YOGA + MOVEMENT
A YOGA AND SWIMMING: A Powerful Combination
BY JANET FAVORITE
s a child, I watched musical extravaganza films made in the 1940s. Busby Berkeley was well known at the time for his overhead camera views of synchronized swimmers performing in large pools. Swimming in those years provided a way to show off your amazing figure in a bathing suit or loin cloth. I had no idea at the time how important swimming and yoga would become in my life. My mother, a tall, slim Scandinavian, taught her four children to swim. She floated on her back while all her children tried to grab her toes. Our local pool offered an afternoon of swimming for twenty-five cents. My brother and I rode our bikes there most days. A girlfriend was a gifted diver who loved sharing her skills. We practiced our jackknife dives along with inward and outward dives for hours. During high school, I practiced with the synchronized swimmers, but never joined the team. Family life disintegrated by then, and I wanted to keep my secrets.
“Water is kind to our bodies and joints. Movements are easier to achieve in water’s buoyancy. What we accomplish in the water can be practiced on land.”
Swimming became vital after surviving breast cancer at thirty. I managed a small two-person deli at the YWCA before my diagnosis. I remember walking down the street alongside my director. She asked:
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