Freediving from Zero to Hero

Wave One — The Beginning

This is a story about depth — not the depth measured in meters,

but the depth inside a man determined to master himself.

Freediving isn’t about holding your breath.

It isn’t about numbers, depth, or certifications.

Freediving is about mastering the mind.

Wave One is where I discovered how much of my fear was old programming, how much of my strength lived beneath my awareness, and how much of my journey had nothing to do with water — and everything to do with becoming.

🐬 SECTION 1 — The Fear I Never Expected

I kept telling myself I was terrified.

“This scares me.”

“This is the one thing I fear.”

“This is the scariest thing I can imagine.”

But the truth?

I wasn’t scared of the deep.

I wasn’t scared of sinking to forty-five feet on one breath.

My fear came from three to five feet.

Lying horizontal on the surface before the dive, your chest compresses just enough that you cannot take a full breath. The physics of pressure restrict your inhale, and your mind panics:

“I don’t have enough air.”

Then comes the snorkel — the false comfort.

You breathe through it until the last second, and the moment you remove it, your brain screams:

“Put it back! You need it!”

This was my real fear —

the pressure,

the incomplete breath,

the illusion of safety leaving my mouth.

And the only way past it was forward.

Buck the fuck up, cowboy. Time to dive.

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📘 SECTION 2 — Classroom & Pool: The Body Reveals the Truth

Two hours in class.

Names.

Paperwork.

Physiology.

Then straight into the pool to test what the mind thinks it knows.

The instructor told us:

“You can all hold your breath far longer than you believe.”

Convulsions started.

Diaphragm spasms.

CO₂ rising.

The mind said, “You’re dying.”

The body said, “Relax. You have plenty of oxygen.”

By the third round:

2 minutes and 45 seconds. Minimum.

The body is a genius.

The mind is dramatic.

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🦈 SECTION 3 — Gear: Becoming a Freediver

Long fins — not the scuba kind.

A single controlled kick can glide you through the ocean with almost no effort.

Low-volume mask — essential for equalizing without crushing your face at depth.

Pressure is simple:

• Surface: 1 bar

• 10 meters: 2 bars (lungs half-size)

• 20 meters: 3 bars (lungs one-third)

Physics doesn’t negotiate.

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🌊 SECTION 4 — First Descent: Where the Real Journey Begins

Five minutes by boat —

the shortest trip of my life —

and we were at the dive site.

Two buoys.

A PVC bar.

A rope descending into blue nothingness.

My first attempt:

Relax.

Snorkel out.

Dive.

Equalize.

Grab the rope.

Pull.

Thirty feet on the first go.

I thought I was unstoppable.

Then the instructor dropped the rope deeper — fifteen meters.

My mind shifted.

It wasn’t depth.

It was the unexpected.

I realized:

I wasn’t here to learn breath-holding.

I was here to master stillness under pressure.

My old pilot mindset — over-preparing, anticipating danger — didn’t belong here.

Freediving demands presence.

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🧠 SECTION 5 — Where Stress Hides: Equalization & Micro-Mastery

This was the shocker:

Beginners fail at equalizing not because of fear,

but because of hidden tension in the airway.

The soft palate.

Throat muscles.

Airway valves.

Muscles you use every moment of your life without ever noticing.

Now you must control them consciously —

relaxing, isolating, releasing.

Equalization isn’t physical.

It’s internal precision.

A form of meditation disguised as physiology.

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🩸 SECTION 6 — Sinus Squeeze & the Lesson of Humility

Day three ended early.

My mistakes:

• Mask too loose → couldn’t equalize

• Mask too tight → forehead pressure

• Forced descent → sinus squeeze, nosebleed

Instructor:

“We’re done for today.”

Fair.

I learned something important:

I can’t buy my way through this.

I can’t shortcut it.

I can’t throw gear at a problem that lives inside my awareness.

Mastery starts deeper than depth.

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🧘 SECTION 7 — The Realization: The Space Between

Freediving cracked open a truth I’ve been circling for years:

• I saw exactly when my mind lies

• when tension sneaks in

• when fear disguises itself as logic

• and when I can choose a different response

Freediving isn’t about going deeper.

It’s about creating space between the environment and my reaction.

That space is freedom.

That space is mastery.

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🚫 SECTION 8 — Wave One: Not Failed. Not Finished. Just Open.

I didn’t complete Wave One.

Not because I failed.

Because mastery takes time — and freediving doesn’t reward rushing.

Here’s what remains:

• The Duck Dive

Entering the water with precision and no wasted energy.

• Free Immersion to 15–20 Meters

Pulling down the rope with only your hands — calm, equalized, controlled.

• Constant Weight Diving Beside the Rope

Descending one foot off the line, not touching it, to depth.

• Buddy Assist

Meeting your partner one-third of the way up — where most blackouts occur.

• Full Rescue From Depth

Retrieving an unresponsive diver, securing their airway, and bringing them home.

These are not tasks.

They are responsibilities.

And I’m not there yet.

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🌅 SECTION 9 — Why I Am Here for Two Months

My story doesn’t end at Wave One.

If anything, this is where it actually begins.

This is why I am staying in Nusa Penida for two months:

To train.

To join every class I can.

To repeat what I haven’t mastered.

To break old patterns.

To dissolve tension.

To build awareness.

To earn every meter the right way.

I will finish Wave One.

Then Wave Two.

Then as far as my mind and body are willing to go.

Not for the certification.

Not for the title.

But because every dive takes me deeper into who I’m becoming.

Wave One isn’t the end.

It’s the threshold.

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What fear in your life have you mistaken for depth, when it was really just the first five feet?