Swimming Routine
I book my swimming sessions using Fitso. While I started learning swimming in March 2022 - at the age of 33. I have started enjoying it a lot, because:
- It is a new skill that I have picked up after college
- I have struggled to improve but persisted for a year now
50 minute swim slot
I choose before entering the pool either of - 1km, 1.5km or 2km swim for the day. I have found that the act of choosing before helps me to push myself to reach the goal. A 50 minute swim is reasonably long and you can easily do 500+ active calories in the session.
Flow state while swimming
Since the last 6 months, I have been able to attain a flow state while swimming relatively swimming. Some of the benefits which compound over an year:
- You cannot talk or listen to under water
- You cannot check your phone
- You start observing self talk
- You build a routine of talking to yourself
What I currently think about while swimming
I have recently started swimming in the morning at 6 am:
- I remind myself about who I am, where I am. It helps me orient myself in the morning. It goes something like:
I am Gaurav Parashar, son of Abhay & Jyoti Parashar, currently in Gurgaon ..
- I remind myself about the day, date & month. This forces me to zoom out time to a monthly scale.
- During one of the guide meditations via YT, I learnt how visualizing your loved ones increases the satisfaction of the day. I think about family, friends, people I have met.
- I keep going back to thinking about work, and every time that happens, I gently guide it out of my thoughts.
Swim, 2 Mar 2023
A unique experience was meditating at Langkawi Sky Bridge - I could feel that the curved cable-stayed bridge vibrates/oscillates ever so slightly.