I wish I had already started yoga when I learned to dive. For me, my first few breaths underwater were exciting but actually also quite terrifying.

If I had known what I know now, I truly believe yoga and meditation would have helped me relax and overcome the stress of taking my first underwater breaths. It would have allowed me to not only enjoy the experience of learning to dive more but actually have better all-around dive skills… 

How are diving and yoga even connected?

The word yoga literally means to unite, and diving and scuba have been uniting quite well together for a long time. 

Yoga is so beneficial to diving, whether you’re just starting out and about to take your first breath, or you’re wanting to improve the dive skills you already have such as breathing, buoyancy, and be able to dive in the present moment.   

Breathing 

As divers, we know that breathing is the most important thing in diving. And guess what? It is in yoga too. 

We all probably know a diver, or maybe you are that diver, who uses their air way too quickly making dives super short.  I used to be that diver when I first started out, too.

Learning breathing and pranayama techniques in yoga can help to train our breathing muscles and enable us to use our airways more efficiently. It develops the muscles and lung capacity needed to take the long slow deep breathes your diving instructor always talks about. It also helps with buoyancy control, as this comes from our breathing. 

The deep belly breathing in yoga helps calm the mind too.

“When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady, but when the breath is calmed the mind to will be still” Swami Sivananda 

The physical practice 

Let’s face it, carrying your kit isn’t easy and can be pretty demanding on our bodies. Yoga helps stretch and strengthen tired muscles after diving, helping to meet the physical demands of diving as well as prevent injury.

Below are some examples of some yoga asanas (postures) to show how the physical side of yoga can help us as divers, and how it can benefit our diving.  

Balancing asana like Tree pose aid us with our balance. This can be useful in diving when putting our fins on or standing on the boat kitting up.

Warrior poses and planks help to develop our core strength, not only giving us the strength to be able to carry our kit, but also to help protect our backs when carrying it. They also increase our upper body strength, which is needed to help us get back on board the boat after a dive. 

Twists help detoxify our body and increase spinal mobility and rotation – especially useful when putting on our scuba kit! 

Meditation and mindfulness 

Meditation and mindfulness train you how to calm and focus your mind, helping you to deal with challenging situations and stress more effectively, and most importantly, with a calm equanimous mind.  

You become more aware and connected to yourself, making it easier to observe problems before they arise within a dive and enable you to stay calm in a panicky situation. Mindfulness allows us to be more connected with our surroundings and simply enjoy our dive.

Mindfulness teaches you to be present, to let go and enjoy moment by moment. 
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present  moment, I know this is the only moment” Thich Nhat Hanh 

If I have inspired you To learn more or to start yoga 🧘to improve your diving click here