The fact is, you have to already be safe in deep water to learn to tread.
Treading water is not a safety skill. It is a skill of convenience. We’ll wait for the shouting and objections to die down! There, now we can explore it!
No. As experts in this field, we invite anyone who has ever seen an afraid student learn to tread water sustainably to email us!
A person who’s unsafe in water cannot learn to tread sustainably. How many have become so discouraged that they didn’t learn? It’s not their fault. It’s exhausting. They worry about sinking, dying, panicking, or drifting away from the edge. If they can move their arms and legs “like this,” they still can’t learn to tread: they’re not completely present.
The idea that someone who’s unsafe in deep water can learn to tread is unreasonable. We state this out loud so you can let yourself off the hook.
A person desperate to learn to tread water is in the very state that prevents learning: dependent on something outside of him/herself for safety (treading).
He has to be calm, safe, and comfortable doing nothing in water in order to absorb the many lessons leading up to treading water. And if the teaching is done well, treading will appear naturally and effortlessly out of the blue… and it will last. That’s Miracle Swimming.
When you see someone treading, looking as though they don’t have a care in the world, it’s not because they know how to tread. It’s because they know they are safe, whether they tread or not.
Treading is a convenience skill that makes it easy to look around, talk to people, get your bearings, and do things in deep water. It is not meant to keep someone safe. You have be safe and feel safe before you can learn to tread.
Start at the beginning and skip no steps. It is inevitable that you’ll learn to tread when you are fully present in deep water: you know how the water works. It just takes a little time and focusing on the right things. That’s Miracle Swimming.
Miracle Swimming
School for Adults, LLC
