Between a great dive and a lousy one

We’re always a few breaths between having a great dive and lousy one.

Underwater, anything that gets your mind away from a state of calm yet alert risks ruining your dive: getting frustrated with a piece of equipment, struggling with buoyancy, feeling uncomfortable, etc.

Anytime I feel discombobulated underwater, I take the time to go back to the first thing I was taught: STOP, BREATHE, THINK, then ACT.

I focus on breathing instead of the problem I’m having. Regaining composure puts me in a better state of mind to manage that problem.

Works every time.

Yesterday, for instance, nearly 2 hours into a dive, I start feeling the call of nature. That set me off shivering. Using yoga breathing techniques, I re-focused my mind on my breath. It didn’t remove my urge to go, but it effectively put that call of nature on hold.

The Big Deal About Deep Diving

Some of us are depth junkies.

We just like the idea of going deep. Not me personally, but I’d say about 10% of those I meet want to go deeper for no other reason than to do it, or perhaps to be able to tell others that they’ve done it.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, except when you’re not actually prepared to go deep.