Establishing a Breathing Pattern
Learning from the water
As you have likely heard me mention along the way, I grew up swimming competitively, all the way through college. Since thirteen years of my life included year-round swim practice, most of the time twice per day, there are few things in life that I can't tie back to something I learned in swimming. Therefore, I have an overabundance of swimming analogies, be warned.
Beginning with breathing
From time to time, I still teach private swim lessons, mainly to adult beginners. No matter who I'm training, however, I always start with teaching breathing. While breathing regularly is helpful and encouraged in every sport (and everything we do), breath seems even more essential in the water. Get breathing wrong while swimming, and your body will tell you VERY CLEARLY and uncomfortably.
Creating a Breathing Pattern
My best events growing up were sprints, short and sweet. Think the 100m or 200m in track. Since it was short, the coaching was not to breathe at all in races, or the fewest times as possible. Since breathing can take a few hundredths of a second, that might be the difference between 1st place and 20th place in a big competition.
As the distance increases, however, holding your breath is not sustainable. In practicing for longer events, we were encouraged to establish a breathing pattern. A steady breathing pattern was helpful to our bodies and lungs and helped us get into a rhythm.
And yet I’m noticing in my life, turning to take a breath when I feel that so much depends on my forward movement can feel nerve-wracking. Sometimes I fear I'll lose all momentum.
When I'm teaching swimming lessons, I consider it a huge milestone when the new swimmer can take a breath and keep going without putting their feet down on the bottom. That means they are relaxing and positioning their bodies to allow the water to carry them more and more, utilizing the form they need to cross a larger distance. They can go farther, more easily, when they breathe.
This week, through reminding my new swim clients to breathe over and over again, I realized I've been acting like I'm in a sprint lately and forgetting to breathe regularly. Seeing my students learn this breathing motion has reminded me that I can go farther, more easily, if I breathe too. I have not set up a breathing pattern for the longer distance and have been feeling more tired as a result. Summer days feel longer and I'm trying to pack in so much. Metaphorically speaking, it's like I've been “holding my breath” for too long without coming up for air as frequently as I need to. Can you relate?
Sarah King swimming butterfly during an adult swimming competition.
Sarah diving off the starting block in a high school swimming competition
Long-Distance Event of Life
Friend, we are in a long-distance event, not a sprint. It's been a LONG distance pandemic, and perhaps you're also in a long-distance career journey, social justice journey, entrepreneurial journey, family journey, etc. It's time for us to establish a breathing pattern that is sustainable. I am committing to reintegrating breaks of creativity, nature, and stillness into my daily schedule. I encourage you to experiment with what this can look like for you this season.
One idea is to try using creativity as a way to breathe. To help you get started, I encourage you to try my Vision Journaling 101 course. It allows you to go at your own pace while you discover and engage creativity as a way to decompress, breathe, and reflect. In the seven-session course, I'll guide you through creating a Vision Journal by combining art and writing prompts. Don't worry, no artistic experience is necessary.
Vision Journaling 101 Course
This course will help you:
process life's up and downs
make empowered decisions
access the wisdom within you
relieve stress
Investment: $99.00