Swimmingly

and the silver lining of communal showers

About a month ago, I ran my third half marathon. I had trained for it specifically and diligently for 9 months, and really thought I had it figured out. Turns out, I ran with a stress fracture in my left fibula, and the 21 kilometers on a hard surface did not help matters. Ouch.

No more running or jumping or BJJ for me for a while. After a week of couch potatoe-ing, I pulled out my trusty swimsuit, cap and goggles and made it to my local heated outdoor swimming pool, Gamlingen.

I’m not a fast swimmer, in spite of my glory days of synchronized swimming as a teen.
(I was rubbish, but it was fun). I stay in the slow lane, or whichever lane has the fewest swimmers in it, and get into quite the meditative state, just glancing at the clock on the far wall very now and then, to see how much longer until I reach my self imposed minimum time of one hour in the pool.

But my favorite thing of going back to swimming, that I had almost completely forgotten, is what wonders it does to my own body image to shower with all the other women. Naked, and completely relaxed women of all ages, shapes, sizes and levels of wrinklyness and cellulite.

I obviously can’t share a photo from the communal showers at Gamlingen, but you get the idea.

It was so refreshing to be reminded of how totally unique and diverse we all are. And how beautiful diversity is. It is easy to forget how the only thing ‘normal’ about our bodies, is how no body is exactly the same as another. Especially when we are steeped in Instagram and Tik-Tok videos and other media constantly barraging us with a very narrow definition of youth and beauty.

I was also reminded of my dad’s attempt to cure me of what he thought was excessive prudishness when I was 13. On a road trip through Germany, he took me to a German outdoor Swimming Pool/ Spa where everybody was naked everywhere. I was thoroughly uncomfortable throughout the whole experience, but even then I marveled at how it was actually possible to be 1) totally relaxed about nudity in general and 2) how nobody was judging my body, or anybody else’s.

It did not exactly cure me of prudishness, as I became even more concerned about covering my pubertal body, but it did instill in me a certain awe for bodies in general.

So, if you are feeling a little down about the state of your own body, I highly recommend a trip to your local public pool, and the communal showers and sauna.

Please remember: Bodies, like emotions, are not inherently good or bad. They just are. And they are lovely.

Here are a few of my favorite body positivity resources: