Archive for the ‘Swim to be Happy’ Category

How a Swim Can Make You Happy
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on September 25th, 2014

I’ve often said that the purpose of swimming is the pursuit of happiness. (If you haven’t had the same thought, consider that the Dalai Lama has written that the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness.) Indeed, my main reason for swimming open water events is anticipation of the happiness they’ll bring. My latest […]

A Splash-Free Life?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 20th, 2013

I’m delighted and honored to present this guest post from noted writer and blogger—and recent convert to ‘splash-free’ swimming—Mariah Burton Nelson. What would it mean to lead a splash-free life? To splash is “to cause water or other liquid to move in a noisy or messy way.” In swimming, leading a splash-free life means gliding […]

Bad Advice: Tell Yourself, “This feels good.”
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on November 12th, 2013

Last week (Nov 6 to be precise) the NY Times published an article with the headline Keep Telling Yourself: “This Workout Feels Good.” This is a prime example of what I call  the Western Industrial Exercise Complex. The article’s main message was that if you practice exhortatory self-talk you’ll get better at enduring unpleasantness while […]

Life Lessons from Diana Nyad?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on September 12th, 2013

The below is a guest post by psychotherapist Jeanne Safer PhD, a thoroughly Kaizen TI student taking weekly lessons at the TI Swim Studio in New Paltz for 10 years. This article was originally published at the Psychology Today web site, where Jeanne has just begun writing regular essays on the psychological revelations possible through […]

‘Drafting Off’ My Inner Voice
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on July 29th, 2013

In my last post, Enjoyment Meets Improvement I wrote that I’ve reduced my racing schedule this summer to preserve bandwidth for writing e-books (the first, “How Swimming Works . . . and How It Doesn’t” should be released in October.)  But in practice, I still focus on improvement—it’s addictive and it stokes my creative juices. […]

Enjoyment Meets Improvement
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on July 12th, 2013

Prospects for improvement are best when practice produces a state of such intense Happiness that it’s the best part of your day.

Start Where You Are
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 22nd, 2012

Starting where you are is a way to banish labels like ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ or ‘good’ and ‘bad.’

Try it. You might just >gasp< like it.
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on October 28th, 2012

Practicing with a sense of curiosity produces moments of more intense happiness than anything else I do.

VIDEO: Beautiful Sea, Beautiful Swims
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on October 27th, 2012

Guaranteed — this will be among the most irresistible (“I wanna be there and do that!”) swim videos you’ve seen.

Creating Beauty (getting speed in return)
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on October 19th, 2012

When you strive to create beauty, you’ll swim farther and faster, but enjoy it far more.