Can swimming be revolutionary?

Hi there, This month at The Water’s Edge, I’m inviting us to tune into Connection. Connection to your body.Connection to the water.Connection to the people and practices that help you stay with what matters — especially in this time when things feel uncertain, chaotic, and messy. Rather than fixing or pushing, February is about re-establishing contact and noticing what changes when you stay in relationship with your swimming — and yourself. Inside The Water’s Edge, you’ll find weekly polls…

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…

What happens when you let go? Most people think learning to swim is about getting to the side. Kicking and pulling with all your might until you can grab something solid. And yes, swimming is a lifesaving sport. We do need to know how to save ourselves. But in my experience, what really shifts things isn’t more effort. The harder I try to find each shape in the water, the more robotic I feel. When I give myself permission to let go and send my energy forward, I flow. The answer isn’t effort….

Do you feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over? I do. With my little swimmers, and my adult swimmers. Humming. Lobster. Books. Spearfish. Streamline. Whale fin. Wing. Over and over and over. But that’s the point. Each time we do it again is a chance to notice something new. To let the body feel a little more. To choose presence over performance. Each stroke becomes an opportunity to meet the moment, rather than rush through it. But in life, I forget. I want instant results. And…

What are you training for? When people ask me, “What are you training for?” my answer is simple: life. Sure, I like to take on a big swim each year (my version of misogi)—this time, I’m celebrating my 50th trip around the sun with a 50-mile swim in a Vermont lake. But here’s the thing: I don’t want training to feel like something separate from the rest of my life. I want it to fit into my days, not take them over. Training for Life, Not Just a Goal If you’ve ever looked at the long list of…

The means matters. There are many lenses through which to view the world, why swimming? Have you ever had a moment where you lost track of time? Whether your ideas flowed effortlessly in your writing, your perfectly coordinated movements allowed you to bound down the trail, you got lost in the notes and rhythms playing an instrument, or had a rich and thought provoking conversation with a dear friend? That feeling—where mind and body are seamlessly synchronized—is called flow. Flow is more…