Scuba Diving: An Underwater Meditation
Mindfulness and adventure meet in the waters of Maui
Scuba Log / January 2017 / By Scuba Mike
The challenge of life today
An undisputed fact known to everyone, not just scuba divers, is that we live in a hectic world. Stressing out over small and unimportant things, we tell ourselves to “slow down”, “focus on the positive”, “breath, relax” and “just live in the moment”. But for many people, that peaceful and happier way of life often disappears while we are trying to get things done, pick up kids from school or contemplate the purpose of our existance. Meditation is often offered as a remedy to stress and increased mindfulness, but it is not always easy to carry it out. What is especially hard is to find the right place for meditation and turn off the monkey mind that takes control. It just so happens that this meditative state life coaches, CEO’s and monks are all after is available to scuba divers without even trying.
Although it is ideal to meditate wherever you might be, finding a quiet and inspiring environment will help you to clear the mind and enhance all meditation benefits. We need to be able to isolate our mind from the chatter and simply focus on breathing.
And that is just what scuba diving does.
Unless you are a scuba diving instructor the underwater world is not your place of work, and you will not be distracted by your phone or any other daily obligation that might interrupt the process of relaxation. The fact that you’ve traveled somewhere in order to dive also helps you draw your attention to the moment and your higher self.
The essence of successful meditation process is being able to focus on breathing. The breathing must have steady and harmonized inhale and exhale and it must flow completely naturally. While becoming focused on breathing you will be more and more in control of your mind and body, which in turn, will reduce stress and help you relax.
This, coincidentally, also applies for diving. If you want to learn how to dive, the first lesson is – Learn to breathe correctly – which for divers means steadily and calmly, not too fast and not too slow. The mere sound of breathing brings very soothing feeling and it can help you maintain the focus. This comes easier for divers who know a thing or two about yoga. When a diver is focused on breathing he or she slowly enters the meditative state and becomes able to clear the mind and, by doing so, achieve a singular focus state of mind. This is a very unique situation, and it is known to happen while diving – the diver becomes one with the nature.
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