Who nose?

[Zeldah]

OP, I somewhat do feel your pain. I pulled my mask off in the pool for the first time and I freaked out. However, I just sat breathing for awhile and allowed myself to calm down. Then I put my mask back on and cleared it. when we did the swimming around with the mask off, I had to work to keep my breathing under control, but I did it. That night I jumped in my hot tub and practiced until I could take off my mask, look around, breathe thru my snorkel, put my mask back on, clear it, etc. I'd say just practice. It really does help.

Thanks for the support WreckDiver - I should have been practicing in my hot tub tonight. I guess it is a mind job too as I was never able to aquire that skill as a child, should have been easy then!!!

 

[Zeldah]

Zeldah, you're one of the unlucky few who have yet to realize control over your soft palate. When you breathe you breath through your nose, even if you try to breath through your mouth, you still inhale air through your nose.
There are two "valves" controlling air flow.
Your epiglottis and your soft palate.
The epiglottis closes up between your lung and throat.
The soft palate closes up between your nose and mouth. (your having problems with this)


What you should do is practice on the surface of the water, standing in the shallow end with a snorkel. Practice breathing through your snorkel just with your face in the water and your feet standing firmly on the bottom. This takes practice.

You can supplement this with dry practices.
Open your mouth wide, breath through your mouth, now cup your hand over your mouth so it's air tight and try to inhale and exhale. You should not be able to get air and there should be no air flow through your nose.

Controlling this is surprisingly simple, all it takes is an aHA moment in your brain, getting to that phase can be really hard for some people. You're going to have to be patient. Sometimes if you can't get it with enough practice, just sit down, close your eyes and really try to meditate and feel all the muscles in your head.

Good luck!

Awesome advice and sounds right too My son kept telling me to close my nose and I kept asking him how he does it - he doesn't really know how but said it is like having a cold and you just have pressure there in your nose all the time. Damn kids are always right!! Funnily enough I have been trying to breathe without using my nose around the house and I am finding it hard I will try your tricks! Thanks again.

 

[g1138]

Awesome advice and sounds right too My son kept telling me to close my nose and I kept asking him how he does it - he doesn't really know how but said it is like having a cold and you just have pressure there in your nose all the time. Damn kids are always right!! Funnily enough I have been trying to breathe without using my nose around the house and I am finding it hard I will try your tricks! Thanks again.

Your welcome.
I was editing that post while you were typing, in case you missed it the gist is to make sure you have independent control of both your epiglottis and soft palate.
Sometimes during your dry practices you may think you're doing it right when in fact your just using you epiglottis.
Also make sure your tongue's out of the way ;P

I'm sure you'll be able to get it though.

 

[vladimir]

As an instructor, students surprise me day after day. Many times I find myself thinking "is what just happened okay?" and when I consult my slates which contain the standards, I find that yes, it was okay. Does every student execute every skill the way that *I* would? No, they don't. If they meet the standard of their training agency is that okay? Of course it is, unless I think that I'm somehow better than my agency. Do I think, that given that, I am still a "good" and conscientious instructor? I do. What I'd like us all to take away from this is that there is NOT one "right" way to do skills. Each student will have his own way of doing things, and as an instructor it's my job to guide the student's progress as a diver and evaluate performance against requirements. It is not my job to make students little clones of my perfect self. :blinking:

Without opening up the well-trod discussion of the adequacy of agency standards, I would hope that they allow you to exercise enough discretion to say, "The slates say he met the standard, but he is not yet a safe diver, so I'm going to withhold certification." Not to say Zeldah would be such a case, just speaking generally.

 

[highdesert]

Would an instructor have a problem with me holding my nose?

Sorry, but I think this single sentence is indicative of a serious problem. I think you have already determined in your own mind that holding your nose during your class is "getting by." If your instructor allows you, for some reason, to do so, will you be prepared to handle a lost mask on a post-cert dive by holding your nose and closing your eyes? It would be foolish to put yourself in such a position, but it would be your choice. But you would not be prepared, IMHO, to buddy with anyone. You owe them more readiness than you are apparently willing to provide.

I believe you can overcome this problem with slow, gradual exposure. I think you need to talk to your instructor about giving you credit for the pool work you can complete successfully, and delay the rest of it until you're ready. Don't cheat yourself out of the thrill of a great sport!

Having said that, I'll say up front that I'm not an instructor, and your instructor may totally disagree with my personal opinion.

 

[Zeldah]

As an instructor, students surprise me day after day. Many times I find myself thinking "is what just happened okay?" and when I consult my slates which contain the standards, I find that yes, it was okay. Does every student execute every skill the way that *I* would? No, they don't. If they meet the standard of their training agency is that okay? Of course it is, unless I think that I'm somehow better than my agency. Do I think, that given that, I am still a "good" and conscientious instructor? I do. What I'd like us all to take away from this is that there is NOT one "right" way to do skills. Each student will have his own way of doing things, and as an instructor it's my job to guide the student's progress as a diver and evaluate performance against requirements. It is not my job to make students little clones of my perfect self. :blinking:

Karibelle - I wish there were more instructors like you out there. I have spoken to a few local people since completing my course and they did not complete their pool course because of being uncomfortable with mask off - one sounded just like me and if he had known it was o.k. to hold his nose, at least for a bit and then keep working on that skill he could have continued and have had a great time diving. Keep up the good work - encouragement goes a long way - keep posting

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Thanks for the support WreckDiver - I should have been practicing in my hot tub tonight. I guess it is a mind job too as I was never able to aquire that skill as a child, should have been easy then!!!

Not a problem Zeldah. One thing you may want to consider however... Turn your hot tub down! 103 degree water doesn't treat your eyes very well! Learned that the hard way. :blinking:

 

[Karibelle]

Without opening up the well-trod discussion of the adequacy of agency standards, I hope that they allow you to exercise enough discretion to say, "The slates say he met the standard, but he is not yet a safe diver, so I'm going to withhold certification." Not to say Zeldah would be such a case, just speaking generally.

Are you an instructor? My agency standards require "mastery." As an instructor, I know what that means.

kari

 

[Karibelle]

Karibelle - I wish there were more instructors like you out there. I have spoken to a few local people since completing my course and they did not complete their pool course because of being uncomfortable with mask off - one sounded just like me and if he had known it was o.k. to hold his nose, at least for a bit and then keep working on that skill he could have continued and have had a great time diving. Keep up the good work - encouragement goes a long way - keep posting

Zeldah, for what it's worth, know that if you were MY student, we could go in the pool as often and as many times as you wanted to practice this, and any other skill. I agree; encouragement is HUGE. And I'm with you 100%!

kari

 

[vladimir]

Are you an instructor? My agency standards require "mastery." As an instructor, I know what that means.

kari

Are we in an instructors-only forum? I feel qualified to discuss this, even though I am without a doubt unqualified to teach a scuba class. You seem to be taking this discussion personally. I did not ever intend to impugn your credentials as an instructor.