Beginning-ish free diver in Bay Area--don't know anyone!

[shoshannah]

Hey,
I am rather new to this. I have been swimming for a long time, surfing, kayaking, triathalons, free diving in open water for fun, pool training, static and dynamic apnea, breath control, meditation/kundalini yoga, scuba, polar swimming, body hacks, smart "drugs" (no, I don't use "recreational drugs").

I was told I need to get my levels done and then start monofin training...my mother was a diver...apparently I have a huge lung capacity....I'm quite serious about all of this.

I actually don't know a single person who I could even go dive (w o2) with, don't know the best locations around here, wouldn't know any trainers that I could probably afford, or people who could take me out and not mind being a bit directive/bit of a mentor or at least wouldn't mind spotting me. I train alone and although I don't push my limits to blacking out underwater or anything insane and I know the general rules for working out alone, I know I'd be safer, and could get better, with other divers.

I have NO idea about the spearfishing community although it does interest me....I'm much more about eventually free diving and practicing apnea competitively.

I know this would generally belong in the question forum, but today I trained massively hard...I really pushed my limits with both how hard I pushed myself physically and how much back to back dynamic training I did. Now I'm back at home (I was working out for 4 ish hours straight) and have a maddening headache and was trying some breath work/dry runs and my times were horrendous. I just felt drained. I don't know why this would have to do with lung capacity since my o2 saturation levels are at 99/100. I have been yawning. I do swallow/lung pack OCCASIONALLY as I know this is not the best thing for beginners...the other day when I didn't push myself anywhere near as hard I had a record breaking dry run on the way back....also, I find that if I don't pack or breathe in at what I'd call close to 100 percent, my contractions start way later...and (again, a lot of it is due to me not knowing anyone like me) I have a big mental barrier against that sort of discomfort. I have an extremely high pain tolerance but I don't have anyone to coach me and say anything comforting, as in I'm not actually dying, explaining the biological mechanism behind lung depletion and why my ribs are squeezing like theres no tomorrow, distracting me, etc.

If you want to know more about me personally and how I started on this path feel free to email me at adreamofform@gmail.com

--Jess (Shoshonnah is my middle name in hebrew)
g'night all

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Welcome to DB @shoshannah - you'll find a great community here! Some of your questions would be better suited to specific forums (like Beginner Freediving https://forums.deeperblue.com/forums/beginner-freediving.60/ or Freediving Training and Techniques https://forums.deeperblue.com/forums/freediving-training-techniques.15/ so i'd suggest posting your specific questions in there.

As for the San Francisco bay area there are lots of Freedivers in that area. I've dug out a few old threads (from our USA/Canada forum which is a good starting point) which give pointers to people in the area:

• https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/san-francisco-freediving.61725/
  
• https://forums.deeperblue.com/threa...bay-area-monterey-santa-cruz-san-fran.100326/
• https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/looking-for-freediving-partners-near-san-francisco.80932/
• https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/is-there-any-freediving-in-san-francisco.78091/

There are also clubs like SF Reef Divers - http://www.sfreefdivers.org/

Finally probably worth looking at a course as well - PFI and FII both run courses in your area:

• http://www.performancefreediving.com/team-bios/
• http://freedivinginstructors.com/fi...radius=500&instructor=&searchtype=type_course

Hope that helps!

 

[shoshannah]

@Stephan Whelan yes, absolutely that helps--thank you! I'll be sure to check out all those links as today is my day off. And thanks for digging those specific ones up for me, awesome. Glad to know I'm not alone here as a beginning freediver.

 

[oldfather]

Welcome to the journey of self discovery and apnea.
Like you, I didn't have anybody's guidance and it took a lot of patience to gain the needed knowledge and experience to get me where I am now. Read as much as you can. Force yourself to take things slow, i.e. systematic progression. Take a couple of courses as soon as you can to help guide you on the right path.
The hardest for me, as an alone diver to overcome was that feeling you talk about where you feel there are nobody like you and the fear that can accompany it.

 

[kelp princess]

Jess you should definitely take a class to start. And you should never train alone. And as Stephan suggested both PFI and FII run excellent classes.

there are some upcoming PFI freediver classes in august and september down in San Diego that would be fun for you:

http://www.performancefreediving.com/cgi-bin/pfi_upcoming.py

OR

Pacific Coast Freediving teaches PFI classes locally:

http://www.pacificcoastfreediving.com/

OR you can find an FII instructor here:

http://www.freedivinginstructors.com/core_courses

You can also find Bay area freedivers to meet up with on the yahoo group listed below:

• Post Message :monterey_bay_freedivers@yahoogroups.com

Good luck and stay safe.

KP

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to Deeperblue, Shoshannah! I echo the recommendations to take a freediving class. It is the best way to make progress, and you learn a lot of excellent safety techniques. I've heard nothing but glowing reviews about them.

Also, I'm a bit envious of your location. I'm in the Fresno area, and it is a 3+ hour drive to get anywhere near the ocean.