Category
Mindfulness
During 5 days of Free Diving training in Koh Tao, Thailand 2017, I learnt how to face fears of drowning, hold my breath much longer, slow down my heart like a dolphin does. This taught me how to be mindful even in extreme situations.
I have loved to hold my breath underwater since I was a young child. Aged 8 I would practice in the bathtub staring through my goggles at my waterproof watch. There is something comforting and womb-like about floating in the enclosed warm water. I had no idea about deep ‘Free diving’ until I saw the film ‘The Big Blue’ in my teens, the film about the pioneer Jacques Mayol, the first man to descend 100 metres on a single breath. This January (2017) in Thailand, over 20 years later, I was excited to embark on a formal course in how to dive up to 30metres deep using similar methods to Jacques’.
Day one – Don’t look down…
It all began early morning in a dry training room with fluorescent lights and an HD flat screen. There were four others in my class of varied experience, all male and most in their 30’s. Our instructor Morgan Guille, … Read more