Take a
DEEP
BREATH…
By Sqn Ldr Matt Tope & FS Chris York
HOLDING YOUR BREATH FOR FIVE MINUTES?!....
MADNESS
Freediving? No, but thanks anyway. When RAF
Active was offered a foundation course in free
diving I thought it was about those nutters who
communed with nature, rarely washed, had
dreadlocks but were good at holding their breath.
What’s the point? Reading up on the interweb
I realised there might be another side to it, and
co-opted an experienced dive-master from RAF
Coningsby, FS Chris York, to be Jacques Cousteau.
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‘Apnea’ or ‘breath-holding’ is a discipline in itself. It is promoted
as a skill that aids relaxation, concentration and body awareness,
and as such should be fully transferable to any other sport.
Competitions do exist for both static apnea (holding your breath
underwater whilst not moving) and dynamic apnea (swimming
underwater unassisted and without air). With or without fins, and
whether the participant had access to oxygen prior to diving can
confuse the issue, but it makes the stats no less impressive. The
record for someone being holding their breath in a small tank of
water is over 11 minutes! A German ‘freediver’ has entered the
Guinness World Records by holding his breath under water for
more than 20 minutes (but used pure oxygen to oxygenate his
blood before the attempt). The Bajau people of South-East Asia
live in stilt houses and fish underwater for up to five minutes on
one breath. What does this do to the body? If you, the reader,
take a deep breath in now, how long until the urge to gasp for air
becomes too much? Perhaps it comes after 30 or 40 seconds.
The notion of holding that breath for another 3-4 minutes, akin to
a standard entry-level club free-diver, seems fairly outrageous.
“We can live for 2 weeks without food, 3 days without water – but
only minutes without oxygen”…(NoTanx Course Booklet,
2012)
The key, apparently, is in relaxation. We ferry oxygen round
the body through the blood. The brain uses up to an astounding
40% of this oxygenated blood. If you can relax both sides of your
brain, you use less air – which means that the heart has
to make less beats – which means you require less
air….. a “reduction spiral”. Commonly you and
I make about 4 heartbeats per breath (try it).
Closing the eyes is a primary requirement
to relaxing; the brain takes in about 80%
of its information visually, so shutting that
out will naturally relax you (not many
people sleep with their eyes open!) All
humans possess what’s called a mammalian
dive reflex; an instinctive response to cold
water that triggers a series of reactions
meaning we can survive “better” underwater.
Tanya Streeter, a freediving record-holder and
seemingly part-mermaid, slows her heart-rate to
as little as 10 beats a minute when she dives. And she
has dived to 525ft on one breath!
All of this is a long way from Yorkie and myself pitching up
to a swimming pool in London on a Saturday morning.
Run by a company called “NoTanx” (get it!?), we were
promised sessions in metabolic efficiency, relaxation
and breathing techniques, chocolate biscuits and at
the end of the day a certificate!
We were initially dubious, because after the
introduction we launched into yoga with our eyes
closed. I could hear Yorkie (54) falling over in the
corner. Prior to diving, stretching is employed
as a means of detoxification as well as relaxation,
and the subsequent pool session was certainly
interesting. We were introduced to ways we could
further relax the mind utilising both logical and artistic
methods (thus the left and right sides of the brain). A
variety of different breathing techniques were
employed, from inhalations (count of 6) and
exhalations (count to 12), to recovery
breathing and short, sharp, expellation
breaths; interesting stuff. The proof was
in the water though – and I have to
say the improvement from the start
of the hour to the end was very
noticeable. Stroke efficiency under
the water, relaxing your muscles, and
particularly relaxing the mind prior
to slipping under the surface did
make a tremendous difference. We
soon found ourselves easily making two
lengths of the pool, and strangely rather
than gasping for air, you learnt to come up before the desire to
breathe became too much – teaching your body that there was
nothing to ‘fear’. This makes subsequent attempts more attractive
to your brain rather than shying away from the sensation.
In the afternoon we watched some footage of “extreme” freediving which was quite impressive, (“A freediver doesn’t hold their
breath, rather pauses to enjoy it”…. Apparently the film to watch
is “The Big Blue”. I have ordered it from Amazon and will report
back…) We were then given the “down-side” of the sport; the
potential hypoxic blackouts and the loss of motor control (called
‘Samba’ due to the uncontrollable twitching that accompanies it),
which is one absolute requirement for never diving alone!
Yorkie was sanguine about comparing scuba and freediving; whilst
relaxation and controlled breathing may save a few litres of gas, to
hold your breath for long durations whilst using scuba kit can be
extremely dangerous, so you would not want to confuse the two.
Snorkelling using breath-holding will not release bubbles to scare
the fish as scuba-users do….but a diving re-breather is ‘bubble-free’
(though may cost about £5,500 and require extensive training).
Holding your breath is free but I think Yorkie would rather an
hour underwater at 20 metres with the turtles than a few metres
underwater for a couple of minutes. His actual words were;
“… I will be holding on to my re-breather a little longer, at least until I
have learnt to breathe through my ears…”
The afternoon’s practical session was static apnea which was
where I had my “eureka moment” – lying face down in the water I
was trying (too hard) to relax, and the instructor altered my neck
position by only a couple of centimetres which somehow triggered
some sort of “relaxation reflex” and I ‘got it’! Apparently the
specific positioning of your body enables an experienced instructor
to spot the residual tension in your limbs, which is also where you
will carry stress and tension in everyday life. I was unable to carry
this on, but that one brief moment was quite enlightening. The
pool was surprisingly chilly after a while, so we moved to more
dynamic pursuits - monofin practice. If you have never seen these
enormous double fins they are quite something, and whilst the
technique is not easy to grasp, it does propel you along at quite a
rate.
In summary, I found the experience was worthwhile. The
techniques are certainly transferable - I have tried the breathing
techniques on my bike to a small degree, and the principle is
certainly valid. Often its very easy to let the important stuff go as
you get carried away in the moment but knowing the techniques
to breathe and relax properly would certainly help in most sports I
have tried.
NoTanx run a comprehensive programme of instruction and events,
local weekly sessions, freediving trips to a 20m tank in Cologne to
practise technique, plus trips to Greece and Egypt take in the scenery
and freedive in some great diving locations. Speak to Pia, Marcus or Ian
at www.NoTanx.com to gain a 1* qualification which can be enhanced to
a 2* open water qualification if you wish to pursue it.
NoTanx works closely with Oonasdivers to provide some remarkable
overseas packages that can take a novice all the way through to open
water freediving in the Red Sea.
For details on NoTanx freediving holidays in Egypt please contact
Oonasdivers (01323) 648924 or email [email protected]
www.oonasdivers.com
submit your article at www.rafactive.co.uk
23
20
Tailor-made trips designed to make your precious spare time the holiday of
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