Healing – Page 8 – Andrea Arthur Owan

8 Steps to a Good Night’s Sleep

A couple of weeks ago I promised to let you know how I’ve changed my sleep patterns and how that’s been going for me. Well, today I’m going to give you my new ritual and let you know how it’s measuring up.

The process of deciding on and planning for a good night’s sleep—

The first thing I did wanted to decide, once and for all, what time I wanted—needed—to go to bed every night and how much sleep I would aim for nightly if I were going to be a fully functioning, alert individual.

1) First, I decided on a no later than 10:00 PM in bed and lights out schedule and a 6:30 AM wakeup. I know from past experience that I function best on 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night and usually lean toward the longer number of hours.

2) Second, I set my smartphone to switch to darker yellow light at 8:00 PM. With the bedtime schedule set on it, the phone alerts me at 8:00 that I need to be in bed at 10:00, and that my preparations should start at 9:00. (I get plenty of warnings.)

3) Unless I miscalculate on preparation hours, or an emergency deadline or need arises, I shut of my computer by 8:00 PM, preferably 7:00. If I’m really motivated, I don’t get on it after 5:00.

4) Around 8:00 PM, I start dimming lights around the house or shutting most of them off completely. When I enter my bedroom at 9:00, I turn on my bedside light and leave the main, intensely bright lights, off.

All of this helps trigger my melatonin production to prepare me for sleep.

5) If I need or want to shower to relax, I shower around 9:00 and prepare for bed in a relaxed manner.

6) No later than 9:30, I’m in my little sitting room just off my bedroom, with a good book in hand, reading. I’ve stopped reading in bed, with my head cocked at an obtuse angle, putting strain on my neck muscles, back and hands.

7) A little before 10:00, the engineer and I hold hands and say our bedtime prayers. And we always ask for a good, peaceful and restful night’s sleep.

8) Then it’s off to bed. Nightstand lights out. At 10:00, my phone conveniently darkens its screen and shows little stars and a slivered moon as it blocks any incoming calls, text messages or emails from waking me up. The phone doesn’t even vibrate. It just stores everything until the next morning. It takes its place on my nightstand, ready to awaken me with lovely, soothing music that gradually gets louder until I turn it off. Once I do, the screen greets me with Good Morning!

How has my bedtime ritual benefited me?

Sleep is arguably one of the most important times of our day. Lack of it causes a host of physical problems, including weight gain and inability of the body to shed toxins or rejuvenate itself or heal properly. Lack of sleep can also cause depression, worsen it, and lead to cognitive dysfunction and physical and emotional stress.

The first night we tried our new sleep schedule we were amazed by the results.

Doing the new schedule was difficult for the engineer because he usually returns to the computer right after dinner and sits for hours in front of the blinding screen before running directly from his office to bed. If he wanted to try to unwind—do something mindless before bed—he might watch an old movie on television before hitting the sack.

He wasn’t sleeping well.

Within 15 minutes of starting our reading, though, our eyelids felt so heavy that we had to quit reading earlier than expected. Both of us fell asleep instantly when our heads hit the pillows. When my music started the following morning, I had already started awakening naturally to the sunrise and wasn’t jarred awake by the music.

It was actually a pleasant wakeup, and I felt energized and ready to go.

But first, I took the advice of my Shetland sheepdog (and all of the cats that have condescended to live with me over the years) and did some stretching in bed before swinging my legs over the side of it and letting my feet hit the floor. After toileting, removing my retainer and brushing my teeth, I am ready for some light calisthenics that get my blood pumping and lungs ballooning.

After five weeks of this regimen, I’ve never felt better after a night’s sleep! With the increased melatonin production, my body is always ready to lay it down, even if I add some light exercises to the regimen before showering or grabbing my book to read. And my night’s sleep is deeper and more rejuvenating.

When I skip this regimen during the weekend and go to bed too late, and without my reading ritual, I can feel it. Maybe it’s my age (most probably it is), but I can’t shake that lousy bedtime preparation off like I used to.

Physical benefits of sleep—

One of the big benefits, after trying nearly everything else in the way of diet and exercise, is that I’ve managed to shave eight pounds from the scale! Yippie!

The better and longer sleep, in combination with

making sure I avoid all of the foods that cause problems for me or cause inflammation (inflammation can wreak havoc on your sleep);
regular (3-4 days a week of strenuous cardio and weight lifting exercise) exercise; walking leisurely (about a mile) after dinner to ramp up the digestion;
walking a more fast-paced mile every other morning and on the days I add several strenuous nighttime calisthenics to my daily activities;
not eating unless I’m hungry and then maybe deciding not to eat even then;
making my evening meal the lightest one of the day and always making sure I consume it by 6:00 PM;
not going to bed within 3-4 hours after eating;
not exercising within 3 hours after eating;
avoiding most desserts and reducing my sugar intake;
ditching the coffee;
reducing my dairy product consumption;

has done wonders for my energy level and improving the way I feel physically.

Psychological and emotional benefits of sleep—

I’ve also found that my melancholy and depression has reduced significantly. And when it does sneak up on me, I am more capable of resisting and combatting it. For that I am most grateful.

I’m more alert, less sluggish. I have more energy for exercising.

But now that the days are getting shorter and the nighttime is lengthening, I may lengthen my sleep. The engineer and I call it “keeping farmer’s hours.”

Doing a better job at maintaining the rhythm of life.

But there are certainly bound to be days when I’ll need to arise before the sun does, so I’m purchasing a sunrise “alarm” clock. If you’ve never heard of one, it gradually lights up at the rate the sun would come up and illuminates the room as a sunrise would.

People I know who use one swear by them, and the reviews are good. I’m ordering mine this week, so after I’ve had a chance to try that out for a while, I’ll give you my take on that method.

The engineer and I are ecstatic with our sleep results. And to add extra melatonin help, we’ve started using a major brand name lotion that contains both lavender (a soothing sleep aid) and melatonin. The engineer swears it helps kick his sleep into high gear.

Next, he wants to try taking melatonin when he has to travel overseas on business, when sleep is usually at a premium and not restful.

If any of you have used melatonin for travel, I’d love to hear your feedback!

Until next week,

Happy sleeping!

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

How I Achieved True Emotional Freedom

Something happened to me the other day that allowed the chains of bondage to guilt, fear, anger, frustration, regret and worry to be demolished. And there are no words to describe the sense of freedom and joy I have experienced from the shedding of that weighty burden.

In the past, I have shared a little with you about the poor relationship I’ve had for years with my mother. It seems that I could do nearly nothing right in her eyes, and she harbors resentment and anger that frequently show up in her biting words and volatile reactions. She seems to look for ways I’ve failed or disappointed her.

She’s been like this most of the time I’ve known her, and I’ve heard stories about her behavior before I arrived on the scene.

She’s inferred to my husband that her problems stem from me—things I’ve said, things I’ve done wrong, things I haven’t done, ways I haven’t behaved quite like she wanted me to behave.

The history—

But I know the anger didn’t start with me. It was forged 97 years ago when she was born into a family riddled with anger and backbiting, volatile tendencies. A family destined to yell, fight, retaliate, hold grudges and physically punish offenses.

My mother was definitely not born into a family of peace. And she acknowledged that one day when I pointed it out. “No, I sure wasn’t,” she responded.

Learning that helped a little in not accepting the burdens she tried to lay on me, but it was still difficult to keep them from hurting my heart.

What changed on October 2 rocked my world, for the better.

My day of chain-breaking freedom—

My husband and I had just taken my mother to her audiologist to have her hearing aids checked, cleaned and re-set for additional hearing loss. Her moderate dementia has only complicated matters, but I’m dealing with that and cutting her slack on almost everything she says or asks me to do for her.

But that morning, on the way back to her memory care home, she wanted to know if we could stop at a drugstore to buy her some candy.

Now, normally that wouldn’t be a problem, except for two issues:

1) We had honored her request a couple of months earlier and purchased two bags of peppermints and a bag of chocolates for her. She ended up consuming the entire bag of chocolates in one afternoon without anyone at the home knowing it (she was hiding it) and got VERY sick. Sick enough that the nurse practitioner needed to be called, and I had to run to the nearest Walgreens to get the medicine and deliver it to her nurses.

2) My husband had left his car at her care home and needed to get back to it so he could go to work.

When I told her we couldn’t stop, she pinched her lips together, and the fuming started. Then the biting comments followed. My husband was nearly seething when we pulled up to her home and helped her out of the car and into the house. I didn’t hear the conversation, but he asked her what she was so mad about.

Surprise!

She was mad at me, for having and exercising so much control over her.

After he left for work, my mom got settled into her chair, and we chatted for several minutes. Then I leaned over to hug and kiss her goodbye.

She kept her arms glued to her sides as she often does when she’s upset with me. She wants me to pay for my actions. Let me know she’s unhappy with me.

I stood up again and said, “So you don’t want to give me a hug?”

Her response? “I don’t feel like it right now.”

And that’s when the light bulb went off and the burden fell from my heart.

That’s how my mom has always tried to make me pay for my misbehavior.

With tantrums.

And shaming.

Years and years of giving love and withdrawing it. Trying to keep me on my toes and performing to her standards.

Withdrawing her love when I didn’t measure up. Giving it when I was making her happy.

Something I can’t imagine doing to my children, and may God discipline me if I ever do it.

And I realized in that instant that she probably never really learned how to love unconditionally, the way a parent should love a child.

The way God loves us.

My mother never received that kind of love, never felt that kind of love, and, consequently, never could show and give it to me.

And in one split second moment, it all made sense.

My revelation released her of an expectation I always had for her; and it released me of any guilt, fear, or worry about having done wrong or about doing wrong in the future.

Obviously it doesn’t let me off the hook for being kind, attentive, friendly and loving toward her, just as God is toward me and wants me to be to others.

But it lowered my expectations from receiving anything from her to zero.

And that freed my heart to love unconditionally; the way God intends his children to display love.

Just like Him.

My mom can’t give something she’s never possessed, so I’m a fool when I do expect. It only ends up hurting me.

The Result—

I look forward to our visits with joy and without stress or agitation, since I’m no longer wrapped up in or swayed by her ever-shifting moods.

And she seems to be happier too. Our visits are good. She looks forward to them, thanks me profusely for them, and tells me how much they mean to her. We rarely argue or disagree. I’m no longer communicating defensively with her, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop—with a shield of protection encased around my heart.

And finally, when God decides it’s her time to go, I won’t be left with remorse, bitterness or regrets.

My husband, younger son and I have our suspicions that that’s the reason He’s kept her on earth all of these tough, extra years—so I can let her go with a free and joyful heart.

And not be burdened with years of unresolved pain and regret.

After years and years and years of heartache, frustration, tears, and beseeching prayers, I think I’ve finally learned what He’s been trying to teach me and was probably too weak and stubborn to figure out.

I am giddy with gratefulness.

My life has totally changed.

How about you?

Are you expecting something from someone that they can’t possibly give you?

How could acknowledging that rock your world?

Until next week, when we’ll be talking painting over deep cracks.

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Benefits of Active and Passive Rest

I’ve been thinking a lot about sleep lately, probably because I hadn’t been getting as much sleep as I needed. Knee injury pain made sleep—or any kind of decent rest—impossible for several weeks, and my own careless lifestyle added to the problem.

I was staying up too late, reading too many articles on my phone, getting my eyeballs fried from the glaring light and lack of blinking. (You know we blink less when we stare at tech screens, don’t you? That causes our eyes to take in more light and get dry from the lack of moisturizing when benefit from when we do blink.)

I finally had enough, so I mandated some going-to-bed practices for myself and enlisted my evil cell phone for support! Next week, I’ll tell you all about what I did and how well it’s working for me. But today, I want to cover a couple of other important habits or lifestyle practices that can help you stay healthier and happy.

Like sleep, they fall into the category of rest.

Active Rest—

According to the 12 Minute Athlete, “active rest” is when you’re still moving but not at the intensity level that you normally move on a regular workout day. It’s important for people who workout daily to rest overworked muscles and aid the recovery process.

But what if you’re not an athlete, or everyday, hardcore exerciser?

Active Rest is beneficial for anyone who is busy and pretty active on a daily basis. And you don’t have to be running, lifting weights or participating in heavy cycling.

Think about your daily workload and the stress you incur while working. Do you have to run from office to office, or building to building? Are you going brain dead from all of the nonsense planning meetings you have to attend?

Active rest can be a day where you change up the pace a bit by slowing down and focusing on more relaxing, gentle movements.

According to the article, active rest can be:

Going for an easy to moderate hike with your friends or family
Taking an easy bike ride
Going for an easy swim
Light stretching
Taking a relaxing walk (This is not power walk time!)
Playing with your dog, kids, grandkids
Doing some sort of fun activity that you enjoy. Maybe something new to exercise or stress different body parts. Nothing competitive.

The goal is to get moving, but not too much.

Some of the article feedback noted people doing house cleaning, Pilates and stretching. Other people liked to box. (That seems to be gaining popularity, especially among women.)

My husband used to pull out his roller blades and he, I, the kids and the dogs would head down to a local park for several zooms around the walking path. The boys would wheel right along with their dad. I was the designated dog walker, by choice. A roller blader, I’m not.

Passive Rest—

While athletes will define passive rest as participating in an active that allows your heart rate to drop back to normal as quickly as possible, we’re aiming for something a little more pedestrian or general public level here.

For our purposes, passive rest is when you’re quietly resting but still awake, and not engaged in multitasking.

I think a lot of people might engage in this too much, but there are others—like my husband—who have great difficulty just sitting and resting quietly. It’s taken years of practice, but now he looks forward to it. Advancing age may be contributing, but he’s making the most out of his passive rest periods. It’s a time he can shut his overactive brain down and recover.

What kinds of activities constitute “quietly resting?”

You could be lying on the couch with your eyes closed. My mother used to say she was “checking out the backs of her eyelids” when she did this, when we accused her of sleeping.

Although some say watching a movie or television is quiet resting, I’d be cautious about putting that in the resting category. Unless it’s a comedy or a somewhat interesting movie, television watching has been shown to actually decrease brain wave function to a damaging level. You want to rest, but I don’t think we’re aiming for brain dead.

As a society, we sit way too much and much of that sitting is down in front of a television, anyway. I would recommend that you use this rest technique judiciously and sporadically because it’s also contributed to the horrendous obesity epidemic we have going on in our country.

Another good passive rest can be a soak in a spa tub or bubble bath, eyes closed or reading a book.

But whatever you select, make sure you pick out an activity that makes you feel relaxed and that slows your breathing. Maybe coloring, brushing your dog or cat, daydreaming. Watching a sunset or sunrise. Listening to your favorite classical or acoustic worship music.

Mix it up—

Make sure you incorporate both active and passive resting periods into your week.

Sunday—the most popular day of rest—is a wonderful day to fit these in. Try using these techniques to unwind and recharge mentally, instead of using Sunday to run errands or hit the mall.

I think you’ll find the health and fitness rewards amazing!

Until next week,

Find your passive resting happy place or space.

Your brain (and body) will be celebrating!

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

How to Make the Most of Your Fall Season

Someone recommended the book to me after our daughter, Victoria, died, an award winning kid’s book by psychologist Dr. Leo Buscaglia called The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages.

It’s about a leaf named Freddie who is in the process of watching all of the other leaves lose their brilliant summer green, change to beautiful fall hues of scarlet, orange and yellow, and finally lose their grip on the tree limb. Wiser leaves around Freddie explain the process so he can be prepared and ready when his time comes to be released from the tree and join the earth below. The book is supposed to help young children cope with and understand death.

I read the book to our son, Parker, who had just turned three when his sister died in childbirth. And then we read it every fall after that, on the first day of autumn. It was a ritual that calmed my heart.

When my son Cory was born, he joined the reading time. Now it’s time to pull the book off the library shelf and read it again, by myself this time since the boys are out of the house and on their own making their own lives in this world. They’re no strangers to loss and heartache. I think reading about Freddie has helped prepare them for life’s fragility.

But this year, on the first day of autumn, (which is next week Monday), I’ll be enjoying the fall foliage of the Northwest. I’m attending a wedding up there, and I’m looking forward to being in the thick of the season change. It’s one of my and my husband’s most precious memories of living in the Midwest: waking up to the cold snap in the air, watching the leaves turn brilliant colors and scatter across the roads and landscape. We get a little of that around here, and if we want to drive up the mountain behind us, we are usually treated to a pretty good show. But it never quite feels like enough. I can understand when people say they want to live some place where there are real seasons.

Kind of like life—living it as though it has seasons and leaning in to each of them.

Making the most of the fall season—

Aside from the colder weather tingling your skin, and the general slowdown in activities, fall can really be a state of mind. One you can use to your advantage.

Let go of stuff—

As you start to slow down, say goodbye to summer, and anticipate the darker, colder days of winter, why not rummage through your closet for items you’ve mentally discarded or promised yourself you didn’t wear this past fall and winter and probably won’t wear again in the next.

I was riffling through my closet yesterday, trying to find something to wear to church service that still had the vibrant colors of spring and summer to match my happy mood and our still-warm weather and my eyes settled on some items I’d forgotten I had (and knew I was looking forward to wearing again), and items I didn’t wear last year and knew I probably wouldn’t wear again this winter.

And I realized I didn’t want to wear them just because I felt guilty that they’d been hanging neglected in my closet.

I made a mental note that I’m going to screw up my courage, pluck them from their hanger, and take them to either a second-hand clothing store or donate them.

I’m saying the same for books now too. I’m running out of room to shelve them. And I’ve acquired a new load from my parents’ library in the last several years. Some of them remain in boxes, and I had to honestly ask myself: Will I ever read them? And will my kids even be interested in them?

Probably not. There are those I do hope they’ll find time to read in some distant future, but the chances of your children even being vaguely interested in those things that enticed you—like heirlooms and collections—will not likely appeal to your children. My younger son has already laid claim to my china and family heirlooms, (I have to talk to his brother first before that gets written in ink in my will), so I know what he’s interested in. But as a wise woman once counseled a group I attended:

Unless you have the space to store, the time to keep it clean, or the money to keep it, then it should go. No storage allowed for maybe items.

Relinquish those items from your heart and make room for something, or someone else!

Possessions don’t have to be kept just because they’re useful, though. Items that bring you peace and wonderful memories, or items that bring beauty to your life are important.

Let go of caring what others’ opinions, if they’re not yours—

While enjoying breakfast with one of my dearest friends and sister-in-Christ the other morning, she was verbally chastising herself for caring too much about what others think about her. It’s a lament I’ve heard frequently from her lately. She said she’s getting too old (70) for putting that much energy—and probably losing that much precious time—fretting over others, their opinions, and worrying about how she measures up around others.

I get it. I think the popular term now is being “authentic.” Being your true self in front of others.

I know what she means—not allowing too much mental real estate to be squatted upon and wasted with dressing to impress, acting a certain way to please, thinking a certain way to go along with the mob.

But I think this our society might be in danger of taking this too far. People today are too prone to blurt out whatever is on their mind, no matter how offensive, or even how true it might be. People don’t need (or even want) to hear everything you’re thinking, nor should they.

Feelings are important, and I think Christians are often too silent about how much they’re hurting because they think they need to look as though they always have it all together.

But feelings can be fleeting and deceiving. Didn’t the Apostle Paul say that he had become all things to all people for the sake of the gospel?

I think if we go forward with that thought, always ready to give a reason for our future hope, slow to anger and slow to speak, patient and long-suffering, full of God’s love for others, we will be able to chose wisely.

Let go of unrealistic goals—

What goals are you still striving for, or that keep nagging your brain, that you know are probably not the best, most practical, or timely for you? Maybe they need to be put on a back burner for the future; maybe they just aren’t good for you and never will be. Maybe they were really someone else’s goals.

Now might be a great time to re-evaluate them, especially when you’re dinging out your closet or bookshelves, or rooting around underneath your bed to clear dust bunnies and inspect all of those items you thought you wanted to keep that no longer hold your attention or heart.

Just give yourself permission to adjust and re-plan.

And give others in your life the same permission.

And now for the last one, which may be hard to hear or sound offensive.

Let go of toxic friends or acquaintances—

As part of our church’s “Choosing Wisely” series, our youth pastor gave a great sermon yesterday about those you have sitting at your table. Those people you spend a lot of time with, that influence you.

He wanted us to ask ourselves which people at our tables lift us up, sharpen us, help us grow in our relationship with God, make us better people.

On of the first things they tell an alcoholic to do when he admits he’s got a problem is to discard his old drinking buddies and hangouts and gather a new bunch of friends that will encourage him and be accountability partners.

It’s a good question, but hard to answer. You can’t always avoid toxic family members, but you can still treat them well and honorably even though you limit your contact with them.

You can have a lot of acquaintances, but you really can only have so many good friends. Why? Because nurturing friendships takes time and effort. Even Jesus spent time hand picking his closest friends while He was on earth.

Maybe this fall it’s a good time to pray about those people God wants in your life right now, those friends you want to gather at your table.

Sounds rough, doesn’t it?

But Scripture has a lot to say about friend choosing, especially in the Book of Proverbs.

It says that the righteous choose their friends carefully, so they won’t be led astray.

It tells us to walk with the wise so we can become wiser.

It tells us a friend is loyal.

It speaks of unreliable friends that bring us to ruin, and friends that stick closer than brothers.

It speaks of how sweet to the soul a friend’s encouragement can be and how beneficial their wise counsel.

It even says that open criticism is better than hidden love.

And I think we’ve all heard the passage from First Corinthians that says bad company corrupts good character.

Booker T. Washington even said that it was better to be alone than with people of bad quality.

So even if fall is a time to hunker down and prepare for the dark days of winter, it can be a time of soul refreshment and rejuvenation.

Freddie’s fall from his tree doesn’t have to be a time of sadness when it’s viewed in the context of the entire rhythm of life picture and future (and eternal) hope!

Until next week, prepare your heart and mind to enjoy your Autumnal Equinox next Monday and perhaps view it with a fresh, life changing perspective.

Next Week I’ll have more encouragement for you.

Blessings,

Andrea

*Some of this post was based on Guideposts’ online newsletter article by Holly Lebowitz Rossi. It’s posted in their Positive Living section.


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Benefits of Swimming—the Game-changer Activity

I grew up surrounded by water. Literally. On a Pacific Ocean island on the most remote land mass on Earth.

Hawaii.

I could see the ocean from our home, and see the condominium pool from our kitchen window and front door.

To say I’m still suffering bodies-of-water withdrawal since our move to the desert Southwest 22 years ago would be an understatement.

BUT, praises of thankfulness, I have a pool in my backyard that I can see from the family room, laundry room and back bedroom, which we’ve set up as an office. Sometimes the pool water reflects off the family room ceiling, making soothing undulating patterns above my head. I’m grateful for these simple pleasures.

I spend a lot of my summer in that pool, but not nearly enough. Although I no longer have the luxury of spending hours playing and lapping in the pool as I did during my summer breaks while a kid, I can—and should—dive in and paddle around in order to improve my fitness level.

And it’s my humble opinion that swimming should be a go-to exercise for nearly everyone.

Swimming studies results—

A 2017 study reported by the Health Commission British Journal of Sports Medicine about the United Kingdom’s SWIM ENGLAND program showed significant results.

Some of the results:

Swimming is uniquely placed to support people throughout their entire life.
Swimming lowers the risk of early death by 28 per cent.
Swimming and aquatic activity is a safe, cost effective and viable option for healthcare professionals to signpost (UK term for pointing the way, guiding or providing direction) patients.
47% had a lower risk of death due to heart disease or stroke.

Jane Nickerson, Swim England CEO, said,

“It’s evident from the report that swimming has enormous potential to support the health and wellbeing of the nation.”

With that kind of assessment, how long do you think it will be before the UK installs swimming as a mandatory activity for its school children? (While the United States is still cutting physical education and art due to budget concerns. Shortsighted, concerning the long-term health and financial benefits of lifelong exercise.)

Mike Farrar, Swim England Group Board Chairman and former CEO of the NHS Confederation, said,

“This report shows that activities like swimming really do have the potential to be a game-changer in supporting the health of this nation, especially at a time when cuts to services means less money for long-term care.”

According to the on-line blog article “The Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Swimming report was commissioned by the Swimming and Health Commission on behalf of Swim England to explore the impact of swimming on physical, mental and social wellbeing. It has been written by a range of eminent academics and is supported by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.”

They investigated several parameters and age groups and found that swimming:

Helps those 3 months and over develop more quickly,
Helps adults 18 and over reduce stress and overall health; and
Helps those 65 and over live longer and stay mentally alert and physically agile.

More positive swimming research—

In a comparative study of middle distance runners’ lung function with that of swimmers, the researchers found that swimmers have better lung volume than the runners. The researchers hypothesized that the muscles active during breathing—like the diaphragm—are forced to work harder in swimming. The activity gave these trained swimmers more elasticity (stretchiness and ability to return to normal shape after being stretched) during breathing than did running.

My experience with swimming—

When I was eight years old, I had a brief stint with swim training at the YMCA. I loved being in the water and playing for hours in a pool, but when it came to practicing and swimming competitively, I couldn’t have been more bored, or probably out of my element.

While I quickly advanced from guppies to minnows, I hit a stalemate when they tried to advance me to shark (or barracuda, whatever it was). I couldn’t stand it. The swim instructor suggested to my mom that I might be happier in the gymnastics class.

Happy didn’t even begin to describe it!

My fast-twitch muscle fibers were born to perform explosive activities, and I quickly improved. While I could dash across a pool for short lengths and laps, long-distance, repetitive practices left me cold. No pun intended.

When I was in college, though, my best friend and I tore up the pool at the campus intercollegiate competition. Short distances, of course.

We were both former gymnasts. And I could do a mean flip turn and push off at the wall that got me out way ahead of the other competitors. (Sorry, I had to relive that victorious moment just once more!)

Benefits of swimming for all ages—

Now that I’ve hung up my leotards and really need a good, non-weight bearing activity to keep my muscles supple, my weight down, and my overloaded joints in shape, I’ve returned to the pool to add some crossover training variety to my life. There are great reasons for me to return to the pool—or for you to start getting into one if you haven’t already.

Swimming can improve coordination. Coordinating your limbs to kick and stroke properly (without pounding or slapping the water and wasting energy) while breathing and not sucking in water is a feat for the uninitiated. Once learned, you’ll find yourself skimming through the water pretty effortlessly. And that effortless swimming helps:
Lubricate your joints. In an era where too many people (I believe) undergo join replacements, or have to undergo the procedure, you swimming might just help you ward off that nasty surgery. When you’re exercising, the joint capsule fluid produces more joint-healing and cushioning fluid. And that benefits works in synergy with swimming’s ability to:
Keep your joints flexible and reduce the onset of the effects of osteoarthritis. A lot of things can contribute to osteoarthritis, including: carrying around too much weight, eating foods that increase inflammation in the body, lack of exercise, over-exercising, and genes. But swimming is a non-weight bearing activity (unless you’re running in the shallow end of the pool) that reduces the load on your joints and gives them more space. And that gives your joints more:
Flexibility! Always a good thing for older people that fall more frequently due to balance and flexibility issues.

Other swimming benefits include—

Increased lung volume that aids lung capacity—(It’s a great activity for asthmatics.) With bigger lungs you have an increased area to fill up with O2 (oxygen). That means you’ll have more of that life-giving gas available to load up on cells to be conveyed deep into your body’s tissues. Everything works (and breathes) better.
Some cross-training benefits—Intense swimming programs are found to equal intense sprint and explosive weight training programs.
Lowering your stress levels— Tension and stress shorten your muscles, which leads to tightness and loss of joint range of motion. When we float around in a big cement pond full of water, our bodies naturally relax. Our breathing slows. (Of course, all of this is true if you know how to swim and like it.)

No wonder I feel so relaxed, almost sleepy, after I emerge from my swimming or floating sessions.

It’s cathartic, like praying and meditating. A great way to start or end the day!

Some good tools for swimming exercise—

I like to use a kick-board, the kind that swim teams use to have their kids work on their leg kicks. You can hang onto it and paddle along. Try not to keep your head above water for too long, though. You’re likely to get neck cramps and pinched nerves. I regular swim noodle works for this too.

I also like to use the training hand paddles to add resistance to my strokes. Two rubber loops slip over your fingers to keep the paddles in place. Don’t get the rubber too tight or you’ll find your finger circulation getting cut off.

And a good noodle is worth its weight in gold. You can use that for kicking, or for underwater cycling, if you don’t tread water well, or feel secure “running” in the deep end.

But beware: with any activity you can overdue it and end up with injuries. Competitive swimmers are notorious for having shoulder and back injuries, and it can be hard on your knees if you don’t kick properly. And you can get dehydrated in a pool just as you can on dry land, so make sure you drink plenty of water after your exercise, or during, if you swim long distances.

So don’t jump into the pool thinking this is an injury-free exercise. As with any other activity, get some training books, start slowly, train wisely, and work your way up.

And what about swimming and weight loss?

As with anything, you’re more likely to lose weight if your energy output exceeds your energy input. In other words, you eat less than you burn off. Swimming is no different, but fair warning: Swimming consistently in cold water can cause you to store fat, just like a polar bear in the arctic. Your body does whatever it can to survive. And swimming burns a ton of calories and increases your appetite. So, if you swim a lot and always chow down an excess portion of food afterward to curb your hunger, your weight may end up creeping up instead of going down.

My future swimming goals—

While we removed the heater capabilities from our pool and usually don’t get in it during the winter months (yes, it can get cold and snowy here), I’ve decided to brave up, purchase a short-leg wet suit, and hit the pool throughout the winter. I find it gives me so many benefits that I want to keep swimming year round and know I need to. I can also drive around the block to our community pool, which is a Junior Olympic size and has marked lanes.

The gym where we work out just moved into a grand new facility with a lap pool, but it isn’t open yet, and I’m going to guess it’ll be so packed that the only time I could get in would be between midnight and 5:00 AM. So I’m going to use my own cement pond. Might as well. I pay property taxes on it!

Even though we’ve had a blistering summer with little rain, it’s nearing the time that we’d normally cover the pool and say adios until next summer. But I’m determined.

Maybe I’ll take a picture of myself in my wetsuit and put it in a blog post. Or, maybe not. If I swim enough, I might actually look decent enough in it to share with you.

Now that’s motivation!

Until next week, check out some local pools, if you don’t have one in your backyard or community. Or locate a swim coach or club. Set some target goals, get some training material, and jump in.

Your body and mind will be happy you did.

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.