How Does Holistic Swimming Focus on the Mind

What to Expect From Holistic Swimming

Holistic swimming, like any other workout, will help you improve your physical fitness. But that’s not all. The practice only takes around 30 minutes, so it isn’t a time-consuming commitment. And since you’re in water, you can still reap the benefits even if you’re not an Olympic-level athlete. With holistic swimming, you can expect to benefit from more than just a more toned physique. You’ll also experience less anxiety and an easier time managing negative emotions. And since you’re working out both your body and mind, holistic swimming has even been shown to improve your cognitive abilities, such as your memory.

How Does Holistic Swimming Work?

When you exercise, you’re naturally going to get a boost in endorphins. These feel-good hormones can help you manage your mood and encourage a positive outlook. Exercises that take your brain into account, however, can increase these endorphin levels even more significantly. When you’re doing something like running or lifting weights, your brain is focused on the task at hand and isn’t thinking much about anything else. But when you add in mindfulness practices to your exercise, like meditation, you can use your body as a conduit for relaxing and calming your mind. Holistic swimming is a prime example of this. When you’re in water, you’re forced to be mindful about your movements because you’re using a different set of muscles than you would otherwise. You have to think about how your toes are positioned when you kick and how your arms are moving when you’re using them for momentum.

Benefits of Holistic Swimming

If you’re looking to exercise your mind and body, holistic swimming is a great way to start. The practice has been shown to help improve stress, anxiety, and even your cognitive abilities. Exercising in water can also help boost your immune system and encourage relaxation. So if you’re someone who suffers from anxiety or stress-related ailments, water exercises can be a great way to help manage those symptoms. If you’re worried that swimming will help you lose muscle mass like other aerobic exercises, you can put those fears to rest. Exercises in water increase your strength, stamina, and endurance, so you can still strengthen your muscles while relaxing your mind.

Tips for Your First Time

If you’ve never done a holistic swimming routine before, you might be wondering where to start. Luckily, the practice is fairly flexible, so you can tailor your routine to your fitness level. If you’re just looking to get your feet wet pun intended, you can start by doing a light warm-up and then taking a few moments to close your eyes and meditate or do some gentle breathing exercises to calm your mind. If you’re looking to do some more advanced exercises, you can try an aerobic routine or a few laps in the lane. You can even incorporate things like yoga poses or lifting weights underwater to add more to your holistic swimming routine.

Exercises You Can Practice in a Pool

If you’re still not convinced that holistic swimming is right for you, the exercises you can perform in a pool are endless. But the following are a few favorites. To perform this exercise, you simply need to strap some paddles to your feet and take to the pool. Alternate kicking with your right and left leg while keeping your head above water and your hips at the surface. Plyometric push-offs. This exercise is like a combination of the above two. Start by strapping the paddles to your feet and standing in the shallow end of the pool. Press off the ground and then immediately push off the wall with as much force as you can. Repeat for about 10 to 12 laps. Power walking. This exercise is perfect for people who don’t have time for a more rigorous routine but still want to reap the benefits of holistic swimming. Simply walk quickly in the water with a push-off at the end of each step.

Conclusion

Holistic swimming is a great way to exercise both your body and mind all at once. And since you can do it in a pool, you can reap the benefits year-round. If you’re looking to incorporate more mindfulness into your routine, holistic swimming is a great place to start. The practice is easy to get into and can be tailored to any fitness level. Plus, the added benefit of being in water means you can still get the same results even when the weather outside is frightful.