Breatheology before doing a freediving course

[sam18]

Im goin to Thailand in Sept for 2 weeks to do a freediving course with Blue-immersion, they seem very focused on breathing exercises and yoga. Would it be benificial for me to read something like Breatheology before going or will a lot of the content be covered in the course?
Thanks

 

[Ms Mer]

It's a great book. I read it about a month ago and will read and refer to again and again. There is a huge amount of info in it, so if I was going to read it if before a freediving course I would not worry too much about digesting all the info in the book in one go, and instead focus on what is covered on the course and perhaps use the book as a supplement. That's my opinion for what it's worth. Looking at the site, their level 1 course covers the stuff you need to know. The book will give you some more detail.

 

[sam18]

Thanks for the help, il probably buy it when I get back then and just concentrate on what I get taught first

 

[BristolMermaid]

Sam

Federico Mana's books on breathing & equalisation have some good exercises for stretching and pranayama. Hope the course goes well this month!


Thanks
Rebecca

 

[Simos]

I personally think that instead of books you should take some yoga classes with OMdiver - Home Sam )))

(seriously I am not a yoga expert by any stretch but from the little I've seen, I think it's extremely hard to get yoga exercises 10% right by reading a book - but the books are good indeed in terms of info they provide)

 

[Alina]

Leave the breathing...why to cross half of the world for something you can do in the Red Sea?

 

[sam18]

Back from Thailand now, SSI level 1 course was good, the breathing technique was basic though only covering the breath up so im guna invest in Breatheology as I would like to learn some more advanced breath training

 

[Simos]

Back from Thailand now, SSI level 1 course was good, the breathing technique was basic though only covering the breath up so im guna invest in Breatheology as I would like to learn some more advanced breath training

I'll probably get slaughtered by more experienced/advanced freedivers for saying this but I doubt breathing up techniques make much difference assuming you learn the basics (diaphragmatic breathing, no HV etc). Especially in the beginning.

If you just breathe normally before your dive, it should be fine. The other important thing are recovery breaths after the dive.

You'll get a lot more improvement by focusing on what's happening during the dive e.g. relaxation, technique etc

 

[sam18]

Yeah thats makes sense, I understand that relaxation is the main thing in increasing your down time but id just like a few other things to work on when im not in the water. Im already doing flexibility training so breathing seems like the next thing on the list to work on.
From what iv read an watched online it seems all the best freedivers have a much larger lung capacity then the average person, there must be things they are doing to work on this?

 

[Simos]

Yeah thats makes sense, I understand that relaxation is the main thing in increasing your down time but id just like a few other things to work on when im not in the water. Im already doing flexibility training so breathing seems like the next thing on the list to work on.
From what iv read an watched online it seems all the best freedivers have a much larger lung capacity then the average person, there must be things they are doing to work on this?

Yes doing breathing exercises can really help by this is different than the breath up you mentioned (ie how you breathe prior to the dive).

You can really train relaxation and mental aspects on dry, as well as breathold. The man thing that is hard to train is technique on dry but of course you can work on flexibility, strength and body awareness.

 

[sam18]

Thats what id like to learn more of. I already know how to breathe up and recovery breathe so would just like a good reference for other breathing exercises to do dry?Im doing tables at the moment, is there much else you can do?

 

[Kars]

Apart from a book, experimentation should go along. Also note that with experience, skill, changing circumstances, changing bodies, the goal posts shift.

If you couple breathing to self hypnosis you'll have a very profound and powerful effect.
I had few times a very extraordinary experience, being in total flow and that made the dives very memorable. These days I train myself to fall in flow.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqZbF546JNo]Frog Flow - YouTube[/ame]

You can practice many freediving aspects on land, but in the water they feel the best
Concentration, Qi Gong, flexibilty, focus, learning how to think, mental mind control, mental body control, diet, rhythm, etc.

 

[Ms Mer]

Start doing yoga classes. I have found doing yoga is making a big difference. Have also enrolled in a meditation course which I think will help with getting a deeper state of relaxation.