slow motion swimming

Is there a term for exercising without hardly moving and breathing like you are sleeping? The last two times I went swimming, I tried to move as slowly as I possibly could. The slow movement is almost meditative, as my breathing is calm and smooth. When I would breathe, I’d watch my hand exit the water and make a very slow arch until it entered again with as few bubbles as I could make. Each time up the pool I tried to go even slower. Though it may seem like a strange way to swim, especially if you happened to see me, I had a purpose for doing it.

It helped me believe that it’s easier to stay afloat the less I try. The less I flail around, the fewer times I flap my arms and the fewer times I kick, the better my chances of staying on top of the water. As a general rule, I tend to like to stay near the surface. During my lazy arm swings, I thought about exactly where I wanted my hands to be with each stroke. I found it easy to adjust, where each one went within a few inches, if I felt something was off. After an hour of slow motion swimming, I was happy with my ‘workout’. I hope with just a few more hundred hours of exact hand placement exercises, I’ll become a better swimmer….. that’s if I don’t fall asleep doing it.