139. Swimming and Interacting with Water | 游泳戏水的领悟
– Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu, 6.20.2022
Summer is here now and bringing out many people to the beaches, water parks, and swimming pools. Watching these people and experiencing my own daily swim at the gym, I have a renewed appreciation of the techniques in swimming and the fun of interacting with water.
Swimming is not new to me. I used to spend several hours at the school pool during my youth. Recently, my Life Time gym membership allowed me to pick up this hobby again. I began swimming laps regularly to strengthen my weakened core muscles and to increase my cardiovascular capacity. This type of concentrated swimming is not what I am used to, and it gives me a new appreciation of how I interact with the water.
While swimming, I am simultaneously trying to minimize the resistance of my body against the water and maximize the propulsion from my arms and legs. Minor adjustments in posture, in breathing, and in arm and leg movement can make a big difference in the “smoothness” of my swim. The rhythmical movement and breathing almost feels like meditation. I can feel the water surrounding me, being pushed away by me, and moving me forward through my palms, arms, feet, and legs.
It is interesting to note that a good long-distance swimmer does not make a lot of waves or splashing sounds. All the effort is underwater, sort of like a duck swimming. From the surface, it looks effortless, but all the hard work is underwater and not observable. In a sense, this is similar to people’s careers. We only see the fast progression and advancement of the achievers, and may not appreciate their hidden effort and training.
Other than swimming, we do see kids and seniors interacting with water in different ways. They use water purely for fun, or to provide safe aquatic exercise. Many of them just use water and pools as a way to meet friends and connect with them.
I hope you’ll find time and a place to swim, to build your body, to interact with water, to meditate, and to have fun and socialize. Wishing you continued health and happiness.
游泳戏水的领悟 (2022/06/20)
-作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
夏天到了！好多人去沙灘、水上樂園或者泳池消暑。自從近来加入健身房後，在泳池，我一邊看著這些人戏水，一邊做我平常在做的游泳，我重新認識了游泳的技巧、以及跟水互動的樂趣。
游泳對我來說並非新鮮事。我小時候經常泡在學校泳池裡好幾個小時。最近，我的終身健身房會員讓我得以重拾這個樂趣。為了鍛鍊我退化的核心肌群、及變差的心血管功能，我開始定期游幾圈。這種密集式的游泳不是我習慣的方式，但它讓我對游泳時，如何與水互動有了新的認識。
游泳時，我嘗試同時將身體對水的阻力減到最低，並且儘可能地提高手臂和腿部的推力。姿勢、呼吸以及手臂和腿部的局部調整，對我游泳的流暢度產生很大的影響。有節奏的律動和呼吸，幾乎就像是打坐冥想。我能感覺到周圍的水流 被我推開，並透過我的手掌、手臂、腳、跟腿，把我向前推。
有趣的是，一名優秀的長距離游泳選手是不會發出很大的波浪或濺水聲。他所有的努力都在水下，就像是鴨子在游泳。從表面上看來絲毫不費什麼力氣，但所有的辛苦都在水面下、沒辦法看到。就某種程度而言，這就像是人們的志業。我們只看到那些成就者快速的進升和成功，但卻忽略了他們背後的努力與訓練。
除了正式游泳，我們也看到兒童和老年人與水互動的方式不同，水對於他們純粹是創造樂趣、或者是提供安全的水上運動。他們當中有很多人只是用水和泳池來交朋友、跟别人社交聯繫。
希望你也能找到時間和地方游泳、鍛鍊身體、跟水互動、冥想、玩樂和社交。祝大家都身體健康、幸福快樂！
