I’ve been swimming for just over a year now and swimming has been one of the best holistic health activities I have found. Good for the mind, body, and interestingly finding community.
Morning Traffic
It’s Monday morning at my local swimming pool and there’s traffic as per usual. The slow, medium, and fast lanes are segregated with the different types of swimmers you get to meet half-naked in your jammers. Some are in the wrong lane, but they usually get the message after a few laps.
- The slow lane is for people looking for some low-impact exercise and a bit of socialising. You may find the retired boys here having relaxed conversations doing some walking lengths.
- The medium lane, where I usually paddle, has people swimming for a year or so, enjoying their time but equally not talking, trying to improve, and catching their breath.
- The fast lane is for those skilled swimmers with more to talk about because they know what they’re doing. Ironmen/Ironwomen, triathletes, in a team, and/or swimming at pace.
In this setting, there is not much to listen to, other than the odd person getting annoyed at the morning traffic, but what is noticeable are the conversations happening after in the sauna.
Research Spaces
As researchers, it could be said that it is in our DNA to look, listen, and observe the spaces we end up in. We also know that our research spaces contribute to the flow, tone, and engagement of discussions. An open, accessible space which is comfortable and well thought out will allow for more open comfortable conversations. A space which is small, inaccessible, and uncomfortable will lead to people looking at the clock and wanting to get out as soon as possible.
We all have an inner awareness of our surroundings which impacts us consciously and subconsciously. Finding those spaces which are comfortable is not always easy, but once we do, we more than likely go back time and time again as it provides us with comfort. This level of comfort is influenced by many aspects of our lives, including culture.
Heated Conversations
What I’ve found is that if you put six people (sometimes 9 at a push) in a six-person UK sauna with the heat cranked up, half-naked, you can get some pretty heated conversations.
My favourite discussions to listen to have included so far:
- What a couple are having for dinner that night (actually, I wouldn’t say I liked this)
- That goat milk is more nutritious than cow milk. Who would have thought?
- The act of not having sex increases testosterone for a male.
- More recently two girls wished they’d stayed single.
Bathing Culture
Even in such proximity to half-naked strangers, conversations are happening because of this sense of community and of course the heat. There isn’t much thought as to whether others are listening either, is it because it’s a safe space or that we are half naked, or our heart rate is at boiling point? Perhaps it’s an engrained sense of bathing culture in this confined space.
Bathing cultures around the world such as Japan, see these moments more as spiritual, religious, and relaxing moments. Western norms wouldn’t see it right for us to be naked with one another in a sauna or spa, but being naked with friends and strangers is a traditional practice in Japan and has been for thousands of years. The act of bathing and washing is a way of starting and ending the day fresh, relaxed, and reset. Washing and bathing away the stresses of the day down a drain, or in an Onsen.
When I travelled to Japan after university, I visited an Onsen in Hakone, close to Mount Fuji. Long story short, 3 gentlemen walk in who may or may not be members of the Yakuza based on their tattoos. Perhaps this is a bit of a stretch to assume this, as I have tattoos all over too. However, we both had to find tattoo-friendly Onsen’s which was a cultural moment I’ll remember forever.
Outro
My sauna and steam room in Southampton is nothing like Japan. Conversations of people from all walks of life are happening in safe spaces but more importantly, there is a feeling of community, a sprinkle of Westernised culture, and when heat is applied, there are those conversations you either smile at or wish you never heard.
