What does the 'Free' in Freediving mean?

October 18, 2016 Freediving is meant to be the sport which changes your lifestyle, so some people are quite afraid of taking part in a Freediving course. I just want to introduce myself and explain how my life has changed so far. Back in 2000 I was working in an insurance company in Stuttgart - the German city most famous for building cars such as Mercedes Benz and Porsche. I felt a bit depressed working in an office for years and didn't really have a vision of how I could change my life. Some people were taking courses to get better paid jobs in better offices which was not interesting to me either. Today I work as an  SSI Freediving Instructor and travel the world on a single breath. I would never have imagined this being possible. Of course between 2000 and today a lot of things have happened and a lot of steps have been taken, but the moment I held my breath on the first Freediving course in 2004 I was really convinced this was what I wanted to do. Of course this doesn´t happen over night. Back in 2004 there were not a lot of Instructors and most diving associations did not like Freediving due to some accidents in non-limit disciplines. There were not really many people who were convinced by Freediving. I held a lot of courses and workshops for very, very few people until 2010 when it started to become more popular, and when SSI offered Freediving as well. Today I am really busy offering courses, workshops, guiding travel tours, writing articles and books and much more. I am lucky I get to work together with great companies and creative people in photography and film. It actually forced me to sell my Dive Center which I had owned since 2005 because there was too much for me to do regarding Freediving. But my life has not only changed in a professional way, I have also changed my lifestyle and brought meditation, yoga and vegetarian food into my life. I feel happy and more mindful, and I know of a lot of people who experienced something similar. Of course it doesn't have to mean such a big change but be careful, because it could…. Take care and think about taking part in a Freediving course or even planning an  SSI Freediving career - it could change your life!