Tag Archives: apnea academy

Sustaining the stoke 4000 years ago.

cooking on the beachSo a short while back I was at the clean coasts gig supported by some great local people and local businesses. There were various talks on where the groups had collected tonnes of rubbish. Hopefully we will start to providing an underwater part of this in the future. There were also some talks on the archeology in the area. Now I had heard about this fulacht fiadh back in September but I have to admit its significance at the time was lost on me. I am not aware if the exact date has been calculated yet but 3-4000 years seems to be agreed upon. The fulacht fiadh was used for cooking or bathing by putting hot stones into it, but it’s really unusual to have one on a beach.

Now I like tripping in me van. So do some friends of mine and without doubt some of the best experiences we have had as a group have been to rock up and circle the wagons at a beach spot, Post surf, dive or swim the bbq gets fired up, we eat and imbibe a few drinks. Good friends, good food and maybe a spectacular sunset over the Great Atlantic. It’s a combination that’s hard to beat. You retire to bed tired from the Ocean but stoked to be alive and to be so blessed. Given the recent good spell of weather, history is just repeating itself.

It’s a real mind bender to think our ancestors were doing much the same gig 4000 years ago. Won’t be long before they unearth a bronze age surfboard or speargun. No doubt a lot has changed in 4000 years but some things stay the same.

One thing that has changed is the debris some of us leave behind. I do think we need a cultural shift on this. The take three initiative, where anytime you are walking on the beach you pick up three pieces of litter is a great idea. On the walk on the beach yesterday evening as the sun was nearly setting I was mentally recording what bits I would pick up on the return leg. There were empty bins in the car park so I didn’t even have to put them in the van and bring home. No the beach wasn’t spotless when I was finished but some people noticed it. Hopefully the more of us do it, the more people will be inclined to do it until we reach a tipping point and it becomes the norm,

It starts with you and me.

Clean Coasts.

Big smiles for 2015

Janey, I haven’t posted anything here in awhile.

So the Christmas is over and the new year is here. Last Saturday saw me with a big silly grin on my face as I drove away from the Ocean. It wasn’t that I had just spent the last few hours in it. It wasn’t that I was still toasty warm as I had a new suit and the heating left on in the van for changing. Nor was it that I had my super Stanley ultra flask with a piping hot brew ready for drinking.

The item that really brought a smile to my face was the crowd. This in itself is unusual in the surfing fraternity. I was finished though remember. I was really just astounded by the sheer volume of people making use of the playground that is our Ocean. Some were on boards others were heading out on kayaks, some were walking. Yes the sun was shining, yes the place was probably the only spot with half decent surf for a long while but still to see a busy car park in early January is a great thing to my mind.

For those of us who dislike crowds it just means we have to get off our asses and explore a bit more, it’s not like there is a shortage of coastline, dive spots, surf spots or swim spots.

Hopefully this will continue. People protect what they value and use in their lives. The more people that believe in the beauty of our Oceans and seas the better.

Hoping you all have a great 2015.

Feeling blessed to be able to call this place home.

 

Heart to heart,

picture of a heartThe heart is a pretty amazing organ. You only get one but if you’re lucky maybe you get to share it today and every other day with someone else.

As freedivers you gradually learn to control it better, mainly by slowing it down. Relaxing, breathing, calming. You can also train it to react to a form of autogenic training. The heart just pumps away, second after second. The way it evolved from when you were a foetus in your mothers womb is pretty amazing. Starting with two cavities like a fish, it further divides to three cavities like an amphibian as if preparing us for a life both above and below the water and finally to four cavities and our mammals heart. The slowdown of the heart (bradycardia) is a well documented dive reflex when we are immersed in water. This happens to everyone, even people who hate water and panic, eventually their heart rate will fall too.

A freediver simply trains to work this reflex. It makes you a “better” freediver. More relaxed and at home in and under the water. It also makes for countless hours of fun at medicals. At the end of the day it still needs care. Regular exercise gets it going faster, relaxation and meditation gets it going slower. Some people will say you only have so many beats in it anyway so whats the point? Like anything if looked after, it will look after you.

Stressing the heart through exercise is a good thing. Stressing it through stress is a bad thing. Seems pretty simple to say, sometimes harder to do in reality. If you have never worn a  heart rate monitor during exercise please try it. If you freedive, try it during a breathhold. It’s amazing to see what happens. You can listen to mine here. This was part of the Doc on ! we were part of which is here.  We could have gone lower but as you hear the Doc’s machine could have been damaged. Was really cool afterwards when he showed me the flatline too. Anyone’s  heart will do this with the right training and time. Nothing special about mine, except of course to me. Negative stress raises the heart rate and keeps it raised in our flight or fight response throughout the day. That stuff causes heart disease. Raising it far higher for brief periods during exercise helps prevent heart disease.

An amazing organ, an amazing muscle. It can catch you out of course. Sometimes when you least expect it. Walking down the street your eye might just connect with that someone special and your heart stops, even if only for a moment. Don’t worry it will start again, hopefully.

Happy Valentines Day.

The Kingdom by the Sea,

spear weekend 06.08.2011 048is one of Paul Theroux “travel” books. I loved it and recommend that along with The Happy Isles of Oceania and The Pillars of Hercules. I captioned travel because he doesn’t do travel books in the normal sense. Focusing instead on the people he meets. The situations he finds himself in and the social-geographical climate he encounters. There’s no line about what particular cathedral or castle/landmark to visit as far as I can remember.

In kingdom by the sea, one aspect that he had trouble getting his head around was this fascination of people who drive to the seaside and then stay in their cars watching the sea. I had never thought it odd but in retrospect I suppose it is unusual. Of course many get out and walk along the promenade or the beach. But others simply sit and stare. Essentially Theroux’s hypothesis is they/we are staring at infinity and the wonder beyond.

Culture has moved on, now we no longer sit and stare. (as much) When the climber reaches the top of the cliff, he is no longer there just to view the awe inspiring landscape but legs akimbo, launches himself off the edge. The French of course turned it into art. When the diver meets the Ocean or the Sea he no longer stares but dives in and down. Onwards goes the exploration. The blue water sailor only happy when he has sea room and no sight of land, the silence and mystery of the worlds Oceans enveloping him. Only now is he free.

Free to what? Free of gravity, free of the terrestrial earth, free of land, free of judgement, stress or worry. Free to be human or be more than human. Free to glimpse magic of an intensity not yet known, free to experience the very fabric of life itself.

It’s nearly the end of the first month of 2014. The time when most new years resolutions fail or have failed. But now more than ever, it’s time to jump in.

 

Inspirational!

Gleniff Horseshoe, waiting for Gandalf.

 

 

So this will be old hat to some of you. Went to see my sister in law complete the Dublin city marathon a few weeks back.

 

 

I was literally bowled over. Spectating at Mile 16 or thereabouts near Terenure so the runners were well in the thick of it. So, so many personal battles going on in front of you, you can see the pain, frustration and every so often joy on the faces as they pass. You only get a fleeting glance as they whizz pass. So many running vests emblazoned with their own name, their own charity or in memory of someone close to them. They pass in the hundreds and thousands. The encouragement from the crowd is infectious and it’s no time before you are shouting out the name of some one you never met nor will see again or calling out their county if sporting their county colours. Hopefully you’ve added something to their thoughts, taken their mind off the pain even if only briefly.

The other thing that struck me was the shapes and sizes of all the competitors. There were a good percentage that to my mind didn’t look like they were runners but were on course for a sub 4 hour run. Goes to show what i know and the old chestnut of not making assumptions based on appearances. You never see the passion, drive and commitment that precedes all that of course. No one just decides to run a marathon. I have written before about my own running exploits and I suppose a marathon is the ultimate run of runs, then you read about ultra marathons and well, where does it stop really? I’d love to think about doing one, just once but the fear of injuries, training schedules and failure is daunting. Then you go see one and it’s “oh ok time to get my shit together”

January is fast approaching and so all the gyms and pools all over the world will be inundated with new years resolutions only to be finished by mid February. But good health is for life and not just for Christmas so maybe start before the maddening crowd get in.

The main things is to do something active, run, swim cycle, surf whatever, anything to get the heart racing, the muscles tired and the brain concentrating on healthy physical stress instead of man made modern pace of life crap stress. It’s such a good buzz for body, mind and soul. Especially if you can get out into nature while you are doing it.

As the famous running shoe company logo said, “Just get it done”. I think.

Do you really need to breathe?

 

 

Head in the kelp

Head in the kelp

Ouch that smack across the face hurt and the words “of course, don’t be stupid” were none too pleasant either.

I am not suggesting that we don’t need to breathe indefinitely. Just asking a question. As freedivers we do stop breathing for an unusual period of time when compared to non freedivers.

 

 

If you averaged it out over a lifetime it would probably add up to quite a lot. One exercise or training tool is the CO2 table which essentially has you decreasing your rest period between breath holds. One great experience I had involved an extreme version of that, for me at least. I remember calculating afterwards at some stage that over the last 15 minutes of time I had really only been breathing for two minutes when you add it all up, all the recovery breaks, or something like that. It wasn’t a proper table but still a bit of a mind job.

Breath holding is weird, I’ll be the first to admit it but it’s also amazing how the same people who call it weird continue to ask other questions about it, so it’s also curious to many.  All I can say is it’s good. It feels good, it seems good. It relaxes me, makes me feel at peace, one with the Universe and the Ocean. All tranquil and hippy. A lot of people need to smoke stuff to get that feeling.

It does kill some brain cells, let’s be clear. DAN has done some fantastic research on it.  Now brain cells die all the time and I usually mange to cause a massacre via my old friend whiskey at weekends in “Shoot the Crows”  an infamous spot in Sligo town if you ever visit. So I am not overly concerned by that but it’s good to be aware of it.

When you do stop breathing the initial response is panic, but that goes away and after a while a really deep mellow buzz comes along. Breathing and not breathing (apnea) is used in meditation and Yoga  so there has to be something in it. I think when we stop or arrest that primordial urge we take control of our lives, even if only for a few seconds or a few minutes. Literally take control of our life.

Or so we think, because eventually the superior intelligence that is the great unknown and at the same time the super familiar will take over. The body kicks in, the subconscious takes control, our diaphragm contracts like a hiccup and we lose that intense relaxation. We are brought back to earth, back to ordinary life, our body makes us breathe. If we still struggle and resist for too long  it says fine, watch this and you black out. A bit extreme but you didn’t do what your body was telling you to do so what were you expecting? You need to listen more man. After a short period it forgives you, you breathe again and it gives you back your consciousness.

For me the benefits have far outweighed any possible/potential side effects.

But you can always stop breathing again, rinse and repeat.

 

 

You are God.

Sunset

 

In every sense of the word, Every experience I have had since birth you gave to me.

 

 

Each person I have met, every experience shared, given or enjoyed, you provided.

Every lesson I have learned or stupidly ignored, you taught me.

Each sensual experience, each dizzying high, every taste of ecstasy, you showed me. C.

Every connection with the vital force of the Universe, you were the conductor.

Each caress of the Ocean, you were the feeling.

Every encounter with marine animals big and small, you were the glint in their eye that stopped my heart.

Each wave I ever surfed, you provided the pulsing swell.

Every cold, clear, starlit night, you were the shooting star that made me gasp.

Each golden Sunset that made me stop in awe, you painted.

Every friend I hold dear, you planted.

Wake up, you are God.

Thank you. Mahalo.

 

Reasons to be cheerful,

Dusty.dusty 134

 

Many of us are attracted to the sea or the Ocean or just a body of water. It’s evident in the property prices near the Sea, it’s evident in any map of any country, people given the option will live close to the coast rather than in the midlands.

 

 

 

Problems seem smaller when you stare out at the vast infinity of the Ocean,  all the issues of this terrestrial existence melt away when you are on, under or just beside water but in particular the Ocean. If you are reading this blog chances are you have some kind of affinity with the liquid element too. No matter where I go, if there’s water nearby my fins come too. Even if conditions are bad I’ll still dive in just cross it off the list. I am with child to dive somewhere in the Pacific, maybe less so The Arctic and Antarctica but under ice somewhere at some stage has to be on the cards.

Some people take this one step further and abandon the land, maybe not altogether but they do sail off into the wild blue yonder on a regular basis. This isn’t just to travel but a way of life. A way of seeing the world and seeing yourself from another plane. The real you we are all so afraid of seeing. I am sure you might feel like Robinson Crusoe until you find out thousands of people do this all the time. There are thousands that have either retired, dropped out or decided that this is the path of life for them. “A tourist doesn’t know where they have been and a traveller doesn’t know where he’s going”. Paul Theurox.

We evolved from water so it’s only natural that once used to it, we feel right at home peaceful and connected. Our bodies if not our minds remember the ancient reflex that helps us stay down longer and deeper. Living on the West coast of an Island in the Atlantic you can’t helped but be moved by it, whether by the sunsets, the calm, the peace, the solitude or conversely the omnipotent raging power that sweeps all before it.The Ocean is a vast, vast beautiful thing and I hope and pray it’s still in good enough condition for future generations to enjoy down the road.

The film Blackfish aired on CNN recently and the storm of protest against cetacean captivity is building momentum year on year. Go see it and be moved. It’s hard to think what an individual can do against the tidal wave of problems and pollution that we seem intent on inducing into Oceans that provide the vast majority of oxygen we breath on this spinning little ball of ours. But you can, you don’t have to start a movement, you don’t have to throw stones through the windows of dolphinariums (but don’t let me stop you). Just pick up a single piece of litter from the beach and bring it home.

1. You will feel better about yourself.

2. The Ocean will thank you for it in some way shape or form.

3. Someone might see you and be inspired to do the same.

Reasons to be cheerful 1,2,3.

 

Wanderer

 

spear weekend 06.08.2011 012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sterling Hayden, Wanderer.

“To what avail the plough or sail, or love, or life- if freedom fail?

Freedom. Freedom to what? Escape, run, wander turning your back on a cowed society that stutters, staggers and stagnates every man for himself and fuck you Jack I’ve got mine?

To be truly challenging, a voyage like life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea – “cruising” it is called. Voyaging belongs to sea men, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot or will not fit in.

Little has been said or written about the ways a man may blast himself free. Why? I don’t know, unless the answer lies in our diseased values…Men are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of “security,” and in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone.

The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Dedication to the sea is the symbol of migration and movement and wandering. It is the barbaric place and it stands opposed to society and it is a constant symbol in all of literature, too.”

Carpe Diem I guess.

 

At times I’m struck dumb!!

Smacht Diver

Smacht Diver

 

 

Hard to believe of me for anyone that knows me. I’m not usually short of a word or six and once I have a few drinks in I can’t shut up and the volume increases,it goes to eleven. But its happened on more than a few occasions that I am stuck for words. Once you interact with the people I suppose its bound to happen and when it does, it strikes me dumb. Maybe not at the specific time. I may not always show it simply because I am not always aware of the enormity of the situation at that time.

 

 

The thing is fear. Blessed am I who lives near the Ocean and gets to spend my life diving in it, surfing on it or just admiring its wonder and beauty from the shore as the Sun sets on it. I love it with a passion and while I respect it to an almost religious degree, I rarely fear it.

Every so often I have a student come along with the fear of water, or if not water then open water. The vast expanse of the Ocean and the fear of being out of your depth several times over. If you can’t see the bottom it can feel like you are floating over an abyss. An endless pit of nothingness. Sometimes these people are part of a group of students and sometimes they are on a one to one course. Sometimes people come to me admitting they fear water and want help with that but sometimes they don’t announce it until the end of the course or as we are about to leave the shore. You can often tell someones ability in how they move in water during a pool session but not always. A person can be super confident in the pool and super nervous in open water.

These thoughts don’t always come to me at the time but usually I can spot them. I reassure the student and some of my confidence passes over to them and we go on our merry way. We do our dives, our skills and enjoy the liquid element. We may have a brief chat about it afterwards or we may not. Its only later the facts strike me or sometimes they are brought about by something completely unexpected.

I had one student who as part of a business group was down doing a discovery day. He had forgone the pool element for personal reasons and went straight to open water. As we had a large group I had a boat instead of the usual shore dive. At the end of the day he confessed to me that he didn’t think we would ever get him in the boat, then didn’t think we would get him out of it and never mind getting over to the dive line. The picture above is of him returning from a 4m dive. While I was happy with the result that day I really didn’t think more about it.

As a follow on to that course, a year or so later about 150 people were gathered to hear some speakers etc and the audience was asked to contribute events that had made a lasting difference in their lives. After a few had gone I recognised the voice of the student who I had chatted to briefly beforehand. He told the crowd that at his age not that many things were life changing events but the day freediving was. He admitted that he had never been deeper than his knees and that the memory of him conquering this fear of deep water led him to say “If I can do that after all these years of it holding me back then I’m ready for anything”. Needless to say I was stunned but happily surprised that something I was a part of had had such a profound affect on someone.

The lesson here isn’t about freediving but about the human spirit and the ability after so long, to still be able to stand up and say I’m going for it. To kick back the fear that was holding you back, grab it by the scruff of the neck and go for it. It’s not always apparent to me at the time but when I do see it or recall it, it makes me contrite, humbled, inspired and privileged to witness it.