“When you feel the need to speed up, that’s exactly when you need to slow down.”

I often find myself holding my breath. My mind drifts to the gentle sway of the deep blue ocean. As the carbon dioxide levels in my blood rise, compounding the urge to breathe, I hear the conversations of humpback whales coming from the unseen depths below. I try to stay in that mental place so that I don’t give in to the pain and exhale, and greedily gulp fresh air into my lungs.

Usually, it’s intentional. To train my body to withstand higher levels of CO2, I’ll hold my breath while I complete mundane tasks or take apnea walks (walking for as long as I can or a predetermined distance without breathing).

But sometimes it’s unintentional. Suddenly I realize that I’m not breathing. When this happens, I can almost always attribute it to the sight of water—watching a movie scene where someone is submerged, or seeing another person swim.

I’m a freediver. Holding my breath comes almost naturally at this point. But, surprisingly, in my quest to become a better freediver and hold my breath for longer periods of time, many positive things happened. And my life changed for the better.

Learning to Just Breathe

I know saying “just breathe” might seem a little bit contradictory at this point. But to hold your breath you have to learn how to breathe.

I started practicing various pranayama techniques to gain better control of my diaphragm and lung muscles while sitting at my desk at work. In my mind, I was just practicing for longer dive times. I wanted to be able to dive down to the bottom of the shallows and have time to comfortably stalk along the reef.

But what happened was wonderful and unexpected—I felt great. A stressful day in the office would be exhaled from between my lips. Not only did I feel calm and relaxed, but I felt refreshed. The simultaneous feeling of being relaxed and energized is incredible, and incredibly difficult to explain.

Now, just like I sometimes hold my breath unintentionally, I find myself unconsciously breathing in a more controlled manner. A lot of the time, I breathe the stress of the day away without actively intending to.  

Seeking Deeper Relaxation

Because of this experience, my quest has deepened. I see the potential in breathing and meditation transforming from abstract and mystical to tangible and real. Suddenly, the unfathomable was fathomable. The unreachable depths that I previously dreamed of might actually be within reach.

So, along with my breathing exercises, I started meditating. At first, I had almost no control over my mind. I realized that slowing down my mind requires slowing me to slow down my heart rate. Breathing out for longer periods of time than what you breathe in can do just this.

But no matter how hard I focused, I just couldn’t get my heart rate to slow more than a minimal amount from what I get from my pranayama exercises. I needed to reduce my heart rate if I ever want to hit my goal of 5-minute breath-holds.

Finding a Healthier Lifestyle

That’s when it hit me. Caffeine was the main culprit. I drink far too much coffee each morning to ever have any hopes of slowing my revved-up heart. And despite the fact that I don’t really have a sweet tooth, I have a penchant for Coca-Cola that adds sugars and even more caffeine to my diet.

I decided to drastically cut back on coffee and switch to Coke Zero. I substituted my morning pot of coffee for a quick run to wake my body up. I still probably drink a bit too much coffee, but the difference is notable. Even my mind races less, making it a bit easier to reel in.

Since making these slight dietary changes, my breath-holds started to increase and I was living a healthier lifestyle. Aside from swimming, I’ve always hated cardio. But suddenly I found myself running more—and actually liking it.

I found myself in this odd pattern of working my heart and lungs to increase my cardiovascular performance, while trying to immediately control my metabolism. Run, swim, breathe, meditate, repeat. I would push my heart rate into a frenzy, then slow it down with breathing and meditation.

This helped me get my heart and lungs into better shape, but more importantly, it was the first steps in teaching me how to slow down.

Embracing Beauty and … Danger

Freediving is beautiful. It’s relaxed and ergonomic. It’s filled with wonder and a connection to nature that is unlike any other activity or sport.  

It’s also quite dangerous.

My freediving instructor once told me, “When you feel the need to speed up, that’s exactly when you need to slow down.” It’s something you’ll hear from many freedivers.

Champion spearfisher Kimi Werner said almost the same thing during her presentation at TEDx Talks in Maui. She went on to speak of her experience with a large white shark that startled her while she was on the surface fussing with her mask. Her initial instinct was to swim her way backward towards the boat as the predator approached her.

But this could have led to disaster.

Instead, she reeled in her panic and calmly swam forward and away from a potentially bad situation.

There are various things that can go wrong when freediving. But the worst thing you can do when you’re 100 feet underwater and only have the air in your lungs to depend on is panic.

As you look up and see 10 stories of water on top of you, you will already get the urge to breathe. Your natural instincts are to make it to the surface as fast as possible. If you panic, your heart will start racing and burn through your oxygen reserves. Kicking harder and moving faster will also dramatically increase your heart rate and speed up the onset of hypoxia, which could lead to an underwater blackout.

Slowing Down and Staying Calm

This is why freedivers actively practice the art of slowing down. Underwater, you can go into a near dream-like state, relaxed but still alert and awake.

You focus on technique and maximizing your movement through the water with as little effort as possible. You slow down and trust your body. This is how you make it back to the surface safely. You must override your instincts.

Of all of the things that freediving has taught me, it’s the conscious effort to slow down—when everything in your core is telling you to go faster—that’s proven to be the most profound. It’s a philosophy that can be extended to every aspect of your life. It can help you manage or completely avoid potentially bad situations.

Think about all the times you’ve traveled and run yourself ragged to see everything. Our instinct is to hurry up, cross something off our list, and get to the next thing.

Instead, slow down—be where you are. Enjoy the people you are with. There is no reason to ruin right now just to get to something in the near future.

This is something freediving has taught me and it has been a wonderful change. I try to take in what I’m doing while I’m doing it. It seems like an easy concept, but it requires a lot of work.

Feeling the Change in the Water and on Land

What started as a way for me to selectively harvest my own food and be where I love to be—in the water—became a way of life on land. Freediving has taught me practices and imparted philosophies that have improved almost every facet of my life.

I am healthier, more relaxed, and more self-aware. I’m taking the time to enjoy life’s moments more than ever before. Exploring the depths of the seas has inadvertently led me to explore the depths of my own mind, body, and soul.