Freediver zen

By Nicolò Ciocia

Nicolò leaves for Egypt to meet a friend he hasn't seen for a while. Due to the pandemic, he cannot leave Dahab for a month, but the unfortunate circumstance soon turns into a profitable opportunity. From the house where he is staying, a few steps from the beach, every morning he contemplates the sea with devotion. The slow movement of the water and the sound of the small foamy waves pouring onto the sandy bed are an irresistible attraction. When he dives into the sea, Nicolò begins to fully feel his body. He moves away from the shore with slow strokes, while his feet enter and exit the water energetically. Then he turns around and for a while remains in the "dead afloat" position. Half submerged, a few meters from the coral reef, he inhales and exhales in complete awareness of the air filling and emptying his two lungs.The need to establish a more intimate connection with himself, refining the relaxation technique based on breathing, pushes him to challenge his own limits and cross the threshold of depth. He holds his breath, learns new compensation strategies and plunges headlong towards the seabed with the curiosity of an underwater explorer. Every day he tries to improve himself and with dedication he learns to delay the feeling of stress that brings him back to the surface when oxygen starts to run out. Listening to the sea, in the embrace of the waves, Nicolò uses the experience of a Master to discover a new life in the third dimension. The author uses the live story to testify, through thirty compositions, the adventures that leave an indelible mark on his path. The form of the diary and the simplicity of the lexicon favor the reader's identification; while the uninterrupted flow of emotions that punctuate the narrative facilitates involvement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Youcanprint
• Release date: Dec 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9791221446333

Book preview

Preface

I met Nicolò in the middle of the sea,

in the Strait of Bonifacio, many years ago.

I saw him in the water with great serenity,

his freediving was little theory and lots of practice.

It was pure. It was Zen!

In my opinion, these are the most important qualities of freediving.

Feeling, listening. Maybe he didn't even know about his skills as a freediver, but seeing him in the water so fluid and elegant had given me pleasure and so I told him:

I like how you freedive, keep going on like this!

Davide Carrera

(Freediving World Champion)

Introduction

This small book, divided into thirty stories, written in the form of a diary, is all about the adventure of a boy who discovers the third dimension of the sea:

it's depth.

Day after day, he learns new techniques to always go down a little more, while discovering the ocean hidden within himself.

These are Zen essays, a little playful, a little fanatical, sometimes childish, which in their lightness contain very profound metaphors of life.

Reading between the lines you can learn, as in a real manual, techniques for scuba diving.

This is a positive book. It has been written without using the word not, for a more mystical interpretation, dedicated to universal thought.

This is a book for seas, a book to love.

First day: the sea

The sun has yet to rise, and the morning light already scares the night away.

The sea is silent, the scent of algae uncovered by the low tide inebriates my sense of smell, everything moves calmly, giving life to a new day.

I am sitting on a log of a palm tree resting on the ground, under an umbrella made from its leaves, in Dahab, Egypt, for a vacation.

I took advantage of this free time to visit a friend of mine who lives here.

My stay has been lengthened because, in this period, the world is at a standstill due to a pandemic, a virus, so I’d have to stay here at least one month before being able to go back home.

I will try to live in the present, appreciating everything surrounding me.

The house is a few steps from the open beach, made of grains of rock that crumble every day down from the small mountains around us.

I look at the sea in front of me. It looks like a large skating rink, flat and shiny.

I put on my swimsuit, grab the mask, put on the bandana and head for the easiest entry point.

What a feeling of freedom to walk barefoot!

Shyly, my feet taste the temperature of the water, I bend to rinse my face three times, and finally I dive.

Wow, that's a natural wake up call, good morning Dahab!

I float with my head above the water in the castaway position to relax, without effort: I inhale looking at the sky and exhale by making bubbles with my head submerged.

This technique makes me float for a long time, and I become aware of my breath, and I have fun like a child!

After a few minutes, the sensation of the fresh water on the skin invites me to move the first strokes, and slowly I have the perception of my body: arms, head and legs, everything picks up the rhythm, everything slips away, and the faint, evanescent thoughts, make room for the here and now.

The wonder of the coral reef, a few meters below me, looks like a cartoon: everything is colourful, every organism seems painted by a great painter, every little fish has its own mask, its own shape, sometimes funny, sometimes elegant, everything is perfectly in harmony with the corals that, close to each others, form enchanting landscapes.

I swim, I turn around a few times, I feel something touching my feet.

I stop suddenly!

I look around and here I see this creature swimming next to me.

It is a young pilot fish, quick and friendly.

My smile lets a little water enter the mask, and that’s not disturbing me, on the contrary: I so feel even more the characteristic scent and the salty taste that slides down my throat.

My five senses are now fully awake, immersed in this Fluid World.

I begin to feel the tips of my fingers stiff.

I go home, leaving the breeze to dry myself, crystallising the salt that draws small white polka dots on the skin, bringing out my olive complexion.

No shower!

A good Egyptian coffee flavoured with cardamom is what it takes to warm me up: I lie down on