Aquawareness as a personal, holistic and mindful practice
Aquawareness, as a personal, holistic, and mindful practice, offers a unique approach to engaging with water that transcends conventional aquatic activities. It is rooted in a philosophy that views water not merely as a medium for physical activity, but as a profound element deeply connected to human existence and consciousness.
Origins and Founder
The concept of Aquawareness was created by Giancarlo De Leo. His vision crystallized these ideas into a structured approach known as “Mindfulness in Water”. The primary objectives of this practice are to enhance water safety and swimming proficiency while simultaneously cultivating a deep personal connection with water through mindful practices and sensory experiences. This includes improving body-water awareness, promoting relaxation, rediscovering sensations in water, and enhancing mental presence. It also emphasizes individual empowerment and responsibility in aquatic environments, focusing on personal safety and the ability to assist others in emergencies.
Aquawareness fundamentally differs from traditional swimming instruction, which typically prioritizes competitive performance and efficiency. Instead, Aquawareness emphasizes a meditative experience that fosters a deep awareness of both the body and the water. It encourages participants to “forget complex motor skills” to reconnect with natural instincts, contrasting with the structured learning of specific strokes in traditional methods.
Philosophical Foundations
Aquawareness draws from both ancient Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, integrating them with modern theories to create a comprehensive mindful practice.
Western Philosophy
In Western thought, water has long been recognized for its fundamental importance.
- Ancient Greeks: Philosophers like Thales of Miletus asserted that water was the fundamental principle, or arche, of the universe. This marked a significant shift from mythological explanations to a more rational understanding of the world. Additionally, Plato highlighted the importance of aquatic skills, noting that “The ignorant one neither knows how to read nor how to swim”.
- Romans: The phrase “Salus per Aquam,” later translated in the English-speaking world as SPA, meaning “health through water,” reflects the Roman awareness of water’s beneficial effects.
The philosophical approach of Aquawareness, derived from the ancient Greek “philosophia” (love for wisdom), translates to a “love for life” within an aquatic context. It seeks to understand water through one’s own body and to understand the body through water, based on lived experiences, with a priority on enhancing water survival abilities.
Eastern Philosophy
Aquawareness’s meditative framework is deeply influenced by Eastern contemplative traditions, adapting their principles to the unique properties of water.
- Buddhism:
- Vipassana: While Vipassana practitioners typically observe the rise and fall of the abdomen during breathing in static introspection, Aquawareness guides individuals to observe how each stroke creates hydrodynamic resistance or how buoyancy alters postural alignment. In this practice, water transforms into an “active partner” in meditation.
- Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition: This tradition, which views mindfulness as a way of life, profoundly informs Aquawareness’s approach.
- Zen: Aquawareness operationalizes Zen’s emphasis on shoshin (beginner’s mind) by encouraging swimmers to experience each immersion as if encountering water for the first time, reminiscent of primordial aquatic experiences like fetal existence. Zen’s zazen (seated meditation) focuses on presence through posture and breath awareness; Aquawareness transposes this to aquatic locomotion, where horizontal buoyancy replaces the lotus position, and rhythmic breathing synchronizes with stroke cycles, maintaining “here-now” awareness.
- Taoism:
- Wu Wei (effortless action): Practitioners learn to yield to water’s flow rather than combat it, mirroring the Taoist principle of effortless action, which manifests in techniques prioritizing hydrodynamic efficiency over muscular force.
- Centered Balance: Water’s tendency to return to equilibrium informs Aquawareness’s focus on finding one’s gravitational center, paralleling the Taoist emphasis on aligning with natural forces.
- Purification Symbolism: Just as Taoist texts metaphorically use water to represent mental clarity, Aquawareness employs immersion as a ritual cleansing of psychological debris, facilitated by water’s tactile envelopment.
- Yogic Philosophy:
- Patanjali’s Pranayama (breath control): Aquawareness incorporates these principles, modifying ujjayi breathing to accommodate aquatic conditions, teaching swimmers to synchronize inhalations with arm recoveries and exhalations with propulsion phases.
- Pratyahara (withdrawal of senses): This Yogic concept finds aquatic expression in Aquawareness’s emphasis on shutting out external distractions to focus on internal hydrodynamic feedback. Practitioners report entering flow states similar to samadhi, where the boundary between swimmer and water dissolves.
A distinctive aspect of Aquawareness’s synthesis is its “Environmental Relocation,” transplanting meditation from cushions and mats to aquatic environments. This introduces unique proprioceptive challenges that deepen mindfulness and amplify somatic awareness beyond land-based practices.
Key Authors and References
The primary author and creator of the Aquawareness concept is Giancarlo De Leo. The philosophical underpinnings draw from ancient figures such as
Plato and
Thales of Miletus in the West, and influential Eastern thinkers and traditions including
Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhism) and Patanjali (Yoga). The concept also references the work of
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who famously stated, “Without water, there is no life”.
The core ideas and practices of Aquawareness are extensively detailed on its dedicated platforms, such as Aquawareness.net and Fuorimag.it, which serve as key references for understanding this holistic and mindful discipline.
