Swimming and Water Element: Emotional Release Through Movement

BY NICOLE LAU

Water is the element of emotion, flow, intuition, and the subconscious. It is yielding yet powerful, soft yet unstoppable. Water takes the shape of whatever contains it, yet it can carve through stone. It is the element of feeling, of letting go, of surrender.

When you swim, you enter the realm of water. You become weightless, suspended, held. The water surrounds you, supports you, and—if you let it—heals you. Swimming is not just cardiovascular exercise. It is emotional release work. It is water therapy. It is a practice of surrender, flow, and letting the water wash away what you've been holding.

In our culture, we're taught to control our emotions, to hold them in, to stay strong and composed. But emotions are meant to flow like water—to move through us and out of us. When we hold them, they become stagnant, stuck, toxic. Swimming offers a sacred space to let them flow again, to cry into the water, to release what we've been carrying, and to emerge cleansed.

This article will teach you how to work with the water element through swimming, how to use swimming for emotional release and healing, and how to transform your time in the water into a spiritual practice of flow and surrender.

Understanding the Water Element

Water in the Five Elements

In Chinese medicine and philosophy, water is one of the five elements:

Element: Water (水)

Season: Winter

Direction: North

Organs: Kidneys and bladder

Emotion: Fear (when imbalanced), Wisdom (when balanced)

Qualities: Flowing, yielding, deep, mysterious, cleansing, emotional

When water element is balanced:

• Emotions flow freely and healthily
• Ability to go with the flow of life
• Deep wisdom and intuition
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Healthy boundaries (water takes shape of container)

When water element is imbalanced:

• Stuck emotions, inability to cry or release
• Fear, anxiety, phobias
• Rigidity, inability to adapt
• Emotional flooding or numbness
• Kidney/bladder issues

Water and the Sacral Chakra

The sacral chakra (Svadhisthana) is the water chakra:

Location: Below navel, lower abdomen

Element: Water

Color: Orange

Governs: Emotions, creativity, sexuality, pleasure, flow

When balanced: Emotional fluidity, creative flow, healthy pleasure, adaptability

When blocked: Emotional rigidity, creative blocks, sexual issues, inability to feel pleasure

Swimming activates the sacral chakra through:

• Fluid hip movements
• Being immersed in water element
• Emotional release and flow
• Sensual, pleasurable movement

Why Swimming Supports Emotional Release

The Science

Bilateral movement:

• Swimming uses both sides of body equally
• This bilateral stimulation processes trauma and emotions
• Similar to EMDR therapy (eye movement desensitization)
• Helps integrate left and right brain hemispheres

Rhythmic breathing:

• Controlled breathing pattern calms nervous system
• Activates parasympathetic (rest and digest) response
• Regulates emotions through breath
• Creates meditative state

Sensory deprivation:

• Underwater, external stimuli are muted
• This turns attention inward
• Allows emotions to surface
• Creates space for processing

Weightlessness:

• Water supports your body weight
• This creates feeling of being held, safe
• Allows deep relaxation and release
• Mimics womb-like environment (primal safety)

The Energetics

Water absorbs and transmutes:

• Water is a natural cleanser energetically
• It absorbs emotional energy from your body
• Transmutes it back to neutral
• This is why you feel lighter after swimming

Water mirrors emotions:

• Water is the element of emotion
• Being in water helps you access your emotions
• What's been frozen can thaw
• What's been held can flow

Surrender and flow:

• You must surrender to the water to swim well
• Fighting the water exhausts you
• Flowing with it carries you
• This teaches emotional surrender

Swimming as Emotional Release Practice

Preparation: Setting Intention

Before entering the water:

1. Acknowledge what you're carrying: What emotions need to be released?
2. Set your intention: "I swim to release and cleanse"
3. Ask the water for support: "Water, help me let go"
4. Enter mindfully: Don't just jump in—step in with awareness

The Practice: Swimming for Release

Phase 1: Settling In (5-10 minutes)

• Swim gently, finding your rhythm
• Focus on breath and movement
• Let your mind quiet
• Feel the water holding you
• Notice any emotions beginning to surface

Phase 2: Opening (10-20 minutes)

• Continue swimming, maintaining rhythm
• Allow emotions to arise without judgment
• If you feel like crying, cry into the water
• If you feel anger, swim harder, release it into movement
• If you feel grief, let it flow with your tears into the water
• The water absorbs it all—you're safe to feel

Phase 3: Release (10-15 minutes)

• Let the emotions move through you fully
• Don't hold back—the water holds you
• Swim through the feelings
• Visualize the water washing away what you're releasing
• With each stroke, let go a little more

Phase 4: Integration (5-10 minutes)

• Slow down your swimming
• Float on your back if possible
• Feel the lightness, the spaciousness
• Notice what's shifted
• Express gratitude to the water

Specific Techniques for Emotional Release

Crying underwater:

• If tears come, let them flow
• Your tears mix with the water—no one can tell
• This is incredibly freeing
• Cry as much as you need

Screaming underwater:

• If you feel rage or frustration, scream underwater
• The water muffles the sound
• Release the energy without disturbing others
• This is cathartic and powerful

Vigorous swimming for anger:

• If you're holding anger, swim hard
• Channel the energy into powerful strokes
• Exhaust the anger through movement
• Then slow down and let it dissolve in the water

Floating for grief:

• If you're grieving, float on your back
• Let the water hold you like a mother
• Surrender to being held
• Cry if you need to
• The water receives it all

Different Swimming Styles for Different Needs

Freestyle (Front Crawl)

Energy: Forward movement, progress, determination

Good for: Moving through stuck emotions, creating momentum, building confidence

Emotional quality: Active release, pushing through

Backstroke

Energy: Openness, vulnerability, trust

Good for: Opening the heart, releasing fear, trusting the water to hold you

Emotional quality: Surrender, trust, opening

Breaststroke

Energy: Gathering and releasing, rhythmic flow

Good for: Processing emotions in waves, gentle release

Emotional quality: Rhythmic processing, gentle flow

Butterfly

Energy: Transformation, power, emergence

Good for: Major emotional transformation, breaking through, rebirth

Emotional quality: Powerful transformation, emergence

Floating

Energy: Surrender, rest, being held

Good for: Deep grief, exhaustion, need for support

Emotional quality: Complete surrender, being held

Swimming Meditation Practices

Breath-Focused Swimming

Use breath as anchor:

• Count strokes per breath (e.g., breathe every 3 strokes)
• Focus entirely on breath rhythm
• When mind wanders, return to breath
• This is swimming meditation

Mantra Swimming

Sync a mantra with your strokes:

• "Let go" with each stroke
• "I release" on inhale, "I receive" on exhale
• "Flow" with each movement
• The mantra becomes the rhythm

Visualization Swimming

Visualize as you swim:

• Imagine swimming through your emotions
• See them as colors in the water
• Watch them dissolve and wash away
• Emerge into clear, clean water

Water Rituals for Emotional Healing

Full Moon Water Release

Swim during full moon (if possible):

1. Write down what you want to release
2. Read it before swimming
3. Enter the water with intention to release
4. Swim, letting the emotions flow
5. Visualize the full moon pulling the emotions out like the tide
6. After swimming, burn or bury the paper

Ocean Swimming for Deep Release

The ocean is especially powerful:

• Salt water is cleansing energetically
• Waves help move stuck energy
• Vastness of ocean holds all emotions
• Swim in the ocean when you need deep cleansing
• Let the waves wash over and through you

Cold Water Immersion

Cold water for emotional reset:

• Cold water shocks the system
• Interrupts emotional patterns
• Forces you into the present moment
• Releases endorphins and resets mood
• Brief immersion (30 seconds to 2 minutes) is enough

Integrating Swimming into Emotional Wellness

Regular Practice

Weekly emotional release swim:

• Set aside one swim per week for emotional work
• This becomes your water therapy session
• Prevents emotional buildup
• Maintains emotional flow

After difficult experiences:

• After conflict, loss, or stress—swim
• Let the water help you process
• Don't carry it alone—give it to the water

Signs Swimming Is Working

During swimming:

• Tears, emotional release
• Feeling lighter as you swim
• Sense of emotions moving through and out
• Deep sighs or yawns (nervous system releasing)

After swimming:

• Feeling emotionally lighter, clearer
• Better mood, more peace
• Improved sleep
• Greater emotional resilience
• Feeling more fluid and adaptable in life

Swimming Affirmations

• "I surrender to the water and let it hold me."
• "I release what I've been carrying into the water."
• "I flow like water—adaptable, powerful, free."
• "The water cleanses my body and my emotions."
• "I am safe to feel, safe to release, safe to flow."
• "I emerge from the water renewed and cleansed."
• "I am water—I flow, I adapt, I heal."

Moving Forward

In our next article, we'll explore Hiking and Earth Connection: Nature as Gym—learning how walking in nature grounds energy and connects us to the earth element.

But for now, swim. Enter the water with intention. Let yourself feel. Cry if you need to. Release what you've been holding. Let the water wash it away.

Water is the great healer, the great cleanser, the element that teaches us to flow. Swim not just for fitness, but for emotional freedom. This is water therapy. This is swimming as medicine.

Flow like water. Release like rain. Emerge like a river after the storm—cleansed, renewed, flowing freely. This is swimming as emotional healing. This is the gift of the water element.