The Power of Breathing

Whether we are doing any sort of physical activity, or we are going about our day to day business, breathing is and will always be our driving force. Without oxygen, we wouldn't even exist. However, how can we make this process more conscious? We, Team Razzo, over the years have come to appreciate this process as a silent yet powerful language, one that is able to connect mind and body. By mastering this language one thing is certain, the training and performance will certainly be upgraded. 

Connecting Mind & Body 

Imagine this scenario: You are swimming your laps in the pool and all of a sudden you see a shark swimming straight towards you. Your body reacts to what you see and if you see a shark coming at you, your heart rate will jump right up and you will grasp for air from the fear experienced. This is how powerful it is, even creating an image in our mind will create a certain response in our organism. So in our program, we really focus on becoming aware of our breathing and we do this throughout the whole day, not just in practice or in meets. Every now and then we bring our awareness to our breathing and we do a self-check observing our inner state. Essentially, we make sure that we are breathing slowly in from the nose and slowly out from the nose. At times, if we notice we are stressed, we count to 4 breathing in and count to 8 breathing out. This is a powerful technique to calm the organism down immediately. Note: deep breathing means breathing from the belly, shallow breathing means breathing from the chest - maybe an area to explore, there is enough research out there!

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Breathing in Training

When we are in the pool, breathing is our main priority. For the breathing dictates the pace as well as the efficiency of our stroke. The deeper and more balanced we breathe in and out, the more relaxed our bodies will be. This means there is enough oxygen inflow and with a well oxygenated body we will be able to attain a higher body line in the water. With a higher bodyline, the less drag we will face and this allows us to transfer our power more efficiently in our strokes (no matter which stroke). Therefore, in training we have learnt to work constructively and productively. Depending how we feel, at times we reduce the pace or the whole focus of a session. One that brings awareness to a deep and balanced breath, where we can stay long and composed with our technique. With a more efficient stroke our heart rate also stays consistent. This is what we consider as taking control over our swimming, making the unconscious conscious, at least to the best of our ability. Especially if you are a long distance swimmer, this is a MUST area to explore and tackle. 

Breathing in Competitions

Competitions can often become a very stressful experience and we were certainly the type of athletes who would get very nervous before competitions. The stress would start normally a week before and then continue or even increase during the meet itself. The root of the problem was the focus drifting away into the future and possible outcomes. Stress forced us to become tense and even before the meet started we already knew we weren't able to show our full potential. Why? Because from stress fear arises and when fear appears, doubts flourishes and with doubts one becomes weak. This is not a good recipe! It was only when we learnt about the power of breathing that things started to change. With conscious breathing throughout the day and especially during competitions, we are able to stay centred within ourselves with the focus fixed on our breathing itself. No room for drifting away into potential future scenarios or in past experiences. The breathing became our tool to tell our bodies that we’re ok and we can simply be in the present moment.

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‍Creating Good Habits

As you can see, we can be hard working athletes, disciplined with our training but yet inhibited to show our true potential especially when it matters the most. Through difficult situations and a lot of suffering we have learnt that what it takes to swim freely is the ability to set up a healthy routine. One that allows us to connect with our essence, our breathing. Making it a conscious practice, feeling grateful for what we have gives us the tool to take control over our experiences. For it is up to us how well we prepare for a competition and when race day comes you can shine your true self and enjoy the moment! Here is a suggestion, when you wake up in the morning, sit quietly for 5 minutes and simply focus on your breath. If your focus drifts, it's ok, bring it back to your breath. Repeat the same before you go to sleep. Try to focus on your breath during the day as well, do regular check-ins and use the technique mentioned above if you need to calm your organism down.

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Breathe in and breathe slowly out… Ok, let’s rock the pool!

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