21 Day Practice of Peace – Day 12 – Rhythm
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
I am a lap swimmer. My preference is freestyle, also known as the “crawl.” Last week, my 80 year old father taught me a new way to do the crawl. Instead of pulling my hand back along the same side of my body he showed me a new stroke, Sweep my hand across my body to the other side. It completely changed the rhythm of the stroke and I found myself wanting to take a breath with every stroke as it turned me way over on my side. I practiced this new stroke for several laps then I took my standard metric – how many strokes does it take me to do one lap of the pool? With the standard way of doing the freestyle where my hand pushes the water on the same side of my body – it takes me 33 strokes to complete one length of the pool. With the new stroke where I push the water diagonally across my body, it only takes me 24 strokes to complete one length of the pool. WOW – what an amazing improvement from one simple little modification.
It took me a bit to adjust to the rhythm of this new style of doing the crawl. It has more benefits than just speed, it works out different parts of my body and I feel much more limber in my core muscles because of the twisting.
It got me thinking – where else in my life am I habituated in rhythms that may not be delivering great results. And is there a way for me to gracefully ease into more peaceful rhythms in life? Just like I did with this new swimming stroke. Is there a minor shift in the rhythms of my day that could generate more peace overall? Maybe I’ll start by going to the pool and contemplate this as I practice my new crawl.
