How swimming can improve wellbeing.

When you’re neurodiverse the world can often feel especially heavy, the stress of keeping up with your peers, needing to mask constantly and never feeling good enough can feel like you never get a second to breathe. This can often lead to unnecessary stress which can lead to a toll on the body. Like many neurodiverse young people, I’ve experienced all of this which has resulted in me experiencing chronic primary pain.

Chronic pain can feel like your body is bruised, exhausted and is slowly shutting down. The best way I can explain it is like that feeling straight after doing a heavy amount of exercise. The next day you’re in pain, tired, struggling to think and taking it easy and slowly the feeling goes away. But for chronic pain sufferers they are never able to have that luxury and always feel that way.

Chronic pain can be built up by a plethora of things. Stress, uncertainty and sadness can lead to neurodiverse young people being more likely to have this condition. Unfortunately, with chronic pain there is no direct cure rather rest, understanding triggers and finding what makes you happy. For me that’s swimming.

Swimming can relieve pain with no pressure on muscles or tendons and gives time to relax. It gives the opportunity to spend a sacred hour away from the screen as well as being a relatively cheap alternative to a gym membership. I have even taken up Competitive Para Swimming thus giving me an outlet away from school and found friends that really get me.

The down sides of swimming

Changing rooms can often suck. Disgusting, wet and having to get your feet out on the damp floor can be horrible. As well, depending on what time you’re going, you could be getting changed whilst small children are in there having just had lessons which can be a nightmare as you’re then sharing a changing village with them.

I would recommend aiming to get there in plenty of time and seeing what the pool’s policy is on footwear before going. Some pools like you to take your shoes off when entering the changing area (in this situation it may be a good idea to have some shoes which haven’t been worn outside) whilst others don’t care. Even with pools who are fine with outdoor footwear in the changing rooms they won’t want you walking out on poolside with them so if you have sensory issues around texture on your feet probably still have a spare pair with you to avoid any problems.

My top tips

• If you’re not sure what to do look online for inspiration, there are plenty of apps/social media accounts which can give you swim workouts for various levels.
• Don’t compare yourself to others. When you first get in it can be easy to compare yourself to the swimmers in the fast line who can go double the pace that you can and have all the equipment. The truth is they’ve probably been doing it for years and have spent hundreds of hours in a pool. You’re not going to be like them on the first day nor do you have to be. Some are there to improve their technique whilst others are there simply because it makes them feel good. I’ll let you in on a little secret: Competitive Swimmers feel the exact same-we compare and put too much emphasis on what doesn’t really matter.
• Don’t compare your body-no one’s watching and even if they are they don’t have the courage to do what you’re doing so who should have the last laugh? It’s you!
• Don’t get yourself wrapped up in the gear. When you first try out swimming it can be very easy to go online, watch ‘swimfluencers’ and feel like you need the new and trendy costume from brands like Speedo, Arena, Funkita and Amanzi which can be really expensive. You may also start learning about equipment to use e.g. kickboard, pullbuoy, fins and feel like you need these things to. If you get more into swimming and go regularly then of course you can buy them but don’t feel like you need to when just starting out. Sometimes if there’s a certain piece of equipment you want to try out you can ask the people who work there, and they might let you give it a go for free.
• Know your limits. It’s absolutely fine if you cannot do 25 metre lengths, pools always have width swimming for swimmers who aren’t as experienced and open swims where it can be more social. For lane swims it’s advised to be able to swim fifty metres (two lengths) without stopping but you can take a break at either end of the pool.
• Don’t let one bad trip put you off. I’ve noticed how some pools tend to be cleaner than others so if you’ve had a particularly bad experience try going at a different time when it shouldn’t be so busy e.g. in the middle of the day. If you have tried various times and the situation doesn’t seem to be going away e.g. smelly toilets, try going to a different pool even if it might be a bit further out it could feel a lot more comfortable. If you have found it too busy and overwhelming, ask the leisure centre when their busier times are. However, it may mean you’re going at an inconvenient time like early in the morning.
• Do your research. Know what you’re getting into before you get there. For example, if the public swim is restricted it could be a bit more crowded in that area rather than if the whole pool is being publicly used. It’s also important to know what’s going on before you get there. There may be children’s lessons going on at the same time so sharing the changing village with them could be overstimulating (and typically less clean).

Also make sure you understand what the various descriptions for swims are, so you don’t get there and have any surprises. That way if you’re not a confident swimmer you won’t be put off by the sight of a lane swim but also if you want to do lengths you won’t get annoyed by the sight of an open swim. If you’re lucky enough to live near to a fifty-metre pool, make sure you are not going when the lane swim is fifty metres if you struggle to keep up, so you’re not daunted by it as you walk out to the pool.

Really this is all you need

• Costume-Absolute
• Bag-Absolute
• Towel-But only if you want to get dry.
• Goggles-Only if you don’t like water getting in your eyes.
• Water bottle-if you get thirsty often, you can just pop it on the side.

Read more from MindMate about how being active can improve your wellbeing