It’s hard to imagine how yoga could possibly aid in a better overall scuba diving experience. The truth is, yoga teaches novice and experienced divers alike valuable breathing techniques that not only keep you in the water longer, but that can also help you when faced with underwater challenges that may arise.
Controlled
Spiritual stuff aside, yoga’s underlying principles will teach exercises and techniques that promote slower breathing to relax your body and your mind. These will calm you before entering the water and once under the water’s surface, too. Once you begin to truly develop these skills, your scuba diving experiences are guaranteed to become longer and a lot more pleasant. When you commit to an ongoing yoga program, it will teach you to become self-aware and recognize irregular breathing in times of stress and panic. Once you catch yourself doing this, it is then a lot easier to change your focus on calming yourself and bringing your breaths back to the center of your attention. Actively catching yourself each time will keep your mind sharp and your body in an overall relaxed state. It’s no surprise that many scuba diving resorts around the globe now offer yoga as an extension to their packages.
Deeper and Fuller
Aside from learning to control your breathing, yoga also teaches deeper breathing techniques that utilise a larger lung capacity, providing your body and brain with the right amount of oxygen it requires to properly function under the water’s surface. This is especially important for beginners as they tend to be a bit nervous prior to entering the water, chewing up their oxygen supply a lot faster. Another reason is that beginner divers are also getting used to the change of pressure of being underwater, which your body automatically responds to by triggering faster, shallower mouth breaths. So, the best way to counter these problems is to learn deeper inhaling and exhaling techniques. Just as much as your body needs clean oxygen to function, it also needs to expel the carbon dioxide that has been created by the body upon inhaling. This build-up triggers a natural response which promotes irregular breathing and anxiety. Learning to fully exhale pushes this dirty air out which immediately encourages your body to breathe slower, helping you remain calm and focused.
Conclusion
The first time you hear yoga and scuba diving in the same sentence, it may seem a little strange. However, as you read more about the topic you gain a deeper understanding of the synergies between the two activities and how they can benefit each other. Scuba diving is a passion for most so making the most of it each time is important, so before your next dive, be sure to ask your friends or instructor on how practicing yoga can benefit your scuba diving experience.