I meant to write on here that I’d be gone for a week of vacation – I’m sorry to have left with no explanation!   You can expect posts every day this week now that I’m back 🙂 

 

I had a great vacation on St. John, mostly scuba diving, which is something new I’ve taken up this year.  Interestingly, I find it to be very “yogic.”  The most important thing about scuba diving is your breath – to keep it relaxed and effortless.  This is something that yoga teaches us from the very first moments on the mat.  Often we don’t realize that out in the world, we’re breathing short, shallow breaths, almost as if we’re hyperventilating.  This is something you can witness on the yoga mat and begin to change.  Scuba divers also notice this breath pattern as they start diving, and need to change it if they want to have an enjoyable and safe experience.    

 

Scuba diving is very safe and low-risk, as long as you have good training (I know, because I’ve had good training AND bad training!).  One of the aspects of good training is having a teacher who will take as much time as needed to help you ease into the skills needed when you dive.  It is a bit scary at first for most everyone, so having a teacher who you trust and who works at your pace helps you stay calm and not breathe too quickly.  

 

When I was first learning, with only some very poor training, I would immediately notice that I was slightly hyperventilating underwater.  I was very nervous and not enjoying myself at all.   I used my yoga experience to help me stay calm and keep my breathing as relaxed as possible.  Once I had good training, this all became quite easy because I knew what was going on and had a thorough understanding of the techniques for diving. 

 

Now that I’m comfortable and a little more experienced with diving, I can really enjoy myself and the beautiful underwater world.  I still love to notice my breath – I guess I am endlessly fascinated by what the breath and body can do.  When you are diving, you strive to be “neutrally buoyant” – that is, you neither sink nor rise.   On the gross level, you do this with the proper amount of weights on your body and air in your vest.  But on the subtle level, you do this with your breath.  When you breathe in and hold your breath, you rise a bit, and when you breathe out and hold out your breath, you sink a bit.  

 

It’s been one of my favorite things to “play” a bit with my buoyancy through my breath.  I love when I can glide through the water to exactly where I want to go.  It feels so much like the pranayama breath ratios in yoga (more on that tomorrow).  

 

Funny enough, I just read the following at Yoga Flavored Life:

 

“Several online sites have proclaimed that for the year 2008 “Scuba is the New Yoga.”  Scuba is being touted as the new way to relax and relieve stress—much as yoga does.”

 

I agree – scuba diving is very relaxing and very enjoyable!   I still practiced yoga every day though 🙂

 

Namaste,

 

Barrett (this is me this past week diving on St. John!)