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Congratulations to our latest RAID Freediver Course Students

Richard, Viv, Jay and Paul

and returning students

Harry, Naden and Debbie

Watch their awesome video, here:

And, find out what they thought of their course, here:

I love the water. Being underwater, playing in the water, I’ve snorkeled all my life, and then I did scuba because I thought it would help me appreciate being under the water more, But scuba diving is just too much of a faff, I can’t stand it! It’s nice being down there but it’s not free enough. I like being free, I like to motorbike, to camp, that’s the sort of thing I like doing, and so that’s why I wanted to freedive. I chose Go Freediving because of Emma. I was googling, and I looked at reviews, and actually it was Emma that made me choose Go Freediving, because she’s got a really good manner about her, it’s very relaxing. And even the email exchanges were very relaxed and I felt that she cared about what she was doing. And then I looked at all the videos, and it looked as though you all cared about what you were doing. And you take it really seriously, without taking it too seriously if you know what I mean!
I’m a bit of a science geek, that’s my thing. And this is the amazing bit, I didn’t know how much goes on with one’s breathing. So I didn’t understand the dive reflex. When I was doing the Breathing optimisation classes Emma mentioned the mammalian dive reflex, and before I did the course I thought it was something we had to do, not something that happened automatically. So that’s been one brilliant bit, learning about that, and the other bit, and I only learnt this yesterday, was about the urge to breathe. I thought the urge to breathe meant that at that point, if you don’t breathe, you’re in trouble, but that’s not necessarily true. So now I’m sitting at home trying to force myself to go past that, just to see what happens . So it’s the whole physiology of breathing. That’s for me the most amazing thing, I’m learning stuff about my body I didn’t realise before. So I’m now doing my own reading up about it, reading more books, listening to Ted talks, some podcasts . It’s amazing, and to be able to do it with something I enjoy doing, in the water is fantastic.
I absolutely loved doing the duck dive. It feels really nice and natural, and I loved tapping the aircraft at the bottom! Yesterday I was nervous, I wanted to be able to to do this, but I was also conscious about not pushing myself too much. So I thought ‘just take it easy’. But I’m not very good at taking things easy. So today, relaxing, has helped a lot. I’ve just loved that feeling of getting down, and it doesn’t feel stressed, it feels really relaxed and I like that.
My wife and I, we like travelling, and the whole point of scuba diving was that I could go somewhere I like and then go diving. I do love being underwater, I’m always underwater, and so with freediving I can get to be underwater more often. Another benefit of learning to freedive is the relaxation side of it. Me and my wife meditate every day, and we’ve been doing that for a few years now. And freediving is helping that enormously. Other benefits are understanding the science of breathing, and then thinking ‘what can I do with this?’ Those are the main benefits I think of learning to freedive.
I would absolutely recommend this freediving course. Even if you don’t go freediving, learning all the breathing techniques is beneficial. When you think about exercise, you never think about your breathing muscles, you never think about your diaphragm. So I would certainly recommend learning to freedive, no question! I’m going to get my wife to do it at some point I’m sure.
Jay
I do most things in the water but all on the surface. So I swim, I paddleboard, I windsurf, I kitesurf. I did a little bit of snorkeling last summer and was starting to try and go down a little bit, and as I’ve always known about freediving so I thought ‘now’s the time to learn.’ I’ve come all the way from Lowestoft in Suffolk to learn with Go Freediving.
It’s been nice to learn something new. In the water I feel quite natural and normal, but then doing this has taken me out of my comfort zone. I’ve realised I will keep trying to do it, I will continue. The ears are an issue for me and psychologically that got to me yesterday as well, but I’ve loved the camaraderie of the course. Especially for me, I don’t do sports with anyone else, just my wife and children. So the camaraderie on the course has been good, the way the course has been put together and the safety.
The benefits of learning to freedive is that it gives you a good understanding of your body, because you don’t know how long you can stay under for until you try it. Freediving gives you a greater understanding of the water, and definitely for me, I’ve loved learning the buddy system. I would absolutely recommend this course. One of the first things I said to my wife last night when I rang her up was about our middle daughter, who’s like a fish. She’s the most interested in the water, and so we’ll come back and she’ll come and do the course. She’ll love it.
Paul

 

Want to learn to freedive with the best? Learn to freedive with Go Freediving!

Go Freediving is the longest established, most experienced and friendliest freediving course provider in the UK, led by world class freediving instructor trainer Emma Farrell, and her team of personally trained instructors. No other course provider has such a good instructor to student ratio, safety record and personal touch.

Whether you’re a beginner dipping your toes into the world of freediving, a seasoned pro looking to turn professional, or simply a freediver of any level who wants the best freediving holiday in the world, we’re here for you!

Also check out our online guide, The Beginners Guide to Freediving by clicking here!

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