How swimming helps with stress

There are lots of things in a child’s life that can be very stressful. Moving, changing schools, or welcoming a new baby in the family can be painful and scary. Many times, kids will act out because they do not know how to deal with the stress.

Swimming lessons can help with stressful events

Swimming lessons boost confidence and help kids believe in themselves. It gives them something else to focus on outside of the stressful environment. The experience of dealing with something new in a controlled environment, such as swim lessons, helps them reframe the stressful event which feels uncontrolled.

Sometimes, even just the experience of having another adult in a positive, encouraging role in their lives can make kids feel like whatever the new experience is that they are adjusting to is a safe and happy one. We aren’t there to help them settle into their new home or make friends at their new school, but if we can tell them that they are doing a great job here, during swim lessons, then they often start to feel more confident about the rest of their lives too.

A New Light with Swimming Lessons : )

Most importantly, swimming lessons are an opportunity for kids to master a new skill that used to frighten them, and that is a huge confidence boost. When any of us feel like we are good at something, especially if it is something that we used to think was really hard or scary, it makes us feel like we can handle other hard things.

Facing the unknown is always stressful and frightening. And for children, everything they encounter is by definition the unknown until they have encountered it. We adults might not understand why something is stressful to a child, but that doesn’t mean we can’t honor it and support them through it.