The Art of Swimming - Tense Mind, Tender Body

Swimming is an essential skill that every human being should be able to master. This essential skill can be used for pleasure, for health benefits and also in cases of life threatening situations. Unfortunately there are many people in the world who cannot swim due to the fear of water.

What happens when we're afraid, anxious or shocked? Our whole body registers the response in a variety of ways. Fear is more than a purely psychological matter. In fact, it highlights the inseparability of the psychological and physiological domains.

Expressions associated with fear include 'seizing up' and 'becoming rigid', a 'sinking feeling' or a 'knot in the stomach'. Such reactions exemplify the characteristic sense of discomfort associated with feeling afraid. They have physiological correlates in the disposition of our musculoskeletal structure and the release of chemicals into our bloodstream. These changes are not under our conscious control. That's why the instruction 'Don't be afraid' can be asking a lot of someone undergoing the experience of real fear.

All mammals have similar physiological reactions to the experience of danger or to its perceived threat. In this situation, a series of chemical impulses is triggered in the autonomic nervous system, resulting in instantaneous changes in the body. These include changes in the cardiovascular system, as adrenalin is produced to facilitate a burst of energetic movement; changes in the respiratory system - breathing becomes shallower and more rapid; and a temporary shutdown of the digestive system, to allow more energy to be transferred to the limbs. These reactions are the body's way of preparing to negotiate danger by fighting, freezing or running away.

The exact nature of the changes and the way in which they are felt vary between species and individuals. Human beings associate the experience with sensations such as a pounding heart, sweating, dryness of the mouth, and a tightening of the chest. The effects can be clearly seen when people receive a sudden shock. Their bodies stiffen, their eyes widen or close and their faces change color.

The difference between the fear response in human beings and in other mammals is that for animals the effects are short-lived and usually pass as soon as danger recedes. In humans they endure, and sometimes persist long after the threat has passed. In the case of a particularly traumatic event, psychophysical symptoms can persist for several days, weeks or even years. It's as if the experience remains trapped in our bodies.

People who are scared of swimming often recall a particular episode in their past when they felt an acute sense of fear of being in water. The experience can have such a marked effect that the mere thought of swimming makes them extremely nervous. These fear responses are so ingrained that aquaphobes convince themselves that they will never be able to shake off their fear.

However, there is at least one aspect of our fear reactions which, once we are made fully aware of it, we can learn to bring under our conscious control to some degree. This is the startle pattern, the operation of which is central to the Alexander Technique (AT ) in swimming.

When we receive a sudden shock - a loud noise or bright light in our faces, or an unexpected piece of bad news we have a tendency to contract the muscles of our neck involuntarily, causing the head to be thrust backwards. Muscular reactions which accompany this response include raising our shoulders, tensing our arms, stiffening our chests, and flexing the leg muscles so that our knees lock. All this takes place within a split second. These reactions have evolved as an automatic defensive response in the face of danger, and therefore are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to avoid in most circumstances.

Although the most dramatic manifestations of the startle pattern can be observed at moments of extreme tension, less pronounced forms can be detected in everyday situations.

At home or at work, in public or in private, we are subjected to situations and events which can cause us to seize up with worry or apprehension. It can even happen when the phone rings. However, we can learn to exercise some conscious control so that the impact of the startle pattern is reduced and its effects do not linger. By cultivating a more balanced and aware disposition through the AT, we can prevent it taking place as often as it might, and learn how to minimize its edicts.

Some types of anxiety are so pronounced and incapacitating that they are considered serious psychological disorders, and are classified as phobias. These include fear of spiders, of being enclosed, or of public places. Aquaphobia, commonly used to mean fear of swimming, is rarely included in such classifications (hydrophobia, where water is avoided even for drinking, is a symptom of rabies).

Specific treatments have been devised to help reduce or eliminate phobias. For instance, cognitive therapies work on the premise that one first needs to examine and understand the irrational nature of one's fear in order to be released from it. Combined with behavioral techniques, such as gradual exposure to fear-inducing situations, they have proved particularly effective.

An approach to the problem of 'mental blocks' was developed by Wilhelm Reich, a one-time student of Freud's. Reich believed that traumatic experiences remain fixed in our musculature. He identified the 'character-muscular amour' as the main obstacle to healthy psychological functioning. 'Character amour' consists of defensive character traits (such as debilitating shyness) developed in childhood as a way of warding off painful feelings. 'Muscular amour' is manifested in the muscular spasms which represent the bodily expression of these attitudes. Reich proposed a combination of psychotherapeutic and physical techniques to break down such emotional armoring and to release pent-up psychic and physical energies.

This approach has certain similarities to that adopted by the AT. The Technique is less concerned with analyzing the origins of fear than with learning to undo what Alexander called 'overexcited fear responses'. In practice, remembering an early traumatic event related to swimming does little to help the inhibition of extreme psycho-physical reactions that occur in or near a swimming pool.

Dwelling on negative experiences in the past can even increase the feeling of fear associated with swimming. From the AT perspective, working directly with the fear reactions is the key to eradicating disabling symptoms of anxiety. This is achieved by first awakening a fuller awareness of the reactions themselves, and then showing how they can be mastered.

Attention to the 'means-whereby' - the best use of oneself in the present moment - is remarkable because swimming is not about keeping the effective way of removing an unproductive focus on the original source of anxiety. This involves a redirection of attention from the fear itself to the process involved in performing the activity (see the Case Study above). People who are afraid of water are rarely aware of their specific reactions to it. Armed with a new awareness of the obstacles they are creating for themselves, they can work effectively on letting go of the patterns of action into which they fall without thinking. In this way they can eventually discover for themselves that the water can be a safe, comfortable and enjoyable environment.

The practice of the Alexander Technique encourages a sense of continual exploration and self-discovery. Exploration requires the readiness to embrace the new in order to discover and experience the unknown.

The AT challenges us to confront our fears by becoming aware of how habitual reactions limit us and prevent personal growth. The 'forward and up' of the AT is a movement that is both literal and symbolic. It represents leaving our fears behind and progressing to a higher level of thought and action in our daily lives.