WHY do we swim? (Two min read)

WHY do we swim? WHY are people motivated to learn to swim? What IS it about water that we, as humans, are so drawn to?

Statistically speaking, water calms our brains. Simply looking at or hearing trickling water calms our sympathetic nervous systems and reduces our flight or flight stress levels. In Blue Mind, a book written by Marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, Wallace explains the brain benefits of being in or near water that include reducing stress and anxiety, lowering our heart rate, and INCREASING OUR HAPPINESS levels. And here you were thinking the water fountain in the doctors office was tacky…

But as humans, we don’t just look at water and like to listen to the sounds of water. We are drawn into it. WHY? I don’t think the answer can be described fully with science. I think the answer is more emotional and more driven by our experiences with water.

For ME, water is everything the world is not.

Water is quiet when the world is loud. Swimming in water slows us down, mentally and physically. And water is constant. Every swimming pool in the world feels the same. Every ocean is steadfast in it’s waves. Water and swimming are instinctual.

Okay okay, but I promised you a 2 min read! So, why do we swim? Maybe it’s to slow down, to listen to the sounds of water brushing past our fingers and slipping past our toes. Maybe it’s to submerse ourselves in a full-body bath of calming neurochemicals (woohoo, I sound smart). MAYBE, it’s to connect with that intangible parts of ourselves that aren’t connected to phones, or noise, or traffic, or due dates.

OR, maybe it’s because it’s freakin’ fun.

Regardless of what draws you to the water, be it science or emotion, we hope you like LOVE it as much as we do. If you don’t love it? If you’re scared of water or use THIS instead of going underwater? Stick around.

Want more reading material? I highly recommend this book “WHY do we swim” to learn even more (from a much better writer) about what it is that humans love about the water.