Friday, March 29, 2024
FreedivingReview: Manage Your Mind: Yoga for Freediving Course

Review: Manage Your Mind: Yoga for Freediving Course

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“I think failure can be actually the biggest teacher…if we always succeed we don’t get a chance to get perspective on our goals and our motivation…and I think it’s very easy in freediving to get caught up in the numbers and to not really understand if that’s what drives us, or if the motivation is something more personal and spiritual in terms of being one with the ocean and just having a beautiful experience.” Sara Campbell

DeeperBlue.com recently had the opportunity to review Manage You Mind, the second course in Yoga for Freediving, a comprehensive and intriguing series designed by Sara Campbell, 4-time Freediving World Record holder. This “Master Class” series explores the mental and spiritual components of freediving success.

Sara Campbell is the founder of Discover Your Depths, “a unique teaching and personal growth philosophy based on yoga, meditation, freediving and mind-body awareness.” Sara teaches Kundalini Yoga and has developed a training program that can give students a foundation for increased personal growth and personal performance in daily activities and in freediving.

SIGN UP TODAY via www.yogaforfreediving.com

Yoga for Freediving - Teaser

We are always seeking ways to become better at our sport; whether it is through new techniques, additional training, or more advanced equipment, most of us are looking for the right “tools” to increase our bottom time or our depth.

“As well as coaching freedivers to safely achieve greater depths through a deeper understanding of the vital mind-body connection, I use freediving, yoga, and meditation as metaphors for life and tools for change.” Sara Campbell

We can easily quantify material aspects of freediving…the stiffness and construction of our fins, the material of our wetsuits, the amount of weight we are wearing. As freedivers, we understand many of the physiological responses the body undergoes during a deep or prolonged dive…but Sara explores the often overlooked component of mental and spiritual preparedness…components that have taken her far into the depths. Through the medium of Yoga, which is a term that encompasses a group of mental, spiritual and physical practices that originated in ancient India, Sara teaches the student techniques and practices that allow the diver to harness their inner strength and abilities.

“These videos give you practical tools to learn how to relax – meditations, pranayama (breathing exercises), lectures and a guided visualization – to help you actively tackle the different aspects of relaxation; how to beat stress, relax your body, and understand and manage your mind.” Sara Campbell

Sara Campbell world Champion freediver running freediving courses in Dahab. Egypt. Photo Credit Dan Burton
Sara Campbell world Champion freediver running freediving courses in
Dahab. Egypt. Photo Credit Dan Burton

The full Yoga for Freediving program contains six yoga-based freediving courses, each bringing the viewer well over two hours worth of advice, exercises, techniques, and meditations to help you tackle what Sara considers to be the six crucial aspects of freediving as a spiritual journey:

Manage You Mind is the second of six parts to this extensive and detailed training regimen and continues the exercises and principles we learned in Deep Relaxation, reviewed earlier this year. Many of the basic terms and concepts that are used in Yoga are defined in that first review.

“The outside world mostly perceives freediving as a sport, recreational or competitive. But the element of spirituality can really only be appreciated and understood by those who enter the ocean, have the courage to hold their breath beyond their accepted limits – and in doing so face themselves in deeper truth and honesty than is otherwise possible.” Sara Campbell

Manage you Mind asks “So, how can each of us begin to pull apart the puzzle of the mind, to understand, gain clarity on the thoughts and behavior that drives us to push beyond our limits, in order to dive deeper, and most importantly, more safely?”

Sara equips the freediver with the tools and deeper understanding in seven (7) separate videos with over 2.5 hours of lessons to guide you through this process. These extremely detailed video lessons build on the previous lessons in the series and like any curriculum, the maximum benefit comes from following the progressive nature of the series, especially for those with little knowledge of Yoga. The course includes a recommended six-week program and 40-day meditation practice, available to download.

Taken in the recommended order, we find:

  • Lecture: The Mind
  • Kriya: To Prepare for Deep Meditation
  • Meditation: Positive Mind
  • Meditation: Negative Mind
  • Meditation: Neutral Mind
  • Pranayama: Inner Conflict Resolver
  • Lecture” “Mind, Body, Spirit”
  • Bonus Material: “Article on the Three Minds”

In addition, she has included a further two hours of tips and techniques in 22 ‘HOW TO’ videos, a valuable reference guide that will be part of each of the six courses. These bonus materials can be crucial for creating your own meditation practice and mastering the yogic techniques used in freediving and throughout this program.

The Mind:

“It is important to remember that each of these minds plays a vital function in our well-being and survival as human beings. Observing where the imbalances lie can help us to adjust and correct our behavior in order to support our health and safety in all situation, not just in the water.” Sara Campbell

This 27-minute video introduces the freediver to the complexity and richness of the mind and the three aspects of the Mind: the Positive, the Negative and the Neutral.

This foundation lecture prepares the student for the following videos in the series and defines the terms and concepts that shape the lessons. Sara explains how the Mind gets “out of balance” and what the factors are that shape our thoughts and responses…reactions that affect our performance, confidence, decision-making and our emotions.

Sara Campbell. Photo Credit Jacque de Vos
Sara Campbell. Photo Credit Jacque de Vos

Kriya: To Prepare for Deep Meditation

A “Kriya” has been defined as an action, technique or practice within a Yoga discipline designed to achieve specific results.

In this second video in the course, Sara teaches the freediver how to prepare themselves for a deep and powerful meditative state. The Kriya, or techniques, lead to deep relaxation and internal focus. This is an intensive 44-minute lesson that can be shortened as needed by the freediver.

Meditation: Positive Mind

“The positive mind is given to us to help us to motivate ourselves, set goals, envision and create lofty ideals for ourselves and to strive towards achieving things for the good of society and our planet.” Sara Campbell

Sara explains how the Positive Mind can become out of balance…and this meditation will help the freediver regain that equilibrium. You will meditate on your connection with your own truth in this 14-minute video.

Meditation: Negative Mind

“The negative mind is given to us to help keep us safe. It is the internal alarm that tells us to look before we cross a street, to train and increase our depth, distance or times in the water by small increments in order to prevent physical stress or injury, as well as avoiding mental stress and burn-out.” Sara Campbell

In this 15 minute video, Sara takes the student through a powerful meditation that brings the Negative Mind into balance.

Meditation: Neutral Mind

“So where is the perfect balance for freedivers – and how do we get there? It will come as no surprise that in the Neutral Mind we find our balance, our harmony, our peace, our joy, our happiness, serenity, and bliss in the water and in all that we do. The neutral mind is where the positive and negative mind are both in balance – we can motivate ourselves and have a healthy drive, interest, and passion for life, but we are constantly aware of the risks attached to what we do.” Sara Campbell

This 17-minute video teaches us that the Neutral Mind is where the Negative and Positive Mind finds balance…find peace. This is a powerful, unifying meditation that forms a framework for the Three Minds and how we can expand our mind and senses to infinite possibilities.

Pranayama: Inner Conflict Resolver Reflex

“This pranayama places a controlled stress on our system. Whenever we perceive a situation to be beyond our capability, which is often the case in freediving, the Mind registers stress and an ‘inner conflict’. This pranayama strengthens the Pranic Body (our energy system) to be able to handle stress more effectively, so we remain calm in the face of challenge don’t eat our energy through negativity and fears, and can direct our energy to where we need it most. Sara Campbell

This meditation helps the diver resolve and release inner conflicts…through a series of breath hold patterns. This meditation is designed to work on the freediver at many levels…to overcome fear, mental blocks, and emotions that need to be resolved.

In the teachings of Kundalini Yoga,  it is said that the human has 9 bodies Beyond the Physical. The eighth body is the Pranic Body, which is the receptacle of the prana, or life force.  The Pranic body carries the imprint of health and vitality…energy.

Sara teaches the breathing meditation that releases inner stress and resolves conflict in this 15-minute video. This is especially helpful for extending one’s breath hold.

Lecture “Mind, Body, Spirit”

Sara explains how these three aspects should be working in harmony and balance. She discusses how the imbalance effects our daily lives and practices, including freediving.

This 19-minute video sums up the prior lessons and explores more deeply the causes of imbalance and how the Mind becomes out of balance with the other two aspects.

Sara Campbell. Photo Credit Discover Your Depths
Sara Campbell. Photo Credit Discover Your Depths

More About This Course

  • Features:
    • seven videos and over two and a half hours of training and exercises to Manage You Mind
    • a further two hours of tips and technique training in 22 HOW TO videos
    • video streaming on any mobile device
    • audio downloads of the lectures and visualizations to take with you wherever you want
    • step by step program guidelines to ensure you get the best out of your experience
    • Premium version available for an additional cost, offering personal consultation and one-on-one coaching sessions with Sara Campbell

 

REVIEW OVERVIEW

Yoga for Freediving: Manage Your Mind

SUMMARY

Yoga for Freediving: Manage Your Mind is an excellent second installment in the Master Class series "Yoga for Freediving". Building on the comprehensive introduction to the use of Yoga in Deep Relaxation, to enhance a freediver's training regimen and improve mental focus, self-awareness, discipline and stress relief, this 7 video course should be a part of every freediver's arsenal, regardless of experience level.
John Griffith
John Griffithhttps://www.deeperblue.com/
John Griffith is an avid SCUBA and Freediver based in Southeast Florida, with over 34 years of experience in the recreational, military and commercial dive fields. Retired from military service, John completed Bachelor Degrees in both Business Administration and Journalism, a M.Ed and PhD in Education. John is a driven conservationist and social activist...with a great passion for sharks, cigars, rum and writing. John is an Associate Editor with DeeperBlue.com.

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Yoga for Freediving: Manage Your Mind is an excellent second installment in the Master Class series "Yoga for Freediving". Building on the comprehensive introduction to the use of Yoga in Deep Relaxation, to enhance a freediver's training regimen and improve mental focus, self-awareness, discipline and stress relief, this 7 video course should be a part of every freediver's arsenal, regardless of experience level.Review: Manage Your Mind: Yoga for Freediving Course