Freediving Introspections

Hello everyone!

I've stopped freediving for a while. The last freediving we had before the Moalboal dive last month was with the barracuda of Siquijor last December. So, it was more than six months of hiatus. During those times, I felt I was overthinking too much. My internal monologues became frequent and I can't seem to shut up. I thought it was just a coincidence that the only way to stop me from overthinking was to freedive. Now I realized I should go freediving as often as I could.

I'm happy that I'm finally back on track. We had a line dive practice has weekend in Kontiki Marina, Lapu-Lapu City and I thought I achieved another personal best. It was not official though as my goal was to reach 20 meters, but I was a few meters short because I couldn't equalize anymore. A month ago, we were in Moalboal where these photos were taken. I'm glad that I still have it even after almost seven months of no adventure underwater.

The sardine run is still as mesmerizing as ever. The only difference now is that there are more tourists compared to before. While it's good for the local community, we were not able to achieve clean photos and videos as before. There was also a small space to maneuver and we had to be very careful when we resurface. Even if I still don't care about competitions and personal bests, I realized I should practice more so that I can spend more time underwater. More time underwater means more time for photos and videos which will then translate to better quality. It doesn't follow? Well, it does.

I'm excited about another practice this Sunday. I realized that although this is just a hobby, as with any other sport, there's always a time limit until I can't do this anymore. Let's be honest, I'm not getting any younger. Might as well maximize the time I have left to create more memories underwater. While you can argue that I still have years given my current age, I would say I'm not spending every day underwater. Having to do freediving once a week is too ideal and to freedive once a month is a luxury.

As someone who's often paralyzed by his own thoughts, I often question if I have been sharing too much on this platform. You know, those intrusive thoughts sometimes win. Freediving not only muted the very noisy world but also provided much clarity to my often messy reasoning. I realized there's no such thing as sharing too much. You only share what you're capable of sharing. Since this platform is known to be immutable, I'm expecting that my posts can be accessed for posterity as long as there's a node running. It came to me that I might not be sharing enough.

I heard in the lecture on Introduction to Freediving last Sunday that goes like this: "If you want to see the world underwater, go scuba diving. But if you want to see inside you, go freediving." Indeed, freediving is more about introspections, hence this post. There's so much to learn about yourself that can only be accessed once there's nothing left, but breathing (or the lack of it) and survival.

I'd like to think of freediving in the same principle as ballet. The more you make it look like it's effortless, the more dangerous it becomes and it requires total mastery of one's routine. That's why I'm devoting more of my freediving time to practice. To be "one with the water", you must overcome your inherent fear of the abyss first. Saying the phrase "Don't panic" is easy, but it's different when you're suspended in nothing but water and darkness.

I realized that I have come so far. From a young boy who cannot swim, who was afraid of the deep ocean, and who almost drowned not once but three times, I'm now on my way to mastery of freediving. I'm still far from mastery, but I already overcame a lot of obstacles just to get to where I am now. For those who are doubting themselves, I was once like you who's satisfied with snorkeling at the surface. You will overcome your fears and will eventually make it to the depths, second by second and meter by meter. It's a process so learn to embrace the journey.

I guess that's all for this post. I'll leave this post here as evidence of my freediving journey. I still have more to post, so stay tuned!

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.}

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