Swimming Beneath The Trees,
Dive into still open water and swim beneath the trees. Let the cold wake you from your slumber and watch your cares float like leaves. For it’s in these sacred moments you’ll find your zest for living redeemed. And here, in the quiet, you’ll remember rest is everything you need.
Whenever I feel anxious or consumed by something, I often close my eyes and imagine that I’m swimming.
There’s something about being in the water that brings an immersive, breathtaking peace — or perhaps even, a fresh, restorative sense of ‘aliveness’ (a sort of reawakening to the mind, the body, the senses, and the self).
In water, there’s a beautiful ‘slowing down’ and a sharp ‘waking up’. Particularly when we dive into cold depths, there’s a moment of losing our breath before we can find it again. A strong feeling of freedom, while still being completely held and kept safe.
I suppose there’s an element of escapism there, but I see it as a way of disconnecting in order to connect again. Or as a means of travelling to a sacred, life-giving place in my mind, away from all the noise. I mean, isn’t that part of the beauty of imagination, after all?
The words in this poem were inspired by Hampstead Heath’s natural swimming ponds in leafy North London📍🍃 A true picture of tranquility amidst chaos, and a happy place my memory loves to take me back to, every now and then.
