Achieving a Freediving Record: How to Control Your Thoughts at Deep Depths

Therefore, before the dive, I try to recreate this state of flow, where my mind is filled with what is happening in the moment, controlling my thoughts in the process. I usually focus on my breathing to do so. I just need to be careful not to hyperventilate. It is actually not so easy to keep a normal breathing pattern while observing it. We usually tend to breath slightly deeper. Now that my mind is filled with the observation of my breathing, there is no more room for negative thoughts, anxiety or any kind of internal dialogue (Pleasant or not) that would use my energy and bring nothing to my dive.

Now, for sure, thoughts or not, you are subjected to a strong narcosis at these depths, so if there is a thought process, it is probably slow and laborious. If during the dives, there is no room for me to think, when in training I practice deep hangs, I have time to think at the bottom and to feel the narcosis very strongly. I can definitely feel during these deep hangs that my thoughts process is becoming slower and more laborious. Some things that should not make sense do, and sometimes the opposite.
To keep the control despite narcosis, I started counting during my deep hangs. It gives me something to process and to focus and that helps with the narcosis. But it is not something you want to do during a deep dive as you have many parameters to handle.

Overall I would advise not to be scared of your thoughts or to be looking for controlling them perfectly during deep dives. Just make sure you fill your mind with being in the moment and there should be no more room for negative thoughts during the dive or at the bottom.