Feel the Silence

Text by Oli Christen, video by Adrienne Gittus

Why do I freedive? I can say for sure that it is not for the fame, not for the money and not for the numbers. We will have to dig a little deeper to find the answer to this frequent question.

I freedive to feel the silence. I would tend to agree if you say now that this a little cryptic. But let’s start with this: Those who did an instructor course with me will remember one of my favorite sayings: Freediving is a meditation with feedback.

When we meditate comfortably seated on our front porch with the singing birds in our ears and a fresh morning breeze in our face it is a small step to say “I am in the moment!” – the silence of the meditative state feels actually very close to the blissful morning scenery. Quite often your mind flip-flops forth and back between meditating and recognizing the birds. In fact, realizing the birds and the breeze is already giving it away that you have “left the silence”.

During freediving it is possible to find that meditative state of “being in the now” as well – some freedivers might say this is actually the goal of freediving, and I agree with that. Freediving means to become one with water and when this happens, the silence becomes palpable – you can feel the silence! This is why I freedive.

The instant my mind snaps out of the moment and I start worrying about how deep I am, how long I have been down here already, what could go wrong or what maybe went wrong in the past, I leave this meditative state. Either I can instantly find a way back into it or I will have to stop my dive. My freedive ends when I leave the meditation. There couldn’t be any clearer feedback.

In this video, Adrienne Gittus of Soulwater Productions has masterfully caught the serenity, the meditation of freediving. I hope you can feel the silence in this video, too!

Oli Christen
Owner of Freedive Flow
Instructor Trainer AIDA and PADI