The effort is gentle, but sufficiently effective. We know that the weight of our body – since Archimedes found his soap – is carried by the liquid. Few contraindications, except that you have to know how to swim and above all not be afraid of water.
Because if the French remain poor swimmers, while swimming pools flourish in our country, it is probably because we are an aquaphobic people. Aquaphobia is an uncontrollable anxiety that can lead to a real panic attack, sometimes responsible for drowning. It is moreover the sight or the testimony of accidents which are at the base of this fear.
Some psychiatrists will tell you that it is also found in early childhood baths. Lifeguards all find that many people refuse to learn to swim on their backs, for example, without being able to really explain why. So, we could stop there and let water play its role in diluting pastis, another national sport, which is very dangerous, but it means depriving yourself of an effective therapeutic means and incomparable pleasure, that of evolving in almost weightlessness in a hot liquid, which should nevertheless remind us of the delights of fetal life that we have all known as the first real pleasure.
It is all the more regrettable that there are solutions. Overcoming your fear of water is first of all to avoid a few stupidities: forcing a person to go swimming if they don’t want to, talking to them about willpower while they are sharing their concerns with you.
To overcome all this, you can practice the strong method: resorting to a psychotherapist or a sophrologist who will teach you relaxation techniques based on breathing, concentration, and relaxation of the body.
You can also contact lifeguards who are specialists in the problem. They will organize small games in the children’s pool to teach you how to put your whole body in the water, including your head, and especially how to find support to keep your balance.
Internships are set up by certain associations – such as “Le pied dans l’eau” or “Archimède” – to guide you in this process where you can only strengthen your personality and above all experience intense pleasure, because you must not forget that if our distant ancestors left the liquid medium millions of years ago, we are still more than 90% water!
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