When the thought of taking your mask off underwater just freaks you out
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АлександрД
Contributor
our experienced instructors (old ones, with beard 
) teaching newbe, who has problems with breathing underwater without mask, by very simple way. Everybody can do it at own home, on the kitchen (better) or bathroom (not so comfortable).
Just take wash-hand bassin (dishpan), put there enough water (cold, if you planning to have dive at north side, or normal otherwise), and place it on the table in front of you.
Than sit down on the chair, take breathing tube (snorkel or shnorchel, upon your choice), and start to breath from the tube in front of this dishpan. In the air, just sitting in the chair.
Than slowly start to putting down your face in to the water of dishpan. And continue breathing.
Just doing it, without any thinking about water, breating tube etc.
You can listening news or music, during this time... do anything, but only NOT to thinking about what you do. Just breathing.
After some time you will see, that you can do it, when you do not thinking about it
Similar way - when you goes waist deep in water with scuba - just start to breath from mouthpiece and without mask. And slowly start to put your face on the water, and deeper.
You also can do it (later) in neutral bouyancy, swimming in the water on the same depth - where you always can stand on the ground, and take your face from the water.
) teaching newbe, who has problems with breathing underwater without mask, by very simple way. Everybody can do it at own home, on the kitchen (better) or bathroom (not so comfortable).Just take wash-hand bassin (dishpan), put there enough water (cold, if you planning to have dive at north side, or normal otherwise), and place it on the table in front of you.
Than sit down on the chair, take breathing tube (snorkel or shnorchel, upon your choice), and start to breath from the tube in front of this dishpan. In the air, just sitting in the chair.
Than slowly start to putting down your face in to the water of dishpan. And continue breathing.
Just doing it, without any thinking about water, breating tube etc.
You can listening news or music, during this time... do anything, but only NOT to thinking about what you do. Just breathing.
After some time you will see, that you can do it, when you do not thinking about it
Similar way - when you goes waist deep in water with scuba - just start to breath from mouthpiece and without mask. And slowly start to put your face on the water, and deeper.
You also can do it (later) in neutral bouyancy, swimming in the water on the same depth - where you always can stand on the ground, and take your face from the water.
WinfieldNC
Contributor
Being able to handle yourself underwater without a mask is definitely a good skill to have. I have never had my mask kicked off before but I have done a negative entry on a drift dive where I forgot to secure my mask strongly enough during a backroll and had the mask sucked off my face before. Being able to switch to a backup mask at 15-20 feet saved the dive for me in that situation. And luckily another diver was able to grab my primary mask as it descended. Then switched back to primary mask once we were on the wreck.
OP
Lots of great suggestions here! Great reading for afflicted students who just happens to be reading ScubaBoard before they certify (God help them!). 
At the risk of sounding like a POV warrior for the Tonka Truck method, I would only comment that the most fearful students with this issue risk real negative reinforcement if they repeatedly try to overcome the problem in the shallow end of the pool, or in the sink at home, or as АлександрД says, with a dishpan while distracted listening to music.
Of course try one of the methods discussed above! Most students figure it out and move right along, proud of themselves for overcoming their fear. But for the extreme cases, I would suggest that if they really want to dive (or are really being pressured to learn to dive by their wife or boyfriend, for example), they learn how to control that muscle with an out of water exercise, before they have built up a habit of panicking when their nose hits the water. How you pressure them in this regard, as Instructor or significant other, can play a big role.
My 2¢.
Lots of great techniques out there. АлександрД's distraction method is a new twist for me. I like it!
At the risk of sounding like a POV warrior for the Tonka Truck method, I would only comment that the most fearful students with this issue risk real negative reinforcement if they repeatedly try to overcome the problem in the shallow end of the pool, or in the sink at home, or as АлександрД says, with a dishpan while distracted listening to music.
Of course try one of the methods discussed above! Most students figure it out and move right along, proud of themselves for overcoming their fear. But for the extreme cases, I would suggest that if they really want to dive (or are really being pressured to learn to dive by their wife or boyfriend, for example), they learn how to control that muscle with an out of water exercise, before they have built up a habit of panicking when their nose hits the water. How you pressure them in this regard, as Instructor or significant other, can play a big role.
My 2¢.
Lots of great techniques out there. АлександрД's distraction method is a new twist for me. I like it!
Buy one of these and use as directed for a while: https://www.amazon.com/Himalayan-Chandra-Porcelain-Neti-Pot/dp/B000WJIC3G
It's good for you.
It's good for you.
I've never understood the logic of this... walking backward into the surf. Was this seriously a "required skill" for someone?
Always understood this.
At first, she was scared and had challenges when learning how to clear a partially flooded mask in a shallow pool during the confined water portion of her training. After some confidence building exercises and practice, this is a video of her removing and replacing her mask while hovering in open water.
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