Capturing Enchante with One Breath

“Freediving allows you and requires you to be more in tune with your body and the physiological aspects of yourself.” -Enchante Gallardo

I recently went on a trip to teach a breathwork workshop in Clearwater Florida. With a few days between workshops I drove down to the Florida Keys for some freediving. Enchante and I met on my flight into Baja earlier this year. I noticed her eating in the Dallas airport. This was when mask mandates were in full effect, so it was the only time I was able to see her face.

She happened to sit near me on the plane but I didn't speak to her until I was walking behind her on the way out of the plane after landing in Los Cabos. I noticed a hat hanging from her backpack and it said “formula freediving.” I asked her about it and she said it was her friend's shop. I asked her if she was into freediving or was just wearing the hat to look cool. Much to my surprise she was in fact a freediver and a good one at that. She actually holds a U.S. National Record, is a freediving instructor and divemaster. I expressed my love for the water and showed her my card for freediver level one certification with Fii, Freediving Instructors International. She happens to be an instructor for the same organization. 

My plan was to meet up with her on the few days I would have off during the 21 day workshop. I ended up growing very close to the people involved in the retreat, something that happens when doing the advanced breathwork we were practicing. I ended up spending that free time with them. 

Enchante and I kept in touch since the trip and I saw that she was going to be in Florida around the same time as I was scheduled for a breathwork workshop not far away. With a few days between events, I drove down to meet her, found a cheap place to stay and met her the next morning for a day of adventure in breath holding. 

She had a friend who had a boat but her friend with the boat got sick and we were unable to take advantage, so we joined one of the tourist boats for some reef diving. 

Before this, I didn't realize She was into photography, she told me she had a camera and much to my delight she had a quality Sony mirrorless camera with a good housing for underwater photography. What started out as an adventure in breath holding became an adventure in breath holding and photography. We were excited to explore the reefs of the Keys.

We had to wear these safety vests and were not happy about the aesthetics of the photos with these little safety vests on. We started off with diving down about 20 feet holding our breath and swimming along the bottom with the many colorful fish and coral. 

To be sure we were to get some decent photos without the vests on, I spotted a nice area with pure white sand and I suggested we shoot each other swimming along the bottom without any distracting backgrounds.We swam and dove for 2 hours straight just absorbing the peaceful nature of the underwater world. 

There is something relaxing and magical about the water. I never could really understand it. The Mammalian Dive Reflex can help understand this somewhat. It (MDR) is one of our abilities we share with other aquatic mammals. Actually, just throwing water on your face can lower your heart rate. This is a small piece of it. I do this first thing in the morning, and if you are aware of it, you can feel the changes throughout the body.

When your face makes contact with the water it triggers a reduction in heart rate. Bradycardia is the name used to describe a heart rate lower than 60 bpm. This can drop your heart rate by 10-25% similar to slow breathing. It is an evolutionary adaptation allowing us to stay underwater for an extended period of time.

Lowering of the heart rate reduces the amount of oxygen entering your bloodstream allowing your body to start conserving oxygen, which makes sense. The human body is quite amazing and tapping into these innate abilities have become an obsession of mine. Like certain types of breathwork practices we can learn to train the body to adjust to different environments and situations. 

MDR causes the body to divert blood flow from your extremities to your lungs and other vital organs. It Helps preserve your body's temperature in cold water and protects your body from the pressure of the deep waters. This exists in all kinds of aquatic animals. 

Contact with water on your face activates receptors in your nose and sinus cavity triggering a physiological override of your trigeminal nerve, our largest cranial nerve. 

Freediving is incredibly challenging. It is very much a mental game to trust your body can handle the extended time underwater. My yoga and breathwork practices have been great for preparing me to relax underwater but I was not keeping up with a professional, that's for sure. It was incredibly inspiring to see her swimming so gracefully 25 feet from the surface. 

I have always had this love for the water but where I'm from it's all muddy water. I spent many years looking at adventure magazines of people exploring these underwater reefs and now I was finally able to experience it for myself. The goal is to live somewhere where I can freedive more often. Stay tuned.

After diving most of the day we went to a coffee shop to transfer files, so I could have the photos for editing and hopefully to combine it with the videos I shot on my GoPro. With client work it has been hard to make a video out of it, hopefully we will see it come to fruition in the future. 

After diving all day I was interested in making some breathwork inspired content. Ya know, something for a YouTube video that I could use to attract people interested in getting into my breathwork courses (coming soon). After talking to Enchante about it she was not really in the mood. She wanted to take photos. It's funny, breathwork or photography? Which one of my favorite things would I like to do? We did both.

I may have gotten more breath training trying to take underwater photos than doing some static holds or breath training. When you are trying to get a good shot it's a little more motivational to stay under a few seconds longer.

We started out with the subject facing the light, which in this case it’s the ultimate light source, the sun itself. It is interesting getting the rippled light that we get from the un-obstructed sun. Occasionally the clouds would cover and we would get a much softer light. After experimenting with that for a while I suggested shooting into the light giving us some much more mystical looking images. Check out more images in my image galleries.

I hope for more freediving adventures with Enchante in the future.