I am currently rehabbing an injured knee and, because I can’t do my normal daily exercise, I decided it was time for some serious swimming instead – the perfect weightless exercise for an injured knee. I needed a goal. What better goal than a 1km charity ocean swim? At BJP we always recommend SMART goals. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bounded. I figured this goal was certainly specific and measurable. It was relevant to my current need and definitely time-bounded by the race date! Was it achievable? I hoped so – I used to do ocean swimming a long time ago, when my son was a little boy. He’s now 28. So it’s been a minute… but I figured if I’d done it once I could do it again.

I joined a local gym to use their pool – hadn’t been in one of those since the 90’s! (wow, gyms have really changed) – and I started to train. At first 500m was all I could manage but I slowly increased each time and today I hit the 1km. And I still have 2 weeks before I take it to the ocean.

It’s a good feeling to know my goal is in sight. But today, I had an epiphany. It was 6.30 and I had the pool to myself (the die-hards had all finished and gone off to work). I was following the black line, letting my mind wander (swimming is great thinking time – there’s not many distractions on the bottom of a pool!) and I was getting tired. Really tired.

Then I realized my technique had gone AWOL. I refocused – core on, flatten the back, lift the feet, relax the elbows, fingers together, turn don’t lift the head, roll the body to breathe…. BREATHE! And it hit me. Technique and breathing are inexorably linked. If you don’t breathe properly your technique goes to custard. And if you have poor technique, it’s impossible to breathe well. It’s a vicious cycle.

Of course, my mind went straight to Physie! And exactly the same thing is true. When you’re coming to the end of your routines and you get tired, you don’t breathe as well so your technique suffers. You lose postural control, your ribcage closes in and you can’t get a deep breathe to refuel your body. The same problem cycle.

So… what to do? Become aware of your breath when you dance, train and perform. Know when you are likely to get tired and will need more oxygen on board. Make sure you are deep breathing BEFORE you get to that point and you will soar through the rest of your routines without any effort showing in your performance.

As Dory says… keep on swimming… I mean dancing.

Enough of the dad jokes.  Just remember to breathe!

Jackie Rawlings