What does the 'Free' in Freediving mean?

(c) behind-the-mask.com

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!