Cathy Le Feuvre

A Sunday Afternoon Swim

One of the things I love to do is to swim! 

I learned to swim when I was quite little, and I've always enjoyed it - even the many hours of swimming training at school...preparations for many a swim meet. I wasn't world class (and actually I'm not that competitive), but it was fun! 

In recent years, however, swimming has become more and more important as well as enjoyable.

It's not just the exercise, although that of course is great. I also find  being in the water so relaxing. In the pool, just swimming up and down, up and down, up and down, you get a rhythm that is quite mindful. And when in the ocean, those mindful moments are enhanced by the presence of the fresh air, the salt on your lips, the feeling of buoyancy in the salty water.  I find it easy to clear my mind of stress when I'm looking at the surface of the ocean and into the horizon beyond. For me, it's a helpful mindfulness technique which allows me just to be ... rather than worrying about things I cannot change, past and future. 

Living in the lovely island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, where there are so many beaches and bays and swimming opportunities, I can often - or at least when time allows - be found in the water. In the summer, of course, it's a great place to be ... but even when the water is colder I find sea swimming really helpful for my wellbeing and mental health.

In recent years, which have been quite emotionally and physically draining at times, even a quick dip and a short sit in the sunshine, a quiet few moments to myself, has just been invaluable.  

Many people here in Jersey swim throughout the year and while I've not done that, I do start when the sea temperature rises to about 10°C. Which means that this year I stepped into the ocean in April.

Admittedly, it's a bit nippy at first, but I have some gear ... some sea gloves and special boots, and a big dry robe to wrap myself in after my swim. And the feeling of the chilly, salty water on my skin, the capture of my breath when the cold hits me, and even the little brain freeze that can sometimes happen early on in the swimming season are just exhilarating!

This year, I've decided to chart some of my swimming with a bit of a 'swimming diary', and today I dipped at the beautiful Bouley Bay on the north coast of Jersey where the swimming this afternoon was simply gorgeous. The sun sparkled on the water and the coast of France, not too far away, was visible in the distance.

The water is gradually warming up... today the general sea temperature in Jersey was apparently around 13°C.... so things ARE warming up. And, of course, it helps when the sun is out and the wind isn't blowing a gale.

It's an opportunity to share with you not just my swimming experiences, but something of the beauty of the island I call home.

Today, in the sheltered Bouley Bay, which even around low tide still has plentiful swimming water...the experience was everything!

Here's my little film, which I posted first on social media.... 

Enjoy!

 

Blue Monday or Multi-coloured Monday?

Sorry to announce this but ... if you weren't already aware ... today is ...

BLUE MONDAY!

Depressing I know ... again ... sorry!

Today is the third Monday of January, a day which apparently is supposed to be the 'gloomiest' day of the year.

It's sort of midwinter so in some parts of the world the weather is cold and dark and damp ...  that can be a bit depressing. After Christmas some of us are facing debt, and the bills will start rolling in. If we've made New Year's Resolutions, some of us may have fallen off our intended wagon already. All round, it's a day when all the things that are 'bad' in our lives seem to congregate.

Or is it?

Interestingly Blue Monday only dates back to about 2005 - the idea was included in a press release from the British travel company Sky Travel who cited psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall. He had devised an algorithm which indicated that the third Monday in January is the one on which we feel the most gloomy. 

It was a way just to sell holidays!

However, as the media and advertising industries are wont to do, everyone jumped on the concept and since then the day has been in the international diary, with hours of time dedicated today to telling us why we may be feeling sad, and what we can/should do about it. 

And VOILÀ!

Today it's a thing which we all think is real!

However, since that first Blue Monday, even the man behind the formula, Dr Arnall, has said it was never his intention to made the day sound so depressing and that unfortunately the coining of that phrase has, in many cases, become a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. We hear it's 'Blue Monday' and we automatically tend to feel ... well ... BLUE!

The idea has been de-bunked over and over again, including by mental health organisations, who feel the branding of the day is really unhelpful. Actually some now would like us to call the day 'MULTI-COLOURED MONDAY'!

That's much better, don't you think? 

Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we're encouraged to turn everything on its head. Wear bright clothing, think positive, go for a walk ... you know what I'm talking about!

But back to the original Blue Monday idea  ... as I said, it really is a construct of the advertising and media industries and while there are companies and organisations happy to jump on the band wagon it'll be difficult to shift in our psyche. These days companies use it to sell all sort of 'cures' for our gloomy mood ...  vitamin pills, drinks, exercises programmes and equipment as well as those hotel rooms and holidays in the sun. 

Due to the fact that the day has been hijacked by companies with something to sell off the back of people's perceived misery, it's unlikely to be replaced soon by the more positive messaging ... but I'm with mental health campaigners who have stressed that depression isn’t something to be capitalised on. 

I hold my hand up ... before I understood much about this I did run 'Blue Monday' features on my radio shows ... although I believe in the final years of my days in the studio I did introduce the alternative 'Multi-coloured Monday' and tried to concentrate on the positive!

And that's what I'm concentrating on today.

After all, today is not a 'real thing' ... it's made up and we can choose to fixate on it or not. It's certainly most unhelpful at a time when many of us may not be at our best, still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic including restrictions and the constant news coverage of the worst of the COVID figures and deaths!

Dr Arnall himself has urged us all to 'refute the whole notion' - so are you with me?

Let's ditch the blue ... maybe consider wearing something bright and colourful. Speak to a friend, laugh out loud ... and avoid watching those depressing news programmes and TV shows which at the moment seem to be increasingly emphasising the depressing situation facing the world today, including using words like 'crisis', 'disaster' and 'critical' and 'catastrophe'.

Of course, if we are feeling really bad then we may need to seek some professional help - that's important.

But we can also try to just breathe through today, rise above all the negative stuff that may be thrown at us, try to look on the bright side of life, simply try to enjoy life and smile!

Especially today!

Have a great day everyone!