In spite of a rocky experience during my first race, I’d discovered that training for triathlons was a fun way to stay motivated and fit. I’d also discovered that competing was such a rush, it almost made me puke. (I know, I’m not unique in this regard.)

Since I wasn’t a natural athlete, I figured I needed to employ every edge I could find. I liked to read, so I read about triathlons. A type of swimming was mentioned: Total Immersion. My best friend’s husband had given her the original Total Immersion book  for Christmas. I borrowed it, rudely, before she’d gotten a chance to read it. (Amazingly, she is still my friend!)

I read it eagerly. I stopped swimming and started doing swim “drills.” I quickly recognized that I was not smart enough to think about the approximately 200,000 little nuances necessary to have a perfect stroke. Total Immersion preaches using one focal point at a time. This I could handle.

With the drills, I didn’t seem to be getting as much of a physical workout. That felt like cheating. It was a leap of faith to believe things would come together, but slowly, they did. After a couple of months of drills I started mixing in whole-stroke swimming. Yes, it really took that long, but keep in mind that my poor technique was deeply ingrained. My muscles weren’t willing to surrender the bad habits I had been repeating over and over. To this day, if I get too tired or try to swim too fast, those habits still rear their ugly heads. (They make the Loch Ness Monster look like Barney the Dinosaur. Truly sinister!)

What sets Total Immersion swimming apart? It’s the emphasis on mindful swimming. It is a constant challenge, because my brain gets a little feisty sometimes and decides I should be able to think about two or three aspects of my stroke simultaneously. Soon I will realize that none of the two or three focal points are really getting the attention they deserve. I have to go back to one focal point at a time.

Humbling. However, one can also experience a mental calm not common in our busy world. Difficult to describe, this state is also addictive. It’s like permission to NOT multi-task.

Swimming the Total Immersion way can heal your body, helping you develop strength and flexibility. It can help you “turn back the clock” by improving your coordination and balance. Best of all, if you practice it using the focal point method, it will drain the stress right out of you.