Pushing your comfort zone

[lowviz]

-Recently completed another public safety diver course. I enjoy these because they push me in a controlled but somewhat intimidating environment. This sort of training makes me a better and safer diver (I also meet a lot of really interesting people). Since I can't be taking a course every other week, who is willing to offer their suggestions on how they push their own comfort zones?

 

[Devil505]

Why do you feel the need to push your comfort zone? Just enjoy the dives.

 

[Noboundaries]

Since my wife and I are new divers every time we get in the water we're pushing the limits of our comfort zone. We have 47 dives in the past year, but only 6 have been solo dives. For the others we were in the water with a lead diver, DM, instructor, whatever. We were just playing follow the leader.

Three of those solo dives were this past Sunday diving off a boat in SoCal. Our focus was on UW navigation, but it was also our first SoCal boat trip. I missed the boat by about 50 yards on our first dive, 30 feet on the second, and came up at the ladder on the third. We learned alot.

I was surprised that I felt anxiety for the first time while diving. We later figured out that I was breathing WAY too fast, allowing CO2 to buildup in my system because I wasn't evacuating my lungs completely. The buildup increased anxiety I was feeling.

It is easy to push your limits when you're new. And the fun thing is that with diving, there seems to be no end to the limits you can safely push.

 

[Nismo]

Have a dive buddy that is comfortable in a situation that will be new for you. I was in Bonaire and my dive buddy on a lot of dives was a guy that is a tech diver and does more than that. It was my first time going below 100 feet. I knew I was ok with this person as my buddy but it's still unnerving the first time my dive computers depth alarm went off at 130 feet.

 

[lowviz]

Why do you feel the need to push your comfort zone? Just enjoy the dives.

I do. But I might have missed out on full facemask training if I played it too tame. -remove ffm, switch to backup, breathe (with no mask) until below 14 breaths per min, then switch back to ffm, purge, get breathing back under control, surface so instructor can check the spider. After repeating this until my instructor was satisfied, I got to dive the AGA. Most worthwhile. Basic confidence level up a notch.

 

[fisherdvm]

Why do you feel the need to push your comfort zone? Just enjoy the dives.

I think it is good to push your comfort zone. As it will make you prepared when you are no longer enjoying the dive, and the excrement are hitting the propeller.

The more adverse situation you are placed in, especially in a controlled environment, the more logical you will think when your life support system fails.

Not in a hundred year would I've considered myself a divemaster candidate. Just simply to improve my confidence for diving with my 12 year old son, I've now learned how to swim well and was forced to push my comfort zone many times. I think it is good to look for opportunities to challenge yourself, so you will be a better buddy.

 

[TSandM]

My buddies and I do skills dives, where we practice the things we're not good at, or aren't comfortable doing. Swimming with no mask, ascents with no mask, air-sharing ascents, free ascents with stops . . . Anything that needs polish or confidence.

I also push my limits occasionally by doing a dive I'm a little nervous about, usually in the company of people I have a lot of comfort diving with. Diving a completely new site, about which not much is known, can in the Sound be quite a challenge. So far, such dives have gone well.

 

[lowviz]

I also push my limits occasionally by doing a dive I'm a little nervous about, usually in the company of people I have a lot of comfort diving with.

That's pretty much where I'm coming from, deciding what constitutes 'a little nervous' vs. that little voice telling you to pass.

 

[creamofwheat]

Pushing my comfort zone, just a little, makes me a slightly more confident diver when I realize that I actually just did something I didn't think I could do.

Example: doing free ascents with no visual reference while stopping and holding every 10 feet (as opposed to following the slope of the bottom back to shore, or following a line up, which I of course am definitely comfortable with). I admit I can't do this perfectly as of yet, but knowing that I have the control to do it at all makes me feel better about my ability to maintain my buoyancy if things go wrong.

 

[spectrum]

Since I can't be taking a course every other week, who is willing to offer their suggestions on how they push their own comfort zones?

There is a big difference between pushing one's comfort zone and taking reckless chances.

By doing your homework and diving with others who have experience you can extend yourself incrementally and have a good time doing it. If you look at the common AOW dives there is not a lot there that you can't learn by reading and diving with other more seasoned divers. Night, boat and navigation are prime examples.

Deep, defined as going past 60 feet is one you do in small steps. Yes there are things to learn and you want a steady and attentive person as a buddy but many many (maybe most) divers cross the 60 foot line before doing so in a course setting.

My biggest advice is to make small steps and have a healthy respect for task loading. Do not go from shallow daytime cove dives to a deep, night boat dive in one shot!

Listen to "the voice" and you should have fun, that is the point. When in doubt, get out. You may be excited or even anxious about trying something new. A good sign is that those feelings go away as soon as you are actually doing it.

Pete