Essex swimming coach reveals mental health benefits of open water
She's encouraging others to try the sport this Mental Health Awareness Week
As Mental Health Awareness Week comes to a close, an Essex swimming instructor has been telling us about the benefits of open water swimming on mental health.
Vicky Malmsjö, who owns coaching business Swimspirational, located near Mersea Island, took up open water swimming after being diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease which left her unable to walk for 3 months.
She found being in the water eased her physical pain, helping her to avoid any surgery, and had a hugely positive impact on her mental health.
She's now keen to recommend it to others: "You're very much in the moment. It's difficult to think about what's going on at home when you're immersed in cold - very cold - water.
"You might be driving there thinking about how you have to go to the shops afterwards, or what your kids or dog did, but once you get into the water, your senses are awakened and you're completely immersed in the experience."
She says the practice can help people unwind: "Any activity where you're controlling you're breathing, lowering your heart rate, keeping your blood pumping round, it's all going to help you relax into the activity.
"Because it's such an intensified experience being in the open water, the effects on your mental health are fantastic."
Alongside more expected effects, Vicky was also keen to highlight more unexpected benefits of open water swimming: "When you look at the environment you're swimming in, you can see kingfishers, swans, ducks, maybe a seal in the sea if you're lucky.
"The clouds in the sky, the nature, the trees, the tide rolling in - how can you not enjoy that?"
Whilst Vicky argues open water swimming can benefit your mental health by helping you become at one with nature, she also points out there's a real community element to it, and that the welcoming people have also been beneficial to her mental health: "The friendship element is huge. I can genuinely say I've never met an outdoor swimmer that wasn't welcoming and friendly.
"It doesn't matter what job you do, what sex you are, what race you are, how old you are, your sexuality, how much money you've got or what car you come in - you meet up and you're all just open water swimmers.
"I don't know if there's many other sports you can say that about."