In this blog post I wanted to discuss something different; let's look how we can apply lessons from freediving to everyday life! So, here are 5 things freediving can teach us about life: 

#1: Patience is Vital
Freediving is one of the few sports where you can't just push harder to get better, more often than not progress can be slow and a myriad of external factors can mean that the dive doesn't always go as expected. What better way to remind us that we sometimes need to bide our time and be more patient to achieve the outcomes we want.

#2: We need People
Many sports and training sessions have teams, or maybe two people playing in rivalry, but few require two people working together and looking after each other. Yes, it can sometimes be a pain to find a buddy, but it is in a good lesson in receiving outside help and trusting someone else, essentially with your life.
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​But in this blog post I wanted to cover what I consider to other less considered or overlooked aspects of safety. In over 12 years of teaching freediving I have made mistakes (and learned from them!), seen others making mistakes and heard about other peoples mistakes, accidents or close calls. So here are what I consider to be the 5 top overlooked aspects of freediving safety: 

#1: Maintaining Equipment
With time and use your equipment degrades and even more so if it is not looked after properly and cleaned after dive sessions. I have seen (and even had!) fins snap, weight belts break, carabiners fail, masks break.... the list goes on.
In the majority of cases it is not a single failure it is degradation over time, which can be visible and therefore preventable. 
So what can you do? Visually check all equipment as you assemble it for your dive session. And every 6 or 12 months do a more thorough check. This is especially important if you have not used equipment for a period of time and it has been in storage. 
Replace equipment BEFORE it breaks to prevent a problem occurring in the first place. Prevention is always better than having to react to a bigger problem, or even accident, caused by improperly maintained equipment.
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#2: Communication
​Beginner freedivers especially, but all recreational levels (and beyond!) seem to forget that if you have a buddy, you actually need to tell them what you are doing. Often it is a shock for freedivers after their course is completed, when they don't have a paid safety diver (the instructor) anymore, and the person they are now accompanied by is not 100% there to watch and help them the whole session. However, you should both be 100% invested in helping each other as buddies although it is not your paid job, it is of course mutually beneficial. Just some people are better at it than others.
But as much as we would like to be, people are not mind readers, so remember to take time to discuss the key topics of a dive, including but not limited to; depth, discipline (dive type), time etc (WHERE will you go, HOW will you get there, WHO will help you if needed, WHEN will you be back).
​Sounds easy but is often not done properly.
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​#3: Exploring is different to line training
Diving using a buoy / rope / weight / lanyard set-up makes things much much easier to do deeper and more efficient freedives. This is often overlooked and when recreational freedivers dive on the reef to explore they often mistakenly assume they can achieve the same depths or times.
This is incorrect. Having a buoy (to rest on), a rope (to take you in a straight line and turn on), a weight (to allow you to 'pull' up or down if needed) and a lanyard (to keep you safely close to the line) all make a huge difference to how easy and relaxed the dives are, but more importantly how safe. So much so, that  when diving off the line you should reduce your maximum depth by at least ONE THIRD. Therefore, if you are a 20m diver on the line, your recreational off-line diving depths should be limited to 13-14m range for the purpose of safety.

#4: Pay Attention
Paying attention is an important safety aspect, but does sound rather broad and vague, so let me elaborate. This can be applicable to three main areas: 1) Yourself 2) Your buddy 3) Other factors (such as weather and equipment).
As an example, it is not uncommon while teaching for me to see a freediver about to dive with either no lanyard attached (forgotten) or a lanyard on the wrist but the other end is still attached to the buoy and not the rope. So both the freediver has not noticed this AND the buddy has not noticed this. Now this is not uncommon for new freedivers as they learn and have lots to think about, but once diving independently details such as this matter (for both safe and enjoyable dives).
Also, are you noticing if you are getting more tired or colder or heavier contractions etc? Maybe time to stop the session.
Did you notice that the waves are getting bigger or the current getting stronger or visibility deteriorating? Maybe time to stop the session.
You get the idea.
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​#5: Weight is NOT fixed
​What do I mean by this? I am suggesting that the weight you put on your weight belt needs to be thought about and adjusted on a fairly regular basis. As part of the AIDA3 Advanced Freediver Course it is taught to consider what and where is 'Neutral Buoyancy' and what factors will have an effect on this...... Think, wetsuit thickness, water type (salt or fresh), how deep you want to dive, what safety precautions you have, what your buddy is capable of etc.

Think about this statement:
                                     "Deeper neutral buoyancy is the SAFER option."
Let that sink in....
Setting your neutral buoyancy DEEPER means LESS weights on your belt. This means it is harder to get down, but easier to come up (which, remember, is the hard part of the freedive), and that if (in the very unlikely scenario) you should have an underwater blackout, you are more likely to float back to the surface rather than sink deeper.
Deep freedivers taking part in competitions take the absolute minimum weight down with them because then it is less to bring back up on the harder, second part of the freedive.

Here is another statement for you:
                                      "More weight should not replace bad technique."
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Meaning that it is dangerous to simply add more weight to get down underwater easier. If you struggle to reach neutral and then negative buoyancy while correctly weighted you need to work on your duck dive and finning techniques, which is a topic for another blog post!

What do you think, are there any others that could be on this list? Let me know in the comments section.​

By David Watson, Owner, Founder & Head Instructor / AIDA Instructor Trainer at One Breath Freediving ​

What are the key physical and rescue components of the course?​
Fulfil the following physical requirements:

• 35-40m CWTB dives (3x per session)
• 30m dive + 30” surface recovery + 20m dive
• 20m dives with 3-5 seconds notice, at fast pace (early turn simulation)

Course requirements:

• 20m solo rescue (as if only one safety freediver)
• 25m team rescue with 30 seconds notice (in all safety diver roles #1, 2 & 3)
• Rescue from various depths (20-25m) in various simulated situations
• ​Full rescue extraction

Freediving is very much a sport of acceptance. It is not a sport you can 'just try harder' or 'push stronger' to force a desired result. This is why it can be such a sport of contrasts with frustrations all along the way before you ultimately achieve that new personal best or new record dive. However, this can make it all the more rewarding once the sea allows you in and you stop overthinking the dive and dive with pure acceptance and surrender to the water.

By David Watson, Owner, Founder & Head Instructor / AIDA Instructor Trainer at One Breath Freediving ​

1). Learn to Swim / Practice Swimming:
This is the biggest one. How will you be able to be relaxed in the water and focus on learning freediving if you are scared or worried by just being in the water? There is already a lot to learn about technique in freediving without your attention being mainly on trying to stay afloat or stress from having water touching your face. So be realistic about your ability. If you go to the pool for a pool party and stand in the shallow end with a drink in your hand, this doesn't count as training or being a swimmer! You don't have to be an olympic level swimmer to freedive but being able to stay afloat without panic and swim continuously for 5-10 minutes can make a huge difference for a trainee freediver.
(AIDA1 has a swim requirement of 100m, AIDA2 has a swim requirement of 200m, both are non-stop swimming, any stroke, no time limit) 

2). Practice Relaxed Breathing:
Breathing is the foundation of freediving. On the course you will learn the correct breathing for freediving, and how you can control your breath. Remember, we can control how we breath, whether it is fast or slow or deep or shallow. Start by lying down comfortably and breathing relaxed but a little deeper (always through the mouth!), so that when you breathe in, you feel the diaphragm muscle move down into the space where our stomach is (hence why we call this 'belly breathing'). Try this and feel how your heart rate will slow and you can practice relaxing all the muscles of your body at the same time, creating a calm and relaxed state (which is also great for stress relief!)

3). Feel the 'Urge to Breathe':
Doing a dry breath hold following on from the relaxed breathing, explained above, is a safe way to feel what signals our body will give us when it tells us it wants to breathe again. So take a big, full  breath after a couple of minutes of the relaxed breathing and try holding until you feel the diaphragm (breathing muscle) start to contract and moving a little bit or you feel a warm sensation there. This is the urge to breathe and although we can safely hold beyond this urge, we are not used to experiencing this sensation or challenging it ever in our lives, so this will feel new. Before the course you can experience this and try holding 5-15 seconds (count down in your head) after you first feel it and see how you are still perfectly ok afterwards. This type of practice then, is great mental and physical training for the urge to breathe we feel as a freediver!

4). Practice Ear Equalisation:
Ear equalisation is the most challenging part of freediving for beginners as it is something we rarely do ever in our day to day lives! Chances are, even if you are a scuba diver you are doing it inefficiently as they only teach the very basics of it on a scuba course. On the freediving course you will learn about doing ear equalisation correctly and efficiently for freediving, but most people will benefit greatly from practicing and training this in the weeks and months leading up to the course. You will be provided with guidance on this in by your instructor in preparation for the course, but start by looking up Frenzel equalisation technique and Valsalva Maneuver (us freedivers want to do FRENZEL as it is much more efficient).

5). Read the Course Manual:
​Once you are signed up for the freediving course you will receive access to the relevant AIDA freediving course manual. It goes without saying that by reading this before the course starts you will be in a better position to understand the concepts once they are explained to you by the instructor during the course. Also, you can test your knowledge of the manual by answering the test questions at the end of each chapter. Most beginners are surprised how much theory there is to know in freediving. There is a 100+ page manual for EACH level (AIDA2, AIDA3, AIDA4), introducing new concepts to help you dive deeper, although the foundation knowledge comes on the first level course (AIDA2).

IMPORTANT:
It goes without saying that these 5 tips alone do not make you a safe and competent freediver and definitely do not replace taking the freediving course! But with these 5 steps you can ensure you are prepared and ready to experience your adventure with One Breath Freediving!
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In this blog post I wanted to introduce you to the One Breath Freediving philosophy and also to look more specifically of why it is important as a teacher (instructor) to also have a teaching philosophy. Those of you that have freedived with myself will know already that I have my own beliefs on how freediving should be experienced, especially when it is introduced to beginners.

A teaching philosophy is common among professional educators, especially in a classroom setting but of course there is no reason it cannon't be successfully transferred to what we do in and out of the water in freediving. Here are some points of what might constitute a good teacher and be part of their/your philosophy. It is by no means exhaustive so feel free to add in the comments anything else that you believe is important. 
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• I believe a good teacher, first, has a powerful faith in the future. As Henry Adams says in the quote you see above, how and what you teach someone can be passed on and on and on and far beyond, affecting peoples lives in ways we might not imagine and will never get to see.
• A good teacher must understand motivation and the effects of peer interactions on learning. That most learning occurs through social interaction but at the same time,  a competitive environment is not healthy. Promoting curiosity and the broadening of knowledge for self improvement is key.
• A good teacher must know their subjects and how to help students learn those subjects. How to link relevant pieces of the jigsaw together to create the bigger picture and make the subject come alive.
• A good teacher cannot begin or continue to inspire learning without being a learner. The good teacher must constantly learn what is new in the discipline(s) that they teach.
• A teacher is a powerful role model and should be ever aware of the awesome obligation of needing to “walk the talk” with their students. If asking them to live their values and beliefs, the teacher must do the same.​

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Maybe the teacher’s greatest gift to the learner is helping the learner be motivated to think, and then to want to learn more.....