I recently began swimming again after about a decade out of the water. It’s been a month now since I decided to make a habit out of swimming about four times a week (plus a couple of aquafit classes).

What is interesting to me is how often I hear people mention that swimming lengths is boring. I’ve found the opposite to be true. In that hour of doing breaststroke, I practise self-talk. It is during this time when my body is in a gentle flowing rhythm that I go through everything in my life that I’m grateful for. I consciously weed out unnecessary or negative thoughts on a daily basis, and replace them with the seeds of hope, faith, trust, belief and love.

I really wish the power of thoughts/thinking was taught in schools so that children didn’t become adults who spend vast swathes of time in fear and anxiety.

Examples of some of my affirmations include:

I am thankful for my strong, stable, secure shoulders and arms (have had a history of dislocation, so really need to combine positive self-talk with physiotherapy and exercise).

I give thanks for my loving and nurturing husband, and that I have such a beautiful marriage.

I am grateful for my funny, creative, inspiring daughters.

I am so grateful for my luxurious life which allows me to be self-employed doing work that I love.

I give thanks for my body which is growing stronger, fitter and healthier every day.

I am strong. I am fit. I am loving. I am kind. I am happy. I have wonderful friends. I am grateful for my nurturing home.

I have plenty more that I mentally say, but this gives you a taste of how I spend my swimming time. My body might be exercising, but so is my mind. It is being fed strong thoughts. Our thinking really does shape our life. And, like the muscles of the body, our thoughts and way of thinking can be lax or fit. It’s up to us what thoughts we choose to entertain. Regardless of the way we’ve been brought up, we can change our life by weeding out the pointless and damaging, and instead planting seeds of love, gratitude and harmony.