Too much of this leads to an unfulfilling hour, day, week, month, year(s)! I’ll be the first to raise my hand. I’m guilty of bringing my phone to the…