The ocean is a mighty force, capable of destructive and dangerous forces. But, when we learn to work with the ocean and adapt our bodies to work together with the mighty forces of pressure and current, it can become something even more beautiful.
For millennia, humans have been coming to the ocean to seek peace. Whether it be just gazing upon the water and listening to the waves lap the shore, or entering it to discover and conquer its ways, the ocean has many therapeutic properties.
Freediving is no exception.
Freediving is a largely meditative activity, used in modern practice to help us disconnect from the chaos on land and fully embrace the peace and silence beneath the surface. No other form of diving or swimming lets you be at one with the water as completely as freediving does. The result is an intensely meditative mindset, made possible by careful and controlled power of the brain.
Here’s why it is unique:
Mind over body: One of the most recognizable factors that makes freediving special is the the ability to manifest an untapped potential within the brain. The brain is an extremely powerful organ, capable of much more than we realize, at times. Freediving allows us to catch a glimpse of that potential.
With certain meditative techniques of mental power, controlled breathing and practice, we can make the brain prolong its need for oxygen. There are certain “fight or flight” reflexes that kick in with the brain and the body when the brain senses distress. Being underwater for extended periods of time is just one of them. By learning to control that reflex and tell it otherwise, we can survive much longer underwater than we previously believed possible.
Maximum meditation: Everyone from corporate executives to seasoned yogis are turning to freediving as another form of meditation and relaxation. As humans, particularly in today’s modern society, seeking an escape and way to unwind is a constant goal.
No matter what your stresses are, freediving offers a way to release them in the calmest environment on earth, beneath the ocean surface. There, no outside noises distract or create tension and the motions of the water are naturally calming. Underwater is the closest feeling we have to being back within the womb, totally nurtured and safe.
Master your lungs: Freediving forces you to explore the ability of your lungs and push their perceived boundaries in a way you never thought could be possible. The lungs are a strong, powerful organ that — literally — breathe life into your blood and body.
Learning ways to deepen and strengthen your breathing can have enormous impacts on not just your freediving success, but in all of your athletic endeavors and meditation techniques. Learn controlled breathing techniques, how to deepen each breath you take, how to maximize the oxygen your body received from each breath and more in your freediving endeavors.
Yoga And freediving: Yoga and freediving hold many similarities. Both have shown to have the same physiological benefits and the mindset for both centers around fluidity and meditative breathing. In the same way, the practice of one can improve the practice of the other.
This is largely the reason many yogis enjoy and are successful freedivers and vice versa. Some have even fused the two sports, using the buoyancy of the water to assist in twisting themselves into graceful yoga poses on the sea floor.
Intense concentration: One of the final techniques that makes freediving so intensely meditative is the element of concentration. In few other sports must you focus on your own body, independent of factors in the water or air, as closely as in freediving.
Freediving allows you to practice a form of concentration so intense, it often translates to several other areas of daily life. Concentration is another way that we can manifest the mind as something more powerful than the body.