Back to the womb

I finally know the joy of floating freely in water without fear and it is a wonderful feeling. If you’ve never had a fear of water, you may have a hard time understanding this liberation.

During my first water yoga class I was introduced to “baby pose”, where you simply hold your knees and float face down in the water. I immediately felt panicky after just a few seconds, failing to ever settle into the pose. I took a cue from someone else who had brought a mask that covered her nose.

Since then I have been a baby pose devotee and star. There is something so reassuring about embracing oneself and just hanging suspended in and buoyed by the water. The mask keeps the water out of my nose and I feel completely calm.

Today I ventured to the next step of gliding through the water and continuously rolling over, another very calming motion.

Both of these are reminiscent of what it must have been like to float in utero, where the need for air had not yet been learned. I think even after 60 years our bodies have a memory of that time.

During the “free swim” period of class, I opted for the wheel pose, which involves placing the back of your neck over a noodle and reaching back to grab both ankles, thereby forming your body into the shape of a wheel. There is no way I could ever achieve this range of motion on dry land, but the water somehow makes it possible.

I’m thinking this class may well be the key to releasing my anxieties about water. That 90 minutes I spend stretching and moving and relaxing in the water is perhaps the highlight of my week.