The Disappearance of the World’s Greatest Free Diver

Simply rationalizing it doesn't make it a good thing.

Why is that? The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is that it isn't really important for the person dying, but only for the rest of us. When we remember that person we will remember their last time especially strongly, and it is nice if that is a good memory.

Or hmm. Another view that would justify it is that life is about optimizing some function. And that before we die we only have estimates of how well we are doing, so it is only just before death we get the final answer, if we succeeded in optimizing the function or not.

Dying is scary. Death is not.

For people like that, dying doing what they loved really does make it better. They lived their lives, following their own choices. And those lives do end early sometimes. But all lives end. Sitting behind a desk for 40 years then cheering at how long you lived... that sounds like the tragedy to me.

1) [Vision] Look at some point (try to avoid thinking about the point itself), then think about what you observe at top left corner, then (moving slowly, after 15-30 seconds) at top edge, top right corner, etc. When 360˚ are finished, start again but think about several parts of viewport at the same time. Then just try to relax and think about the WHOLE picture. It takes some time to achieve good results, but if you do this training several days you will see changes in your attention level – it's like you see nothing and everything at the same time and once something special (like mushroom or what you're looking for) arrives in your viewport – in this state of mind, you find it VERY fast, even if it's semi-hidden and is located on very periphery.

2) [Sounds] The same: relax and try to distinguish only one noise that is happening around you (like bird singing or smth). Then, after some time spent, proceed to the next noice (cars or wind or anything else). Then next and next. After several minutes you will wonder how many different sounds is around. Then try to relax more and combine all of them.

3) ["Internals", your body]. Try to concentrate only on one part of your body -- say, fingers on your left leg. Then on the right one. The upper, part of leg. Step by step, spending a dozen of seconds or so on one small part of your body, proceed upper. Dont forget to concentrate on inner body part, organs. Once all parts are done, relax more and observe entire body.

4) ["Externals", space]. Concentrate on what you have in front of you. Then behind you. On the left, on the right. Upper and lower. Imaging the building (or park or field or smth) where are you now. There is no need to see it, just imagine. Just reflect in your mind how it looks, feels. Then a block where your house is located (forest or county or smth), then your town/distrinct/city, then state/country and then - the Earth. Step by step imagine object with bigger volume. And don't stop -- Solar system and then Galaxy. Then relax and try to combine feeling ALL the objects surrounding you.

5) [Super-deconcentration] So, when you did all 4 exercises many times, spent many days practicing it – combine them. You have 4 dimensions: vision, sounds, your body and space around it (somebody would add smelling as well) – so you can do deconcentration in ALL of them achieving very special state of mind and body. It's interesting.

And this very thing helps you achieve better results in freediving. Or searching objects in wide areas.

That's what I've learned from Natalia Molchanova during her training courses.

The interesting part of it: once you achieve good results doing such techniques (first of all, #1 & #2 combined), you will be able to drive not slower as usually, but with better ability to notice any dangerous object.