Swimming Lessons

A while ago, I gradually realized that the one thing that has always been with me is my body and my mind. My feelings are always there with me. Once I thought about this, I suddenly felt the urge to take better care of both my body and my mind.

Because of long-term stress and indulgence, my body had become quite heavy, burdened with too much. But over the past month or so, it’s been getting lighter, and I feel so much better. My mind is the same. It, too, has been carrying too much weight and needs to lighten up.

There’s this saying going around online recently: single people are all turning into athletes. I guess I’m training for the Olympics too. I’ve started running, hiking, strength training, rock climbing, playing pickleball and badminton. And recently, I started learning how to swim. Swimming makes me feel great. When I'm in the water, I focus on my movements. I train my motions and muscles. After swimming, my mind and body feel completely relaxed, as if all the stress and worries have vanished. I can concentrate better at work and sleep more soundly at night.

I can feel the water wrapping around me, feel my body moving through it, feel my own breathing. All of this has become increasingly fascinating to me. The more relaxed I am, the better I can float on the water. Panicking after swallowing water, on the other hand, makes you sink—it’s actually quite dangerous.

My body is starting to look better. I can now fit into pants I bought three years ago. My body is getting slimmer as the fat gradually melts away. I feel like I can keep improving. I want to make my body better. My mind, too, will follow along with my body and my overall state, slowly getting better together. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that rock climbing and back exercises have made my back muscles so tight that it’s affecting my freestyle arm strokes. Overworking my back makes it hard to rotate properly. So, I might need to cut back or adjust my back workouts for now.

Weight really is an important indicator. Looking back, whenever I was light, happy, and taking good care of myself, my weight was always in a good range. And whenever my weight shot up and refused to come down, my overall state wasn’t great either—it was a sign that something was off.

Everything is getting better, slowly but surely.

In my swimming class, I’ve also met two classmates:

One is a Japanese woman named Kazu. After the first class, when the instructor was collecting the kickboards, I noticed she still had one. Turns out, she brought her own, with her name written on it—it was such an obviously Japanese name. Before the third class started, I ran into her and chatted a bit, learning about her background. She told me that when she was younger, she used to swim at the beach in Tokyo, but a near-drowning incident left her with a huge psychological scar, and she hadn’t gone back to the beach for years. She described how terrifying it was to be dragged further and further from the shore by the waves, unable to swim back no matter how hard she tried. I asked her how long she’d been in Australia without going to the beach. She said, "I came here when I was your age, and ever since then, I’ve only dared to swim near the shore with a board." I’m not sure if she could actually guess my age, but it seems like she’s been here a long time and is still working to overcome her trauma. After all, she does seem to know how to swim, and she’s quite good at it.

The other is an Indian woman named Sana. I think she’s a student at MQ Uni, because one Sunday after swimming, I passed by the Lighthouse Theatre and saw her chatting with some drama club students outside. It turns out she follows the society’s Instagram too. When I first joined, her swimming progress wasn’t great, and she seemed a bit discouraged. But during my second class, we gave her some encouragement and praise, and her mood instantly lifted. It felt like she fell in love with swimming right then and there, and she’s made solid progress since.

Thinking about summer and learning to surf at the beach, I realize that just learning to swim in a pool isn’t enough. I’ll need to practice treading water too. It’d be best to have a buddy to ensure safety while practicing together.