The Friends of Prospect Lake welcomes our guest blogger Susan Winston. A local psychotherapist and swimming enthusiast, Susan has been gliding through the still waters of Prospect Lake enjoying its beauty, serenity and restorative qualities for 35 years.
If you have any fond memories or recent experiences on Prospect Lake that you would like to share on our website as a guest blogger, please contact us at info@prospectlake.org.
She glides through the water with nothing but a pink cap visible – or is it a bobble head – She is the only one there and gets to make the first waves of the day.
And now, while some of the hours have had to change, she still makes sure she is the only one there; she finds the “me” time. It’s a time for meditation, a time for concentration on breathing, a time to let go of all and do the most natural thing in the world for her. A born fish, her mother used to say.
Whether at sunrise or sunset, the colors on the lake are delicious. The quiet is contagious. The skittering spiders, the fish nipping at her my feet near the sand, all so familiar. Her daily task of removing the weeds that have floated by only to land in her private little alcove where removing them makes makes her feel useful. The little turtle whose suddenly visible head surprised her, and became her swim buddy.
This is my refuge and has been for 35 years. Wherever you are, close your eyes for a moment
and pretend you are stepping into our luscious lake. Stand a moment longer and now longer
and concentrate on your breathing. In so slowly, and out even slower, the regulated breathing
lowering your blood pressure, allowing you to relax. The coolness of the water not just lowering your body temperature but soothing all that bothers you. Let it go. Even if just for a few minutes.
Hold Prospect Lake as sacred, necessary, mandatory to, the fish, the turtle, the
skittering spiders. and the pink-capped swimmer enjoying her solitude.
Susan Winston is a licensed psychotherapist, former TV writer, producer, and director, and a
long-distance swimmer who loves Prospect Lake.
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