419 Dive Log Australasia AUGUST 2026

the surface conditions are rough and the water is cold, and your mind wont shut off. Your “why” is what keeps bringing you back and that’s usually when mother nature rewards you. You’re built to dive One of my favourite things to tell new students is that humans are far better adapted to under water life than most people realise. Like whales, seals and dolphins, we possess an incredible physiological response known as the mammalian dive reflex. When our face meets cool water and we hold our breath, the body automatically be gins conserving oxygen. Your heart rate slows, blood is redirected from your extremities towards vital organs and the blood vessels in your lungs fill with plasma to accommodate for enormous pressure changes during a dive. This adaption is left over from a common ancestor that all mod ern mammals shared about 50 million years ago. Freedivers don’t create this response, we simply learn how to work with it. That’s why Freediving is often described as being 95 per cent mental. Physically, most people are capable of far more than they believe, the challenge is convincing the mind. Relaxation changes everything If there is one thing I hope every reader takes away from this article, it’s this: Relaxation is not something you do before a breath-hold. Relaxation is the breath-hold. Every unnecessary muscle contraction burns oxygen. A clenched jaw. Raised shoulders. A tight stomach. An anxious mind replaying tomorrow’s to-do list. All of these quietly shorten the amount of time you can comfortably remain underwater. I like to think of relaxation in three parts: First, relax the body. Most people carry far more tension than they realise. Before every dive I mentally scan through my body, softening my face, neck, shoulders, stomach and legs. By the time I’m ready to dive, I want to feel as though my entire body is melting into the water. Next comes the breath. Ironically, one of the big

gest mistakes beginners make is trying to breathe more before a dive. They take huge, ex aggerated breaths thinking they’re filling them selves with extra oxygen. In reality, breathing more than your body needs—a process known as hyperventilation—can actually increase your heart rate and create serious safety risks. In stead, the goal is surprisingly gentle, very Slow, soft diaphragmatic breathing. The kind of breath ing your body naturally adopts just before you fall asleep. Finally, there’s the mind. This is usually the har dest part. When I first started learning about meditation, I thought success meant having an empty mind. Mine certainly wasn’t. Thoughts bounced around constantly. Shopping lists, emails, boat maintenance, what I was cook ing for dinner, random conversations from 6 months ago. Eventually I realised meditation isn’t about stopping thoughts, It’s about noticing them without getting caught up in them and bringing your awareness back to the moment. During a breath-hold, I experience something similar. Eventually a little voice appears. “What are you doing? You should breathe. This seems like a terrible idea.” I jokingly call it my guardian angel. Instead of fighting that voice, I have a conversation with it. I thank it. It’s simply doing its job. Then I return my atten tion to my breathing, my heartbeat or the feeling of the water surrounding me. Every time my thoughts wander, I gently bring them back. That’s where longer breath-holds are really won. It’s part of the mental side of Freediving - refram ing negative thought patterns and beliefs. Understanding the Urge-to-Breathe One of the biggest surprises for new Freedivers is learning that the urge to breathe isn’t actually caused by low oxygen. It’s caused primarily by rising carbon dioxide. That uncomfortable tight ening in the chest? The desire to swallow? The little voice encouraging you to stop? Those are simply signals that carbon dioxide is increasing. Understanding this changes everything. Instead of panicking, you learn to recognise these sensa tions for what they are—information rather than danger. With proper training, those sensations

108

DIVE LOG Australasia #419- August’ 26

www.divelog.net.au