One breath.
A slow descent. Then silence.
Humans have done this for 5,000 years.
The Haenyeo, the sea women of Korea, who harvest the ocean floor well into their seventies.
The Bajau, sea nomads of Southeast Asia, who have been diving on a single breath for so many generations that the sea has become a part of their biology.
No tank. No regulator. No umbilical cord to the surface.
Just you and the water and whatever you brought down with you in your chest.
You want to know everything there is to know about breathing,
and then stop breathing.
You want to be at the peak of your physical condition,
yet you cannot muscle your way through a dive.
You want to free fall through magical underwater landscapes,
yet you can only look inside.
You want to push your limit,
yet you hope you never have to find out where that limit truly is.
Breathing, that thing you do without thinking, is gone.
Thinking, that thing you do when breathing is gone, is no longer your ally.
It is not why it is called freediving, but maybe it should be.
But deep in the ocean
As far down as you have ever been
When almost nothing is left
Voices shut down. Including your own.
There lies peace.
MOLCHANOVS W2I CERTIFIED FREEDIVING INSTRUCTOR
If you are curious about the sport, want to learn to freedive, or just want to talk about what happens when you stop breathing on purpose, drop me a line: thomas.dohm@gmail.com