Deconcentration of Attention / Altered States diving

[Ghost95]

I am curious about benefical altered mental states people have experienced freediving or scuba diving. For instance Natalia Molchanova the famous freediver used a Russian technique called Deconcentration Of Attention. Soviet scientists in the 1980’s extracted this as a “technology free of ideology” from historic meditation practices: in other words meditation without religion.

I often experience what I consider meditative states swimming, freediving, and diving. Do you? Is this part of what you enjoy about it?

I would like to learn more and perhaps enhance or train these abilities.

АлександрД Have you heard of this?

Read Psychonetics: a nerd’s toolset to work with mind and perception | Leanpub

You mean like this....

Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become atransparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.


But underwater?

 

[The Chairman]

others like @The Chairman seem perfectly content hanging out in a dark corner of a cavern, without even a flashlight on, LOL.

In a cavern or cave I often assume the role of a golem. I can see you, but I don't necessarily want you to see me. This is especially true on a rebreather. If I'm diving solo in a cave and I hear another diver, I will often hide in a nook, cover my light and let them pass.

I thought about the whole aspect of this, and it's the exact opposite of a sensory deprivation chamber except for gravity. It's not that we eliminate gravity, but we certainly minimize it. In an SDC, your senses are deprived of input. Light, sound, touch and gravity are reduced to almost nothing so that your thoughts may turn inward or disappear with your senses. I've done this twice and while the first time was a bit unsettling at first, the second time was simply an awesome experience. While diving, the water acts as a filter or buffer. When I descend, I clear my mind and let my senses reach out into my environment. Rather than feel isolated, I feel hyper connected. I hear easily underwater, unlike on the surface. I hear the shrimp, crabs and even bubbles from others. I don't know how anyone could call this the "silent world". I easily know where my buddy is at all times. I also feel minor currents since I don't wear exposure protection, so I feel anyone encroaching on my personal space if somehow I didn't hear them first. I am also tuned into ebb flows and such. Lights are muted, but if you let your eyes get accustomed to the loss of red, then it starts to open up to you. I find a lot of critters because I move slowly and look for patterns and breaks in those patterns. Best of all is being fully in control effortlessly. Gravity becomes my friend instead of a constant drain on my energy. I spend every dive, in every cave or reef, looking for the hidden, the obscure and those Easter eggs that are sometimes hidden in plain site. The more a critter is camouflaged, the more I want to find it. I don't mind people pointing out hard to find creatures for me, but it's not "mine" until I find one my own. It's my own personal puzzle, and I love it.

 

[scrane]

Bliss... ? I just wanna swim with the fishies.

 

[АлександрД]

АлександрД Have you heard of this?

Sorry, just found this topic, that you mentioned to me. (In case of more fast reply - send me brief remind in PersonalMessage in the future )

I know about her techniques. I know her.
We had trainings in same pool in the University of Sport, in Moscow. (She had work there as a teacher of water sports department) Very frequently I met her there.
But my first meet with her was in the subway, it was in time, when I was a beginning freediver, and some years before my first dive with SCUBA.
I`d asked her - "Are you Natalya?", and we discussed how is possible to pass education with her.
I did not start to train with her, because price for this education was quite high.
But I read many articles from her and her team how to dive on the breath hold.
Late, at the diving exhibition, when she promotes her favorite mask Cressi Minima I`d discussed with her about Aqualung Aquasphere mask...
She told me, that is the best, and much better than Sphere...
Some years later she and her team used just Aquasphere

Also we have in our country another nice and quite famous freediver - Natalia Avseenko.
When I had try to discuss with her, how is possible to learning with her - she started to speak about Yoga, diagnostics of me for chakra`s etc...
I`m immediately stopped all my ideas to learning in her school.

Then, I met Julia Petrik and her colleague - Oxana Dragun.
I discussed with Oxana about education ways, and that I`m not accept any Yoga ideology, etc.
She gave me the best answer - I can teach you using Yoga methodic, using exercises, but without any brainwashing ideology, etc.
It was the great answer for me...

... less than one year later I got ability to pass my first SCUBA class, and then I was no need to learn freediving techniques for AIDA card...

But I still using freedives sometimes, just for me, just to relax.
In the beginning I had camera (Panas TZ-3 with WP box), and had not any certificates.
And I found (sure, after reading many articles of physiology and freediving techniques) that it is possible to make nice pictures even without SCUBA.

"Turtle on the tree"

AND - I found during my free dives - When you stop thinking - you can stay underwater much longer and you got better pleasure.

In that case I`m absolutely agree with

You've seen me dive. I go into a complete Zen. I relax to the point that I feel, hear, and see almost everything around me.

And all freediving theory confirm, that

"AD leads to “empty” consciousness or, in other words, to cessation of inner dialog – this permits to react more quickly and adequately."

is true.
First - stop inner dialog inside your brain.
Second - STOP THINKING about anything around you - START TO FEEL IT.

This has very simple base - You brain consume too much oxygen, and when you change your thinking in to relax and feeling mode - your oxygen consumption decrease.
Also when you body more relaxed, your muscles have less tonus, and in total you again consume less oxygen.

BUT! Related to diving - I suppose, that total "Stop thinking" is fully UNacceptable.
With scuba you have enough gas to breath.
But also you can have any situation, when you need immediately react.
In that case - you should keep minimal thinking level to keep analyse of your environment.
Sure, body relax (and calm in your mind) is very useful, because it also helps you to decrease oxygen consumption.

P.S. MS World is great to correct my mistypes

 

[aquacat8]

Very interesting answers folks, thanks!

 

[Bob DBF]

Lights are muted, but if you let your eyes get accustomed to the loss of red, then it starts to open up to you. I find a lot of critters because I move slowly and look for patterns and breaks in those patterns. Best of all is being fully in control effortlessly. Gravity becomes my friend instead of a constant drain on my energy. I spend every dive, in every cave or reef, looking for the hidden, the obscure and those Easter eggs that are sometimes hidden in plain site. The more a critter is camouflaged, the more I want to find it.

The consummate hunter. You can dive with me for food or treasure anytime, most just rummage about.


Bob

 

[The Chairman]

The consummate hunter. You can dive with me for food or treasure anytime, most just rummage about.

We'd be the silver bandits, eh?

 

[Bob DBF]

We'd be the silver bandits, eh?

We could think that.


Bob