Full awareness diving

Text and photos KRZYSZTOF DZIECH

In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn, a MIT graduate holding a PhD in molecular biology, came upon the idea to introduce his private meditation practices based on the Buddhist “full consciousness” method into the hospital environment, both among patients and personnel.

Generally, his purpose was to reduce stress levels. This is how Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction came to life – a protocol grounded in classical Buddhist psychology (however, in-depth research shows that its roots may be traced back to each philosophical and religious system, to a large extent also in the Judeo-Christian tradition) and at the same time based on classical medicine, psychology and knowledge of the western world. I encourage those of you who would like to extend their knowledge on that topic to read specialized compilations and spend some time to think about it and research the matter.

My challenge was to accurately transpose the program into diving, taking into account time and organizational constraints. The final result is an intensive eight-day period aimed at achieving full awareness, getting used to this state and maintaining it.

Later in the article I will use a number of terms and phrases that all originate from one source – the book “Mindfulness Meditation for everyday life” written by Kabat-Zinn himself and published in London in 2001. They will be useful to understand the idea behind my program (protocol), which I would call “Full awareness diving”. However, we should start from three logical questions: “How did I came up with the idea?”, “How to do it?” and “What is it intended for?”.

“HOW DID I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA?”

During my 20-year diving adventure as a diver, instructor and instructor trainer, it dawned on me many times that my system is missing something; until one time, during a long solo-dive, I spontaneously applied my regular meditation practices during diving – the discovery could be compared with a flash of insight “and that is what this is all about...” and so it all started. As it usually happens with similar discoveries, I started researching. After the series of attacks in Paris in 2015, the media informed that the victims were treated for post traumatic shock through diving practices proposed by the Bathysmed team. Without much hesitation, I contacted the director of the project and it turned out that course participants (eyewitnesses of the attacks) are offered relaxation and underwater sophrology rather than meditation. I continued my search and individual experiments (on myself, as these are the best...) and there came some “revelations”, but there was no system. I will spare you the details on the number of specialists in neuroscience, psychology and even psychiatry I contacted to answer a vexing question: Is underwater meditation possible and what benefits it may have? A turning point was taking in an 8-week MBSR seminar in Nice, conducted by doctor Fulvien Mazzola, one of the first students of Kabat-Zinn. Then I came up with the idea:

“HOW TO DO IT?”

And that is how I started climbing a high mountain in order to take a proportionately deep dive...

To put it very simply, this is how it looked like. Each of the eight weeks of the MBSR course covers a separate topic: be

present, breathing awareness, obstacles and distractions, allow and accept, presence of thoughts...

My challenge was to accurately transpose the program into diving, taking into account time and organizational constraints. The final result is an intensive eight-day period aimed at achieving full awareness, getting used to this state and maintaining it. I was delighted to have the protocol accepted and welcomed by a number of specialist, including also the dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Nice.

AN NOW SOME DETAILS ON THE PROGRAM

“What if” is the phrase that each technical diver keeps analyzing for hours; Kabat-Zinn proposes instead “Now what”, so what is my reality right now? In that context the participant follows a series of simple exercises to be performed in a given time and with a specified number of repetitions, in order to meet themselves in full awareness of their body in zero gravity, their breath visualized by the voice of a breath cycle and environment interaction.

“Keeping the breath in mind” – is a necessary support for reaching open mindfulness, where the breath is like an anchor rope between the ship, tossed by our intrusive thoughts and the so-called “old ghosts” (experienced divers know what I mean), and the anchor embedded deep in our consciousness. The breathing session is the introduction to the entire program. It could seem that many diver training systems cover that issue, but do they really allow you to discover the “quality” of breathing in diving and its impact on your diving experience, as well as the way awareness of breath “quality” changes reflects the diver’s psychological and emotional state?

“Non-Judging” – there is no assessment of the meditation process or exercise performed that could cause fear that I am not good enough and certainly something will go wrong, and my achievements will not last forever. This session teaches you to be present in a given moment in the context of changing surroundings and experiences (as part of the exercise I use a DPV and the help of an experienced assistant). “Dignity” – if the body position is creased, unnatural, too stiff or simply careless, it reflects the lack of internal energy, passivity and lack of clarity. This term accompanies many exercises in the entire session, especially when interaction with your equipment or natural environment is involved.

After this short and sketchy presentation of the program, let’s proceed to the last question:

“WHAT IS IT INTENDED FOR?”

Initially, the program was addressed to communities evolving in a stress-inducing context as a barrier against increased stress levels or to persons with traumatic experiences. The protocol may also be used as an element to support the effect of psychological therapy administered by a specialist. (I deliberately do not use the term “therapy”, as people who are not physicians are not allowed to administer it.)

However, it quickly turned out that the program offers an excellent tool for mental preparation of divers before long dives in demanding conditions. In the nearest future it will be presented as an element of training future instructors.

Ultimately, the program is intended for everyone who wish to improve their “diving life quality” or simply discover themselves in a new context. The result of such an approach was that already at the stage of early thoughts the decision was made to set the maximum immersion depth at 6 m for the entire session, as pursuant to the French law, such immersion does not require any diving level.

To summarize, I think that I created a tool rooted in prolonged introspection, tests and consultations that may accelerate your life's adventure with mindfulness; for me it became a way to discover diving and (not only) in a state of full awareness. As a supplement, I encourage you to read a text by a diver who was the first participant of that experimental project and now is my assistant: "Diving is a demanding sports discipline; confrontation with the equipment, natural environment, theory and its application in practice requires a lot of discipline, concentration and commitment, which in practice may provoke stress-inducing situations. The practice of conscious diving allowed me to improve my technique, assess the situation better and more quickly and discover new experiences underwater. With time practicing “mindfulness” also started to impact other areas and situations in my life. Conscious approach towards difficulties and challenges allowed me to limit the tensions caused by unexpected situations." – Sławomir Chiniewicz

ADVERTISEMENT

IT’S A COLD WORLD OUT THERE.

BUT BARE KEEPS YOU WARM ON EVERY DIVE.