Swimming to find some calm, the wonders of cold water!

When the going gets tough, I go swimming.  Having discovered the healing power of the cold ocean during the pandemic, I am glad to still have this "therapy" on my doorstep.  If the sea could speak, maybe she would whisper "come in, you will feel better after".  Or she would say, "shshsh, don't worry, all is well right now".  This imagined encouragement is enough to get me zipped into my swim suit and wrapped up in my cosy robe, heading for the beach.

Yesterday felt like spring in Whitstable with dog walkers and visitors all enjoying the warm rays of sunshine and blue skies.  High tide was around 5pm, so I knew that the water would be slightly warmer than the previous day.  As the sea comes in over mudflats, the sun has a chance to heat it up slightly.  Each day is never the same and as I stood on the beach I was surprised at how low the water was at high-tide.  A dog walker explained that it was a "neap tide" so the water doesn't come in so far.  A neap tide happens when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other, thus reducing the gravitational pull of both. 

As I plunged into the clear, not so warm water (9℃), I felt the cold water chill my shoulders and back.  I was wearing my swim-suit (rather than wetsuit) which gives a colder swim for my body.  As I swam, I enjoyed watching the small, brown and white turnstones on the groynes next to me.  Sometimes they stayed still if I moved quietly enough.  The sea was very calm, with only small undulations for waves making swimming easy.  If the sea could give me some advice now, she would say "just look at the beauty that is always here".  The cold sensations were enough to jolt my body into a lovely calm state.  As I finished my swim and started to dry off on the beach, I felt better.   I had washed away some of the tensions for a bit.  I even slept soundly last night, the first time for weeks.  

Today, the swimming conditions looked less appealing.  My late afternoon swim felt more wintery, with dark grey skies above and bracing winds.  As I watched the rain come down in the distance out to sea, I could tell that I just had time to swim before the rain reached my beach.  Even though it was windy, the direction of the gusts meant that the sea was surprisingly flat but mottled.  No one was out on the beach due to the impending rain. As I swam, I noticed about ten black headed gulls a little distance away, many more than I normally see.  I wondered if they had just come to keep me company?  I managed to dry off just as the heavy rain began and I snuggled back into my robe.   It felt so atmospheric out there, I felt reluctant to return to the confines of a brick house, except for the obvious appeal of warmth, hot drinks and some freshly baked banana bread. 

When everything feels difficult in these strange times that we are living in, I know that the sea is just there, ebbing and flowing as always.  I don't know if it is the effect of cold on the body that produces some feel-good chemicals as I dip in and out.  Or if the healing power of nature is enough to bring back a feeling of hope and wonder at our precious earth.  Something is helping, and for that I am grateful.

"When you go into the cold, you cannot think.  You have to be." (Wim Hof)

 

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