What kind of mental concentration?

[Alina]

You can also find some info about THE MENTAL here:
THE MENTAL / PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS – The Freedivers
An article by Aharon Solomons

 

[Kars]

In search for decreasing my brain O2 consumption, I seek to limit any rational thinking.
Instead I try only to feel. At the same time in this feeling mindset, I seek rhythm and reduce sensory input. For instance I try to swim a lane without any rational thought. When I did a very good job, I feel feel amazingly fresh, relaxed, and I don't remember what I've swam nor how long it took. Switching between rational and feeling is also a point I'm working on, because I do want to control certain parts of the dive, or at least check if I'm still going strait and check if I'm on my limit.

Another advantage of having your mind in the feeling part is it's easier to have yourself falling flow, and have a very enjoyable, soul freediving experience. In my opinion the most attractive part of freediving.

Check out the thread about How to Find the Flow in Freediving.http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-science/86127-how-flow-freediving.html

 

[aharon solomons]

You can also find some info about THE MENTAL here:
THE MENTAL / PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS – The Freedivers
An article by Aharon Solomons

Thanks Alina :wave
Here is the continuation - published four days ago: "THE MENTAL - PART 2"
I would be happy to see come comments, feedback, questions.

 

[Kars]

Thanks Alina :wave
Here is the continuation - published four days ago: "THE MENTAL - PART 2"
I would be happy to see come comments, feedback, questions.

Hi Aharon, Here's some feedback:

"Confidence comes from having all the elements in place."

It nice to know your surroundings and yourself are ready for the dive, but at the same time it should provide comfort it also fuels expectations.

"Detachment is very difficult to achieve in a state of chaos."
I had some of those experiences, and ones that may look contrary to this statement. Chaos helps tremendously to drop all your expectations.

I think it's very good you mentioned the importance of sleep. Something I should do more. In my experience I had some great results from taking a 30min nap before a dive. It indeed appears to relax and clean up the body and mind very much. On tip is when you wake up is to try to retain the slowness until you resurface from your dive.

Focus,
In my experience I found it very helpful to forfeit the numeric goal in the run up to your dive completely. Looking back to my best dive experience I notice that during and before the dive I had small short term goals to focus on, helping me NOT to see the numeric goal.
For this evening for instance I would like to do a 75m+ dnf empty lungs. With a pb of 111m dnf full lungs, the 75 empty appears amazing to me. A week ago I was very surprised to do 62m with perceived incredible ease. That's the numeric goal, which I now need to abandon to shift my attention to the small steps in between. For instance have a nap now, drink enough, safe energy. And in the pool I'm going to have a slow muscle warm up, and take it slow. At a given time I'll ask my buddies to safety me, while I focus on my relaxation preparation. During which I seek to relax every fibre and rational thought. Than the total exhale and fall to the deep end of the pool. I stand, relax and just feel my body and mind slow down and relax. After a while a soft contraction appears and slowly start to swim dnf. Here usually my body signals that it's going to be short. A few very lazy, non streamlined swim strokes later I notice how clear my mind is and how the vascular constriction feels and continue swimming being amazed how clear my mind remains. Swim glide, swim glide, another turn, push glide, swim glide, check - OMG what is my mind clear -, well this is going too easy, let's not do to much and come up.

This time I'll try to add some subconscious swimming in the first two lanes.
That is my goal while swimming these lanes, after that it's maintaining hydrodynamics and 'speed' and check for low O2 signals.

In deepdiving I also have intermediate goals, such as relaxing parts, streamline, equalisation, static fall, streamline, small strokes, relax, strait legs, grab high, hookbreath, focus, surface protocol.
These short term goals help me much to stay in 'the moment' and prevent me from making rational O2 consuming calculations, weighing and judgements.

All of my pb's are done at moments that where NOT optimal, in fact could be considered adverse to the goal. The uniting thing is that these bad omens had me surrender all my expectations, allowing me to be without judgement and stress in the moment.

On the other hand I need steep goals to motivate me to focus in training and preparation.

I hope my experience are helpful to you.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[hollyjo]

A good way how to train to manage these very uncomforable minute(s) after is during daily breathing exercises (one deep breath and then playing with chest muscles as long as possible).

I agree with you "Zawi": Daily breathing exercises will help tremendously! How much longer can you go after the "uncomfortable" minutes?

 

[Kars]

Depending on a lot of factors my urge to breath starts at 2 - 3 minutes in static. After which I can do 3-4 minutes more. Having done daily negative lung stretches, I found these really helped to cope with the contraction phase, rendering the physical part to be much softer on my body. a Much more comfortable contraction trip, until I got past 5' - when I get tired and the double contractions set in.

 

[lambe]

"Having done daily negative lung stretches"

Is that the thing you were trying to teach me? That yoga link you gave me yesterday?

 

[Apneaddict]

I sing to myself. But its always the same song and its only ever the same few lines over and over again. Its bizarre - I may not have heard the song for ages and I certainly don't think about it whilst doing my breathe up, but as soon as I put my face in the water, the song pops into my mind and off I go....

I'd like to have music in the water as I am sure this would help increase my static times...

Donna

do a search for the Finis Swimp3
It's pretty amazing for statics and dynamics...