So I had the best night last night!

There is no freediving certification in my province or any that are within driving distance. So a group of us flew in two instructors from AIDA who are giving us the PADI 2 freediving this week/weekend.

Last night I learned so much, and now that I'm taking this course I really think so many mers could benefit from at least the pool portion if you aren't comfortable with the open water.

You need to do a 2min breath hold and 40m distance on a breath to pass. But, I'll tell you, they train you for it. My merwrangler who has zero experience did 1:30 on his first breath hold static, and 2 on his second! THey teach you all kinds of amazing techniques so you can glide underwater using less energy. (I did 2.5 woo woo!)

My mermaid team brought our monofins and got properly weighted and they taught us so many tricks for better form.

They also said if you're hydrated but still getting footcramps, it's likely due to a small change you need to make in technique and it's more prevalent in people using monofins. When I started the course I kept getting foot cramps and then with some minor adjustments I totally stopped.

Tonight we're doing the rescue freediving, and at the end our instructors are letting my team bring our tails so they can observe us and give us feedback on technique. We are also going to learn rescue techniques while IN tails. Also my doc crew is going to film it.

The e-learning portion was awesome. I learned so many things that I didn't know.

For instance, there's loads of info on freediving online but a lot of it contradicts. There's only been a few studies so only some information is backed by science.
Did you know that the urge to breathe that you get isn't from lack of oxygen? The first bit is more your lizard brain, and then it's because of carbon build up, not lack of oxygen.

It's been such an amazing experience so far, I can't suggest it enough. And most of our entire program has little to no training or experience, so don't be intimidated.

Our instructors knew Mermaid Linden! Was so cool!

Here's some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/Halifaxmerm...46859852012131