The Freedom I Found Free Diving
Photo by: Mermaid.ish
I’ve always been a good swimmer as I naturally have always felt very drawn to & connected to the water element. When I was younger I would swim in the lakes near my cottage & watch my Dad hold his breath & dive to the bottom of the lake. The dark abyss terrified me as merky black water didn't seem that inviting to me as a 5 year old kid. But seeing how the element of water would bring out my Fathers curious inner child really made me wonder; “What truly resides under that lake”.
I took swimming lessons as a child & always loved floating on top of the water. It would make me feel like I was one with the sky & like a warm, soft blanket of comfort was surrounding me. I loved the feeling it would give me, a feeling of joy, contentment & peace. I loved how my fingers would shrivel up & my eyes would get slightly red after my swim. Swimming had this way of making me feel at home in my body. I always loved to challenge myself to see how long I could hold my breath underwater for, I would do competitions by myself & with friends.
Photo by: Patrick Jansen
As I grew up I started to forget about my love for swimming. Not because I didn't love it anymore, but because I lacked motivation for it. I wasn't living in a city where there were beautiful oceans & fresh water lakes, clear as day. I live in Toronto, Ontario somewhere where I choose not to swim, for obvious reasons. I don't want to swim in a chlorine filled pool, I want to explore the waters of the world.
Photo by: Mermaid.ish
When I started traveling more, my love for swimming instantly returned. Floating in the ocean became my new favourite hobby. I realized how much I loved looking under the water with my goggles. There is a whole different world down there, one that is so unexplored & full of life.
I would always try to free-dive when I was traveling but I never really knew what I was doing & I was intimidated to push myself. Then, I started traveling to Tulum, Mexico. I lived in Tulum for 6 months & would swim in Cenotes weekly, it was my new found hobby. If you don’t know already Cenotes are fresh & salt water pools that reside under the Yucatan province in Mexico. There is a full under water cave system that connects to the oceans. There caves are called “Cenotes”. I knew that it was time that I did a free-diving course to learn more about the techniques of free-diving. I found an amazing free-diving organization “Serenity Free-diving” & decided to go with them for my first course. The instructor Oscar was amazing & taught me so much. I learned different breath holds, & breathing, & diving techniques like how to equalize my breath. We did my training in a beautiful Cenote about 10 minutes from Tulum. Oscar was amazing at teaching me the ways of the water element & really assisted me in not being scared of how far I was going down. He taught me how to shift into a meditative state & relax under the water. By the end of our session I was feeling so much more confident & empowered to play under the water. My love for free-diving & swimming in general was reignited.
Photo by: Mermaid.ish
Since then I’ve been practicing free-diving whenever I get the chance. Cenotes, oceans, freshwater lakes. All of these places excite me way more now. I feel so much more comfortable under the water. I realized how the practice of free-diving calms me, like when I dive under the water all my worries clear away & I truly return back to presence. The tranquility I feel under the water is indescribable, it makes me feel so connected to stillness with-in me.
Photo by: Patrick Jansen
A new found passion, desire, & hobby, free-diving will always have a place in my heart.
With Love,
Jia.xx
