Hey DivingDane,
As a fellow noob deeper diver I've got a few observations that might help. First, as I mentioned, I was into a kind of proactive equalization thing - I wanted to get my mouthfill/frenzel chops down so I spent a lot of time playing around with equalizing at the bottom. My dives were mostly 2 minutish - but still really easy.
I found breathe-ups and surface entry were really key. I tried to forget about the dive completely during the breathe-up. My surface entries are generally pretty polished because I've worked on them a lot. The monofin is really nice with those and never really needs to even come out of the water.
Having only done about 20 meters before the blue hole - I noticed the sense of pressure in the chest which starts at about that depth. This feels almost exactly like an anxiety attack and its useful to separate the psychological reaction from the physical sensation.
Next at about 33 meters or so I felt my throat close - thats another one that is useful to note.
I think I can still equalize hands-free at that depth - but it takes a very conscious effort to open the throat. I did equalize hands free very quickly on a variable dive to 30m - but after that I was always trying to do mouthfill and frenzel. (Variable is a great way to build confidence, by the way - I did two - one to about 25 meters, and one to 30 - then immediately did a no-fins dive to 26m - which was a constant ballast depth pb for me at the time. No fins was harder than the monofin - still pretty easy dives but I have almost no practice with no fins - so there was more to work on and I was not as relaxed.)
This took several dives because I had a habit of inhaling the air in my mouth. It might end up being easier for someone who has more trouble equalizing - I normally never even have to think about it.
I also ran into an almost-pain on the left side of my chest at about 34meters - I thought this was probably a rib - from an old injury - and that my back was slightly out of adjustment - but it was persistent and stopped me at that depth for two days in a row. I was being careful because Laminar had shared his horrifying squeeze story with us. I also did at least 3 or 4 dives over 32 meters each day I did a pb in that range. On the last day I did a series of frc dives to about 10 meters - this is really helpful because you get all those weird sensations - but shallow (you still must be careful about squeeze!!). After that I was able to hit 36 meters, no problem.
A huge help was having such outstanding safety divers. I felt incredibly safe. For the trip up I did exactly as Kars suggests - get the fin going - then small undulations. I like stretching my body out with arms above, but it is important not to move too quickly at depth in terms of stretching the chest. I love the sensation of good monofin form, but it may be more economical to keep the arms down - I wasn't close enough to my breath limits in any of these dives for it to be an issue.
I wish I had even more time down there - I was just really getting the depth thing together - but it's like the Yogis say 'The best meal leaves you a little hungry'...
