REALLY pleasant breathholds

[Fondueset]

Yesterday I was diving along my usual breakwall - trying mostly for closeups of the various denizens. All dives between say 3 and 10 meters with alot of adjusting for buoyancy by diving with less than full lungs. At some point there was a sense of release through the midsection - around the solar plexus - the feeling is like 'relief' - an almost giddy filling. Somewhere between intense relaxation and wanting to laugh. This accompanied very easy, long breathholds with normal discomfort toward the end.

 

[SanderP]

Very nice Fondueset, good for you. And you said you've never done any static tables? No training at all that improves your breathholds?

I'm having trouble with some kind of mental problem underwater that orders me to surface. I can't even explain it but after I've surfaced I'm always thinking "why didn't I stay under for longer, I had a lot of air left". Maybe it isn't a problem, I just have to remind myself underwater that I can still do for longer. I don't feel any discomfort and I'm far from contractions. It's hard to explain...

 

[Fondueset]

Currently my breathe-ups emphasize long-slow breaths. Sometimes, after surfacing I will do a little Kapalabhati type breathing - short, rapid breaths emphasizing exhalation - but in particular after these I will remain on the surface for awhile, allowing the breath to become longer and longer. After shorter dives or If I want to get back down right away I'll skip the4rapid breaths. I never dive immediately after these because I do not want to be hyperventilated. Many of the dives were not near my limit because nothing interesting showed up.. A few were quite long.

I have been doing other practices which emphasize awareness of the mid-section - specifically Bagua - and a couple of asanas that created compression or twisting of the midsection.

It is normal for me to have one or two dives with this sort of pleasant sensation - in this case I was doing quite a few dives and nearly all of them were very relaxed with a strong sense of ease and reserve from that area.

I have had a mental problem with depth - when I was in BC I kept leveling off right at the depth I normally dive to here - only the day after I was using Eric Fattah's F1 did I begin to naturally go deeper.

 

[DiverTodd]

Very nice Fondueset, good for you. And you said you've never done any static tables? No training at all that improves your breathholds?

I'm having trouble with some kind of mental problem underwater that orders me to surface. I can't even explain it but after I've surfaced I'm always thinking "why didn't I stay under for longer, I had a lot of air left". Maybe it isn't a problem, I just have to remind myself underwater that I can still do for longer. I don't feel any discomfort and I'm far from contractions. It's hard to explain...

It's all a matter of relaxing, staying calm, and "reading" your body. On my first few dives, I was the same way. On my most recent one, however, I wasn't trying for a specific depth...I was just diving for FUN. I was down around 10m, through the thermocline. Once I got into looking at the fish and the rock wall in the quarry, and even up at the surface way above, it was easy to relax and just enjoy the dive!

Todd

 

[Boomstick]

It is a nice feeling when you get it RIGHT, I had a couple of really great dives over the weekend, not very deep and not very long but they felt great!!
No stress, no tension, just peace...

 

[DiverTodd]

As an update to my last post.....what I thought was 10m was, in reality, after asking my friend about the depth, actually 42'! I was 12' deeper than I thought I was! So, that made me feel even better, knowing I was comfortable at 42'! Of course, I won't have to estimate much longer, as I'm about to order my Suunto D3 freediving computer! Woo hoo!

Todd