Disclaimer: No statements or claims on this website have been evaluated by the FDA. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits of any foods, dietary supplements, products, or activities are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition or to replace the advice of a healthcare professional. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before starting any supplement, dietary or exercise program, especially if you are pregnant, have any pre-existing injuries or medical conditions, or if you are taking any medications. If you experience any pain, difficulty or adverse side effects with exercises, diet or other activities, stop and consult your healthcare provider.


Yoga

Practicing yoga is a great way to complement your scuba diving experience and make it more enjoyable. As you improve in your yoga practice, you also discover complementary enhancements in your diving experience. Here are just four of many benefits you may notice.

1. Greater Strength, Endurance and Flexibility

It takes a lot of strength, energy, and endurance to not only carry and transport all of your scuba gear to and from the dive site but also travel with it underwater. Through yoga poses (known as Asanas), you lengthen, strengthen, and stretch important muscles, which improves your overall physical fitness and stamina as well as your flexibility in movement.

2. Better Coordination

Yoga also helps improve balance and coordination since you are asking your whole body and all of its moving parts to work together rather than in isolation.

3. Improved Air Consumption

In both yoga and scuba diving, breathing is critical. To become an expert in either field requires the wisdom and understanding of how breathing works – how powerful each breath is to an individual’s mind, body, and life.

Through Pranayama (breathing techniques) in yoga, you learn how to use oxygen more efficiently by breathing deeply and exhaling fully to use your lung’s full capacity. Full breaths complete with exhales help facilitate a safe gas exchange to keep our blood gases normal as well as release physical tension to produce a more calm and relaxed state.

For scuba divers, more efficient breathing means improved air consumption and a longer bottom time!

4. Smoother Movement

Learning how to control your breathing also means you know how to control your buoyancy well, resulting in smoother ascents and descents.


Extra

Check out this beautifully written article that takes you through an underwater meditative experience:

Scuba Diving + Yoga: 8 Ways to Experience Underwater Meditation by Nicole Harris >>