Tessa Wardley

The Mindful Art of Wild Swimming

Reflections for Zen Seekers

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The Mindful Art of Wild Swimming explores how swimming in rivers, lakes, and seas is the very epitome of conscious living.

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Produktdetails

• Mindfulness
• Verlag: The Ivy Press
• Seitenzahl: 144
• Erscheinungstermin: 3. März 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781782407577
• ISBN-10: 178240757X
• Artikelnr.: 60934305

Autorenporträt

Tessa Wardley is a river-lover and mini-adventurer who has worked and played in waters worldwide from New Zealand to the Arctic Circle. She is a senior policy advisor with the Environment Department and before that, principle in a global environmental consultancy and policy advisor to the Environment Agency. She has written The River Book, The Woodland Book and The Countryside Book, inspirational titles encouraging readers to have adventures outdoors. She is also author of The Ocean Hero Handbook and Mindful Thoughts for Runners.

Inhaltsangabe

Prelims pp1-7 Introduction: The Essence of Man pp8-15 "Live by a clean
river and you have everything you need, even a fish for supper." Rupert
Wright Man in his natural element-how and why natural waters have been so
important in the evolution of man. Civilizations settling by rivers,
exploration of new lands over the seas. Why immerse yourself-why we swim
and what we gain from it. What is mindfulness and how does swimming in open
waters contrast with swimming in a pool? Chapter one: Taking the Plunge
pp16-27 How to get started. Planning to swim outdoors. Techniques for
open-water swimming. Birth (the river at its source), sacred springs, birth
rituals in many religions. Sacred springs-Australia and the aboriginal
beliefs around water pools. Mindfulness exercise: The importance of finding
your rhythm-breathing. Chapter two: The Solo Swim pp28-41 "There is
practically no difference between flying in the water and flying in the
air. … It was like the dreams people have." TH White Branching out on your
own, finding your feet, youth, independence. Release your inner fish-like
flying. Cultural releases of sending people on their way, recognizing them
as a separate entity-baptism, immersion. Launching off from the beach,
striking out for distance goals. Swimming in lakes (Coniston/Sweden),
swimming out to offshore islands (Scillies). Mindfulness exercise:
Ripple-free swimming. Chapter three: Swimming with Friends pp42-55 "Small,
shiny children were playing like otters on the riverbanks." Jay Griffiths
Swimming in Pyrenean rivers, exploring Sardinian coast. Youthful rivers,
lots of energy and noise, carrying large stones and small boulders, change
and development. Gamboling and having fun like otters playing, sliding down
rock shutes, exploring water holes and small waterfalls-lots of diversity
and new experiences. Playing in the surf, exploring rocky pools, caves and
rock arches along the shoreline. Water as calming agent and leveler of
people. Mindfulness exercises: Enjoy the moment. Chapter four: Swimming
Adventures pp56-73 "I wanted the river. Its wildness. I wanted to strip
naked and let the water lick my skin." Sue Monk Kidd Midlife, summer
swimming adventures all over the world. Fast-flowing large waters,
different layers of needs and different layers of water-feel the
stratification of the water in the bands of warm and cold water. Dense
vegetation of the riverbank and the diversity of the wildlife. What do we
get emotionally from the different kinds of swimming? Enrichment, calm,
escapism, cleansing, humility in the face of nature's power and beauty.
Skinny-dipping in Australia. Waterfalls in Nepal/Corsica. Night swimming in
Kenya. The long swim down the Thames. Swimming like Tarzan in the Amazon.
Island hopping in Croatia. Exploring hidden bays in Wales. Mindfulness
exercise: Feel the burn. Chapter five: Reaping the Rewards pp74-87 "Once in
the water Iris cheers up a bit. It is almost too warm, hardly refreshing.
But its old brown slow-flowing deliciousness remains, and we smile happily
at each other as we paddle quietly to and fro." John Bailey Swimming in
lowland rivers (Waveney in Norfolk), still inland seas (the Mediterranean).
The benefits of swimming-physical, emotional, spiritual. The science and
the research. The role of natural waters culturally and why we return to
the water throughout the cycle of our lives for health, healing, and
spiritual renewal. The cyclical nature of the seasons, our lives, and the
cycle of water. Mindfulness exercise : Go with the flow-enjoying being part
of the water cycle. Chapter six: Reflections from The Riverbank pp88-97
"Find beauty; be still." W H Murray Much can be gained from observing water
and its environment. Sitting by the river in the Pyrenees, sitting on the
beach/cliffs in Tasmania-you don't have to get in the water if you are not
in the mood. Watching the reflections and the wildlife and listening to the
sounds. Mindfulness exercise: Listen to the soundscape. Chapter seven:
Words of Wisdom pp98-113 As with old age in man, the ancient river carries
much with it. Every rock that the river has passed over and industrial
waste stream has left its mark. Go and visit the last miles of a river and
see the richness that they divest-salt marshes, mangrove swamps, and deltas
the world over-vast areas of enriched vegetation feeding shoals of breeding
fish and flocks of wading birds. Swimming in meanders to exploring the
mangroves of Madagascar. Mindfulness exercise: Just be. Chapter eight: The
Ungovernable Element p114-137 "Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water,
sings the pebbles into perfection." Rabindranath Tagore The duality of
water-benign and soothing, wild and powerful. River, lakes, and seas take
on many personalities and are represented by many characters in cultures
throughout the world. Natural waters are used in birth rituals and in death
ritual-currently and historically. We must remember that we are part of
nature, not distinct from it. Swimming in natural waters helps us to
realize this and to achieve the goal of being at one with our world.
Endmatter: Glossary, references, index & acknowledgments pp138-144