# How do you get comfortable putting your face in the water? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/face-in-the-water/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Movement · Updated: 2026-10-14 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* Go slowly and start where you can stand: practise blowing bubbles with just your mouth in the water, then your nose and mouth, then your whole face, always breathing out under water and lifting up to breathe in. Good goggles help enormously, and short, frequent sessions in the shallow end will do more than one brave plunge. Plenty of adults swim a perfectly respectable head-up breaststroke and have never once enjoyed putting their face in. Some had a bad experience as children, some simply never got used to it, and some find the feeling of water around the nose deeply unreasonable. All of these are normal, and all of them can change with a bit of patient, unglamorous practice in the shallow end. ## Why it feels so bad The discomfort usually comes from two things: water going up your nose, and the instinct to hold your breath. Holding your breath under water makes you tense, and then you surface gasping, which feels like proof that you should not have gone under. The fix is to learn to **breathe out under water**, gently and continuously, so that when you lift your face you only need to breathe in. ## Step by step, in water you can stand in Do each step until it feels boring before moving on. Boring is the goal. 1. **Mouth bubbles.** Stand in waist- or chest-deep water. Put your mouth in and blow bubbles as if cooling soup. Lift, breathe in, repeat. 2. **Nose hum.** Lower your face until your nose is in too, and hum while you breathe out through your nose. The steady stream of bubbles keeps water out. 3. **Whole face.** Put your whole face in, hum or blow out, lift and breathe in. Hold the side of the pool if you like. 4. **Count it.** Stay under for a slow count of three, then five, breathing out the whole time. 5. **Eyes open.** With goggles on, open your eyes under water and look at the tiles, your hands, the lane line. Seeing where you are takes away a lot of the fear. 6. **Bob.** Bend your knees to go under, breathe out, rise, breathe in. Rhythmic bobbing is the bridge between standing practice and actual swimming breath. ## Goggles and nose clips Goggles that fit and do not leak change everything. Try a few styles; a pair that seals gently around your eyes without needing to be strapped tight is the one. If yours fog or leak, our page on [goggles fogging and leaking](https://zestasy.com/wiki/goggles-fogging/) will help. A nose clip is a perfectly respectable aid while you learn. Many swimmers start with one and drop it later once humming out through the nose feels natural. ## Bring it into swimming Once you can bob and breathe calmly, try a glide: push off the wall with your face in, arms stretched forward, breathing out, then stand up. Then add a few kicks. Then a few strokes. The aim is to keep the same relaxed breathing you practised standing still. For front crawl, the next skill is turning your head to the side to breathe; we cover that in [breathing in front crawl](https://zestasy.com/wiki/breathing-front-crawl/). For breaststroke, the rhythm is simpler: face in as you glide, lift to breathe as your arms pull. ## Make the sessions small and often Ten relaxed minutes in the shallow end three times a week will move you along faster than an hour of white-knuckle effort once a fortnight. Go at quieter times if you prefer fewer witnesses. If an adult swimming lesson is available nearby, it is worth it: teachers are very used to adults who dislike putting their face in, and having someone beside you makes each step easier. Our page on [learning to swim properly as an adult](https://zestasy.com/movement/learning-to-swim-properly-as-an-adult/) covers lessons. ## FAQ ### Why does water go up my nose? Usually because you have stopped breathing out through it. A gentle, steady hum keeps a little outward pressure that keeps most water away. Pointing your face downwards rather than forwards also helps. ### Should I keep my eyes closed? You can at the very start, but with goggles on, opening your eyes is calming. You see the bottom, the wall, your own hands, and the water becomes a place rather than a blank. ### What if I panic? Stand up. That is the beauty of practising where you can stand. Take a few breaths, then go back a step to something that felt easy. ### Is it OK to keep swimming heads-up breaststroke? Absolutely, for leisure. It is a fine way to enjoy the water. Learning to put your face in just gives you more options, and makes longer swims far more comfortable. ## Related - [Is it worth learning to swim properly as an adult?](https://zestasy.com/movement/learning-to-swim-properly-as-an-adult/) - [How do you breathe properly when swimming front crawl?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/breathing-front-crawl/) - [Which swimming stroke is easiest to learn?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/easiest-swimming-stroke/) - [How do you stop swimming goggles fogging and leaking?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/goggles-fogging/) - [Why can't some people float?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/why-some-people-sink/) - [All Movement answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#movement)