Freediving Blog
getting closer…
Weather has picked up very nicely the last few days. The peak of Agung has been clear, the sun shining and the water warm and clear. The last few days have seen some very pleasant free-diving. All hail the return of sunny days... Onsite, things here have been plodding...
Glossopharyngeal insufflation, to pack or not to pack…
Last year I read Simon Borg-Olivier's idea that the mysterious Pranayama practice of Plavini was essentially a form of lung packing (pushing extra air into the lungs to fill them beyond normal volume)and not the filling the stomach with air, as it often described. A...
The slow unfolding of a beautiful space…
The last few weeks we have been turning away all new students for both Yoga and Free-diving. While we are sorry to disappoint, we are very happy to be completely absorbed in the reconstruction and decoration of our new training space in the village of Jemaluk, on the...
Free-diving is for everyone…
Or at least almost everyone... If you watch TV and follow forums on the sport it's easy to believe that you have to be young, ultra-fit and preferably beautiful to free-dive, that it's a past-time of aquatic supermen, and smoking hot babes in Mono-fins. The media...
Timetable for Oceanic Yoga and the breath at Villa Boreh
This special retreat is for people with an interest in the trans-formative power of Yoga and the healing energy of water. It is aimed at people of all levels of physical and yoga ability, including those who are not aquatically inclined. For both complete beginners...
Fluid living in the age of ‘the impending apocalypse’
Free-diving and Yoga as existential tools for living in anxious times. We live in uncertain times. Our predictions cannot keep up with our pretensions. The world around us shrinks as our need to consume grows ever more insatiable. We carry phones that are more...
‘Be like water, young grasshopper’… benefits of free-diving for the yogi.
Since the heyday of Jaques Mayol the vast science of yoga has been touted as the key to inspired free-diving. The benefits in this area are undoubted, from mental clarity and thoracic flexiblity to emotional well-being. The list of Yogic benefits to the Free-diver is...
Mentawai surf and free-diving safari.
Free-diving and yoga for surfers From the 13th of June till the 25th there will be a very special free-diving training programme aimed specifically at surfers. We will be training aboard the beautiful 'Jiwa' as we sail through the Mentawai Islands catching world...
Some training concepts of yoga and free-diving at Apneista, Bali.
Some mildly esoteric training concepts for those readers that are that way inclined... Fluid body: Free-diving: Divers should move like water through water, without tension or rigidity, creating minimum resistance. In yoga asana: Continuously probe the form of...
Free-diving in primordial soup, Bali.
There are days on the deep line when the waters of Bali are so full of translucent life that the ocean seems like evolutionary stew. So many different jellyfish and combjellies, wriggling, pulsating and spiralling elementary forms of life. If you look closely the...
A friend in need…
Free-diving rescue in water. The vast majority of loss of motor control(LMC) or blackouts happen on the surface though sometimes on rare occasions they can also occur as the diver nears the surface. In the last ten metres the diver should be accompanied by the safety...
Being a good buddy
How to be a good buddy. Discussion of shallow water black out(SWB) in the last post brings us to another important part of elementary free dive training; namely buddy skills. Proper training. Obviously for a training partner to be reliable, they should be well trained...
Some effects of pressure…
Basic physics as related to free diving and shallow water blackout To free dive safely an elementary understanding of physics and the effects of pressure is needed. At the basic level to avoid shallow water blackout and in more advanced training to avoid lung squeeze...
Tantra and the beautiful art of free-diving
At Apneista.com we believe that free-diving is not just a beautiful sport, it is also an important tool for self development, a form of 'ocean yoga'. Our philosophy works on the understanding that training in free-diving should result in increased self awareness and...
Exploring evolutionary history with the MDR.
Once upon a time there was a blue planet that was inhabited by many forms of life, all of which dwelled in the vast expanses and dark depths of its oceans. In the distant past, over many thousands of years some of these forms of life evolved into land dwellers. After...