Hi tp, nice to meet you, thanks for the kind words.
I am in agreement about the convergence of freediving and yoga of course. Yoga is actually converging more and more with everything I do as I get older.
I've never heard of the Frog Sutras...I'm actually not a big expert on lots of types of yogic practice, just the stuff I've practiced for the last 10 years or so.
As for the monofin, I have to stress that I'm a beginner, and will let Peter's article (coming on DB soon apparently) speak to that. However, I do feel that you are right about the hydrodynamics. Watching Peter and Eric F last year, I saw that they were using their bodies from the shoulders back, with not so much bending at the knees, during dynamic diving. I think that during very bouyant constant diving, there is more knee-bending to get below the top 5 metres or so, then into a more "laminar" flow (stolen from Peter
), with more of an undulation. I am really excited about the monofin; it feels right- more like an Orca instead of a bi-pedal human.
I do know that bi-fins cause a lot of turbulence where they cross, and this is detrimental. All that said, I think I would still use the bi-fins for spearfishing...more maneuverability.
Your story about transcendence is beautiful, and familiar. I was trying to explain why I do this stuff to some co-workers at my college practicum yesterday. I told them that whatever they do that makes them feel connected to God, Creator, Vishnu, Allah, Bodhisattva, Mother Earth, Father Sun, Sister Moon, Christ, Babaji, or Mohammed, is what I feel when I dive. Usually people are astounded to hear times and depths, but I tell them that that is a small part of it. It's beyond verbal communication, like love.
Unlike paintball!
Cheers,
Erik Y.
