How do you explain to someone who isn’t a freediver that you’ve spent the last six weeks in Bali trying to hold your breath under water? Those in the know would know that freediving is more than that. That deep under the water, if you’re not feeling great, anxious, tired, it just wont work. Your body will say no. Or your mind will. You spend a lot of the time looking at yourself. Why did I feel uncomfortable on that dive? Why did I turn? Why wasn’t I relaxed and felt that the bottom was soo far away. I spent the last six weeks looking in and not out.  Continue Reading…

I didn’t come to Bali with a set number in my head for freediving, or to become an instructor. My only wish was to relax and improve. When I heard I had to do 30m for my Level 3 I silently freaked out. I had done 22 and 25m dives a couple of times last June, at the end of my course, but on previous trips my ears had given out day three and day four preventing me from further deeper dives. I progress a lot slower than other freedivers because I had so many problems with equalisation at the beginning of learning this sport. It is hard to not compare your progress to others but it is so individual, and such a mental process. Everyone is different. I guess I am still scared of pushing my ears because of the pain I have felt in the past. When I arrived in Bali to train I still had to do my constant weight from my AIDA *** to 25m. This trip, of course I wanted to pass that point but overall I wanted to focus on equalisation and make sure that I could actually make it to the end of four weeks without ruining my little sensitive ears.

 My instructor Dan from Apneista Freediving & Yoga Amed, did a smart thing. He didn’t tell me all the requirments for Level 3 so I wouldn’t think about them at the beginning, only relaxation. During the week with Frederic, I had made 27 or 28m dives easily, both finning down (constant weight) or pulling down the rope (free immersion). I could see the tennis ball at the end of the 30m line, but literally freaked myself out from going that extra 2m. In my head all I think about is that I’ve never been that far before. And that extra part is the best fun of all if you remain relaxed. In freediving, the magic happens at around 15 to 20m when you become negatively buoyant. Then, you don’t have to do anything else but enjoy as you freefall to the bottom of the line. When you have a nice freefall, you tuck your head in and chill, and it feels like you’re flying down the line through the water. It is a really relaxing feeling if you can close the demons in your head telling you that you are so far away from the surface. You just focus on your equalisation and enjoy the ride. Continue Reading…

I can’t believe tomorrow I would have been away from Australia for 3 weeks and it will be the arrival of The Ginger Hunk. The time has gone really fast for me but I know it’s been hard for him at home in the cold. I am so excited to see him and show him my new underwater tricks. I’m at the half way point of my course now, have sorted my ears and am well into the swing of my freediving training. A holiday it is not, I can barely keep my eyes open to read a book. Mind you, everyone in the course must be 25 and I am the elderly nanna of the group. It’s great though, a mixed bunch of humans from all walks. This week, I have been lucky enough to join in a five-day physiology workshop run by Apneista and Frederic Lemaitre, a freediver and scientist who has written forty something papers on apnea (breath hold). I am at day four and utterly exhausted but utterly happy. The workshop has consisted each day yoga, 3 hours of diving, followed by two hours of theory, and another hour of yoga and meditation to end off the day. I’ve been falling asleep at 8pm every night into a deep, deep sleep. Not really looking forward to sitting in an office again. Continue Reading…