Friday Five #11

Hey, good evening!

Here is your Friday 5 roundup of this week’s facts, fun and f’ups…

😌 A 2 part quote that can help you relax during pandemic times:

• While listening to the Tim Ferriss Show, Leo Babauta spoke about a quote / approach that can help you deal with the uncertainty and anxiety of the pandemic chaos that’s apart of everyday life now…
   
• It’s a 2 part quote by a Tibetan Buddhist Master, Chogyam Trungpa.
   
• Part 1: “The bad news is that you’re falling through the air with no parachute…“
  
  Now notice and feel the intense anxiety and groundlessness in you that arises in you.
   
• Part 2: “The good news is, there’s no ground below…”
  
  Now realize that you’re not in danger, even though it feels completely groundless and you can relax completely in that visual picture. 
  
  If you can relax in that uncertainty that arises and the anxiety that’s there, then there’s an openness that’s available to everyone which is always there and which is completely liberating.

💗 What are 5 AWESOME benefits of backbends? 

• I used to do a lot of backbend stretching combined with pranayama breathing up until about a month or two ago when I changed my training regime. But now after stumbling across this blog post about ‘heart opening’ yoga poses aka backbends, I’m SUPER motivated to start doing them again!
  
  Here’s 5 AWESOME benefits from doing backbends:

1. Stretch the hips, open shoulders & chest, build strength in legs, arms and back muscles
    
2. Helps to alleviate back and neck pain
    
3. Mentally – helps us to face fears and remain calm in difficult situations
    
4. Can be a cure for depression 
    
5. Releases emotions – Stretching while lifting the chest helps release emotions that have become trapped and held in the body. Iyengar writes that “when you are emotionally disturbed, insecurity and anxiety from the conscious mind in converted into the unconscious mind, which is actually hidden in the hart not brain!”

• Here’s a backbend sequence if you are somewhat new: A Backbend Sequence

5️⃣ Stuck at 70-75 meters for 5 years, what 6 changes did I make to finally go deeper?

• I’ve been stuck in that 70-75 meter range for the last 5 years, but finally just last week I managed to break through the mystical barrier and dive to whopping 78 meters in VWT! So I made a podcast episode about the 6 Changes I Made to Freedive Deeper than 70 Meters.

• In a nutshell here are the six things my coach, Florian Dagoury, recommended in order to dive deeper, improve depth adaptation and relaxation + resolve issues with hypoxia and mental blocks:

1. Changing the warm-up dives: doing fewer warm-up dives and less intense warm-ups (i.e. 2 shallow FRC’s versus 2 long hangs at 25-30M) in order to have a stronger dive response on the deep dive
    
2. Doing more RV / FRC session: to improve depth adaptation and flexibility in chest
    
3. Changing the breathe-up: breathing much less before the dive to start the dive with more CO2 to have a stronger dive response on the deep dive
    
4. Changing the morning prep: doing more chest / lung stretching ie. bandhas and laying on top of foam roller
    
5. Adding variable weight sessions: to help overcome mental blocks
    
6. Apnea walking: to improve breath-hold time and CO2 tolerance

• Feel free to check out the full episode on YouTube or on any podcast app (just search for The Freediving Podcast)

💬 What quote I’ve been thinking about –

“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement…To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.”

– Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, 1990 Kenyon Speech

⚡ What does stimulating your vegus nerve do?

• I’ve been researching vegus nerve stimulation in order to improve recovery in freediving and just to improve overall health especially gut health and inflammation. (Also it’s pretty convenient because I can just do it while I’m working on the computer you just need 20-30 mins per day with a TENS unit on the ear.)
  
  Here’s some info I gathered about it if you want to climb down the rabbit hole with me… 🐇
  
  So the nervous system touches every single cell in your body. And the largest nerve in the body, the one nerve that’s WAY larger than all the other nerves, is the vegus nerve. The vegus nerve starts in our mind and then wraps around our heart and lungs and gut. It’s a massive nerve!

• So by stimulating the vegus nerve it’s possible to have therapeutic effects on the entire body, especially inflammatory issues and so it can help recovery in sports and in stressful pandemic life too!
   
• To explain how it works in the simplest way possible; we have two types of nervous systems, we have a ‘fight or flight’ nervous system which is the sympathetic nervous system and we have a ‘rest and digest’ nervous system which is called the parasympathetic nervous system.

• When diseases and most illnesses and overtraining etc occurs it’s because the ‘fight or flight’ nervous system (the sympathetic nervous system) takes more of a dominate position in the body and causes a state of inflammation or over-activation…
   
• So by stimulating the vegus nerve you can ramp up the power of the parasympathetic nervous system and calm down this kind of overstressed state that leads to IBS, arthritis, diseases, injuries, inflammation and other health issues.
   
• Ways to stimulate your vegus nerve: 
  • Singing
  • Cold shower or splashing cold water on your face
  • Swimming or freediving in cold water
  • Deep, slow breathing
  • Yoga
  • Use a TENS unit on your ear (that’s what I’m gonna do)
  • + a lot more

It’s a pleasure and honor getting to spend some time with you, I hope you have a great weekend!

Renee