These days we are working hard to get some advanced and exciting new studies up and running.

Check out the first images from the preliminary MR brain scans of freediving world champion Stig Åvall Severinsen.

Stay tuned – and learn more about how breathing, breath holding, meditation and different techniques of imagery affect the brain. Hopefully these studies will reveal more about how the brain works under both tranquil and very stressful situations…

Sensing the heart of a small Danish dolphin – the harbour porpoise Phocoen phocoena.

What an amazing experience;)

Her name is Frigg and she is only a little more than two years old.

 Check out this mini portrait of mans ability to mimic dolphing in the water (in Danish – but global videography;)

Thank you everybody for a few great days during the first breatheology workshop in Copenhagen from March 12. – 13. 2010.

It was nice to meet you all and experience your interest and persistence in the breatheology concept.

See you all in the follow up workshop in Copenhagen on May 9. (or Aarhus May 8. since Cph follow up is possibly already fully booked!)

Here is a little video showing the great energy and focus in the room – prana all around.

Finally some of the under water video has been edited. This is from a live interview with Danish National Television.

Enjoy – much more video to come…

Thank you everybody for great support and wonderful energy.

72 meters /236.22 ft under the ice on a single breath of air – only equipment was speedos and a mask.

Much more info, videos and photos here…follow this spot…

Just came back from a greeeat dive. No ice or slush covering the bay today but the water was still sub-zero (- 1 degree centigrade Celsius). Weather forecast looking fantastic with sun for the weekend. Feeling absolutely ready for the record attempt on Saturday March 6^th. Official top at 1 pm. Everybody is welcome to join at Knudsø in Ry, Denmark.
Watch this space;)

Meeting in N. O. W. DIVE about details for safety, media, filming etc. in relation to the upcoming Guiness World Record attempt on March 6^th I Ry, Denmark. Ben Bos illustrated the event, Kurt Lykke Larsen made the “secret” dive target plan – and Bøf was watching closely.
Still many practical things to solve before the dive under ice.
Stay tuned…

It has been some beautiful days here in Denmark – cold but clear blue skies and a lot of good energy in the air. Did some nice laps and enjoyed playing with the little icebergs floating on the surface.

In January I was officially selected as coach for the Danish National Freediving Team. We are all looking very much forward to joining the AIDA World Championship in Japan from June 30 – July 10.

I am now in Sweden visiting my beloved grandmother Stina. Every morning we do gymnastics and breathing exercises. I am amazed about how strong lungs grandmother Stina has – hopefully it runs in the family but I also guess a 95 year long life of sports has helped quite a bit.
Usually we go for a walk in the afternoon but today a snowstorm has set in. So I went out alone and did some nice ”walking apnea”. It is very simple and very effective! I focus and breathe up for and while and then start. Walk 100 steps, breath for 10 steps, then walk for another 100 steps etc. Try it for yourself – it is a great mental/physical training and a mile or two will do;)

Saturday was booked for icediving. Freedivers from my club (Aarhus Freediving Club) gathered in the diveshop of N. O. W. DIVE in Skanderborg to have a briefing about the day. Safety was obviously 1. priority and the meeting took quite a while. A film crew with Danish stuntman and producer Lasse Spang Olsen was also present to document the diving for Danish National  TV.
After a few broken chain saws the triangular holes were finally cut throuht the thick and crystal clear ice. The three holes were at 0 meters, 25 meters and finally at 50 meters.
Water visibility was not more than a few meters so all dives were observed and planned carefully.
There was a strong wind so the ”chill-factor” made it feel like -25 degrees Celsius on land.
Non the less I made a final dive – in my wonderful blue speedos and my old blue mask – fun fun fun.
Thank you to Kurt Lykke Larsen from Aarhus Freediving Club and Ben Bos from N. O. W. DIVE to arrange such a great day.

Today was perfect for training under the layer of slush ice which still covers large areas of the bay here in my hometown of Aarhus. Mark Goldsmith went with me to do the safety freediving. He has been a friend for many years and is now employed at my company BlueConsult.
Water temperatures were sub-zero in the saline liquid and I could feel some hypothermia in my body. However, session went great and my body (skin) was totally red after leaving the water so vasoconstriction and metabolism work great.
The person who had the hardest day was actually Mark, since he first had to remove quite a few “ice bergs” on my path and also had to plough his way through the thick layer of slush on the surface while doing the safety.
More action to come…

Winter does not seem to stop in little Denmark. I invited my younger brother Martin to join me for some training in the cold water in Aarhus Bay. A wonderful night with icy clear water and the blood rushing through the veins.

Wanted to test the baseline for my static breath hold after too many weeks of hard work and too little training.

Ended with a smooth and easy static of 8´10 minutes and was very pleased. More to come;)

Even better, two of my students did PR dives in dynamic (long distance swimming with fins). Kalle, who just started a few years back, showed tremendous development and swam a phenomenal 175 meters on a single breath of air. My own favorite “student”, 18 years old Rune Hallum, whom I also sponsor through my company BlueConsult, did a wonderful and controlled dive of 213 meters – Keep an eye on Rune…he is just warming up!

A graceful sunny and misty morning welcomed the day as I set off to do a morning session diving with tropical sharks in Kattegatcenteret in Denmark.
Entering the water it was clear that some of the sharks were quite curious and quite active in their swimming style and speed. However, it did not take long until they settled down and I could enjoy their beautiful perfect glide through the water.
It was great to get up close to the big moray eel and also the sandtiger sharks.
A great training with beautiful fish…

Enjoy the video.

From 4^th – 6^th February I had been invited as guest speaker at the Scandinavian Congress of Medicine and Science in Sports 2010 (SCMSS). More than 450 doctors and physiotherapists meet at SAS Radisson Blue Hotel in Copenhagen and exchanged knowledge and experiences.
I was very happy to be given the opportunity to speak about my ideas on breathing and breath holding in relation to prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in modern Health Care.
Judging from the various responses everybody appreciated my new concept of breatheology and I find this attitude of openness most positive. It is a brand new era for “traditional” medicine.
Besides of giving a lecture, I enjoyed meeting new clever and interesting people and of course took full advantage of the great facilities of the hotel – especially the pool and the nice sushi restaurant.

On a cold and clear night I had the privilege to introduce Rene Balle to the art and peace of freediving and breathing techniques. Rene is the director of innovation for the large Danish wind turbine company Vestas and was looking for new inspiration. Very cool he took up the challenge of breathing and breath holding. After a brief introduction and a few test dives he managed to pass 3 minutes of breath holding – ending with a big smile.

But this was not enough – so for true inspiration we went out in Mother Nature and jumped into the ice freezing water of Aarhus Bay. Feeling the body mix with the mind and enjoying the beautiful lights from the harbor.

I wish Rene the best of luck – in life, in the water and with his new approach to his business through breatheology.

Welcome to BREATHEOLOGY

BREATHEOLOGY was launched during Copenhagen Diveshow and Travel Fair 2010 in the last weekend of January.

The objective of BREATHEOLOGY is to create the worlds leading community for all aspects of breathing and breath holding.

Sharing experiences, discussing different techniques, gaining new knowledge and expanding your network.

Whether you are interested in stress control, sports, yoga, diving, rehabilitation, daily health, self evolution or even corporate development, BREATHEOLOGY will help you making progress with simple, practical hands-on optimization.

BREATHEOLOGY takes a holistic approach on the human body and mind and is focused on the intimate relationship between the physical act of breathing and the mind. The working area of BREATHEOLOGY is in-between the ancient knowledge of Eastern philosophy and yoga and cutting edge scientific discoveries from the Health Sciences.

Enjoy your new life with BREATHEOLOGY – connect with new friends, follow the advances in science, share your experiences and thoughts – and help yourself, other people and Planet Earth to thrive.

A historic moment in the history of freediving happened the last days of August in Aarhus. For the first time, the AIDA and CMAS Freediving World Championships were held in the same facilities – the beautiful Olympic size pool of Swim Stadium. Here athletes from both organizations competed side by side, talked and had a great time.

Kurt Lykke Larsen was the mastermind behind this fantastic competition – having Stig as a member of the organizing committee. Stig also educated all safety freedivers together with Stavros Kastrinakis from Greece.

Besides sponsoring the event for Medical Safety with his company BlueConsult, Stig also gave in to a request and joined the CMAS competition.

With an easy dive of 200 meters in DYN (long distance swimming with fins) he qualified for the finals. Here he swam 238.72 meters – beating the existing CMAS World record with 30 meters.

However, CMAS has some funny rules (and swim with weight belt in hand – not around waist or neck) – so the dive was never approved because of protocol violation. Gold and well deserved went to the last diver, Goran Colak from Serbia, who made a strong 244 m dive.

Congratulations.

Also congratulations to all AIDA winners, who did some very good performances.

The beautiful spa fascilities of Hotel Vejle Fjord saw a new World Record of “team static” when athletes Henning Larsen, Jesper Stechmann and Stig Åvall Severinsen held their breath collectively (in relay) for exactly 20´08 minutes.

The Danish National Team made a new World Record in “team static” where five people held their breath for 28.31 minutes during Copenhagen Diveshow in Bella Center.

At the 3rd AIDA Indoor Individual World Championship of freediving 2007 in Maribor, Slovenia, Stig won the golden medals in both of the dynamic disciplines. In dynamic apnea he swam 216 meters with his monofin in a nerve wrecking duel against the young Russian talent Alexey Molchanov, who reached 213 meters.  The last final at the World Championships was in the discipline dynamic apnea without fins. Stig dove 186 meters which did not only secure the gold medal but also a new world record since it beats German Tom Sietas former world record by 3 meters.

Stig is now the only male freediver who is a reigning world champion as well as current world record holder in both of the dynamic disciplines. The same applies for the Russian freediving phenomenon Natalia Molchanova (picture) who has almost all the world records on her CV.

Final in Dynamic with fins – 216 m

During this year’s biggest international competition in Denmark – Aarhus Triple Challenge – Stig performed a world record dive in the discipline Dynamic Apnea. On June 16th he monofinned his way to the new world record distance of 225 meters in 2´53 minutes. The day prior he had won the static competition with a very strong static dive of 8´40 minutes. This dive is a new Nordic Record and only seven seconds shorter than the longest dive ever performed in any official AIDA competition. On the last day he won the last discipline – Dynamic Apnea Without Fins – with a modest 155 meter dive.

See uploaded pictures and read more about the competition and the final results at:

http://www.aarhustriplechallenge.dk/

Despite of low intensity in the amount of training following after the Team World Championships, as well as the final sprint with his PhD-thesis, Stig managed to bring the gold back home from the indoor pool championship in Maribor, which boasted competitors from 13 nations. On top of the individual title, Stig also won the team competition with Team Vikings. This team also included the new star of the freediving horizon, Norwegian Elisabeth Kristoffersen and a strong Timo Jattu from Denmark. A warm and friendly atmosphere surrounded the competition, which ran like a Swiss clockwork. It will be interesting to see what secrets the pool hides for the next competition since this will be the individual World Championship in July 2007.

It finally happened – on Monday 11. December, Stig entered the water at 3 p.m. and swam, as last athlete in the final heat of the dynamic length-swimming competition. After a successful dive he and his team-mates Peter Pedersen and Henning Larsen could celebrate the first ever Danish victory at a Team World Championship. During the whole competition all three athletes delivered safe and secure top-results with excellent assistance from Team Captain Jesper Stechmann and reserve Lars Strandridder. Denmark won the gold in front of the Czech Republic and France who took Silver and Bronce.
The Golden medals were the culmination of the last 5-6 years of hard and well-planned training and they have, once again, set focus on Denmark as a flagship in the world of Freediving.
Since Stig is already reigning individual World Champion he becomes the first freediver in history to hold both World Champion titles.

From 1. – 12. December the best athletes from around the world will gather in Makadi Bay – Hurghada – Egypt , to dive for the gold medals. Stig is part of the Danish Team, which is in great shape. Apart from Stig, the team consists of Peter Pedersen and Henning Larsen. Reserves are Lars Strandridder and Jesper Stechmann, both of which will also serve as team captain and coach.

The Danish adventure producers Ace & Ace will be present during the whole championship and will, in corporation with Stigs company Blue Consult, produce a small documentary which will be aired on Danish National Television (DR1) on Saturday December 16. from 7 p.m.

Orcas – or killer whales as they are also called, are beautiful and elegant creatures growing up to nearly 10 meters in length and a weight of almost 4 metric tons. For 10 days Stig visited the spectacular Lofoten Islands to experience close encounters with the most intelligent and most wide-ranging predator on our Planet. The TV company Ace & Ace, the Swedish under-water videographer Sebastian Näslund and photographer Casper Tybjerg were also present in order to secure a professional and magical documentary produced for international broadcast in 2007. Read about the gracious Orcas, orange Polar sun, sky-diving sea eagles, an ocean of herring.

For the 6th time in a row, Stig won the Danish Championship. At the same time, he improved his barely three months old static record to 7 minutes and 43 seconds.

For the second year in a row, Stig won the international competition on the Swedish Westcoast. More than 40 freedivers from all over Europe had found their way to Lysekil, and for the first time in the history of freediving, all the competition disciplines were included. By winning Nordic Deep, Stig proved his completeness as an athlete. Besides the victory, Stig also made a new Danish Record of 56 meters in Free Immersion.

Stig won all three disciplines during the Open German Championship in Hemmoor west of Hamburg . The dynamic apnea was performed in the lake over a white rope which was extended at a depth of 2.5 meters. Unfortunalety, the rope was “only” 200 meters long, however this did not stop Stig as he continued to exactly 209.78 meters. This is the longest dive that has ever been performed in open water.

Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC) had invited Stig to give a festive talk to the Ship´s Officers and Marine Engineers at their graduation.The main theme of Stigs talk was ”How to follow your dreams?” and the graduates were sent out to the world´s oceans with new energy and a fresh splash of water on their cheeks.

At the international competition Aarhus Tripel Challenge 2006, Stig added four seconds to his almost four year old record in static. The dive of 7 minuttes and 27 seconds was done in the cosy babypool in the beautiful swimming facility ”Spanien” where Stig also has his daily training.

During the competition in Cotê d´Azur, Stig managed to perform a dynamic dive of 200 meters. This is the longest dive in competition this year, and places Stig as number one on the official world ranking list.

Despite of the horrible terror-bombings in Dahab, freedivers from all over the world joined Umberto Pelizzaris advanced instructor course in Sharm el Sheikh in the south of Sinai. After seven intensive and wonderful days with lectures and practical exercises in psychology, communication, human anatomy, swimming techniques, yoga and much more, the official instructor cards were handed over personally by Umberto to all new members of his “family”. Stig will bring many of these inspirational lessons to his future courses starting in 2007.

During the big Travelfare in Copenhagen in January, the Danish Freediving Team succeeded in setting a new World Record in the show-discipline “Team Static”. The record was arranged in collaboration with the Scandinavian Underwater Magazine DYK, and the three first athletes held their breath for a total of 18 minutes 56 seconds beating the old record with one and a half minute! Stig delivered the best performance with a time of 7´10 minutes. All together the five athletes held their breath for 29´32 minutes! The many bystanders following the record attempt were entertained by conferencier Camilla Ottesen, who continuously asked questions to the team members.

After the record, Stig held his usual “happening” and taught volunteers different breathing exercises and freediving techniques.

As usual, Stig will be present at this years Travel Expo in “Bellacenter” the last weekend of January. Those who want and dare are invited to join Stig in the pool for free private lessons. On top of that, the Danish National Freediving Team will try a “World Record” attempt in Team Static, which is an intertaining breath holding relay. The 5 athletes expect to hold their breath for 30 minutes.

DR1 has chosen to rerun the popular documentary, which follows Stig on an intense World Tour. The programs offer lots of deep blue water, exotic animals, interesting personalities and high level freediving. Join the trip and visit Sardinia, The Red Sea, Thailand , India , Hawaii and Venezuela . The program starts Thursday 9. February at 8.30 pm and the following three Thursdays.

Read this month about the history of freediving, physiology, technique and disciplines in Stigs big article in Dyk (issue 12- Jan/Feb). Part two, which deals with breathing exercises and training exercises will be out in the next issue (Feb). Enjoy the beautiful pictures by photographer Casper Tybjerg – especially the cover.

Freediving legens Umberto Pelizzari has invited Stig as “guest” instructor on the first Apnea Academy Instructor Course in English. The course is designed for skilled freedivers and offers a very intense, advanced and colourful program.

In collaboration with Swedish freediver and underwater photographer Sebastian Näslund, Stig will be giving an advanced freediving course in Gothenburg from 21.-23. April. The course focuses on technique, high level training programmes and yoga.

As the only male freediver, Stig qualified for all three finals in the 1st AIDA Individual World Freediving Championship in Pool in Renens, Switzerland. In dynamic with fins he became the first freediver ever to pass the magic 200m mark with a monofin when he swam his way to a silver medal with a strong 202m dive. His qualification dive done only hours earlier on the same day was 200m.
In the last final of the championship, Stig secured the World Champion Title with a magnificent dynamic no fins dive to 165m – 31 meters more than number two!

Again Stig won all disciplines at the Danish Championship from August 19.-21. – and even without putting on fins for the dynamic discipline.

Freedivers from all over Europe participated in the Nordic Deep competition, where Stig ran of with the laurels and was announced total winner.

Wearing only swimming trunks, Stig became the deepest diver in the ”Viking Challenge” on August 17. With no preparation, he made his way through stinging jellyfish and cold dark water and came back fresh as a fish from 40 meters.

From August 12.-14. Stig participated in Sebastien Murat´s “Exhale Freediving Course” and did several tests on lungs, oxygen levels, no warm-up max dives etc.

A new yoga course this summer will be held in Århus.

With pride and happiness Stig and Blue Consult can offer various exciting Yoga Courses with Yoga Master Acharya Milind Kumar Bhardwaj (from June 3. – June 12. 2005).

A week of training and fun in the sea was followed closely by professional photographer Casper Tybjerg.

In the first weeks of June Stig will be giving courses in different yoga techniques. There will be special emphasis on breathing and relaxation. There will be courses in both Copenhagen and Aarhus – for more info on dates, programmes, prices etc please stay tuned on this site.

Stig has been selected as Astronaut Candidate for the European Space Agency´s Astronaut Corps. During the next few months he will be tested in different skills such as simultaneous capacity and 3D perception. He will also be undergoing various medical and psychological examinations.

Together with a dozen og the best freedivers in the world, Stig has been invited to join the ”World Static Apnea Contest of Monaco” from 21 – 23 of July. Press coverage will be massive on this event, which holds many prominent persons in the Honour Committee – among others his Royal Highness Prins Albert.

Danish National Television (DR1) starts 2005 with 4 documentary programmes about Stig and his world tour from 2004.

From July til October Stig will be on a world tour training for new World Records. He will be training with the best freedivers in beautiful locations. The destinations will include Sardinia in Italy , the Red Sea (Israel/Egypt), Koh Tao/Phuket/Similan ( Thailand ), Rishikesh/Himalaya ( India ), Hawaii (USA) and finally Mochima National Park in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela . A TV crew will be documenting Stigs adventures on the entire trip.

See pictures here

The technical commitee of the Danish Sports Diving Federation will host the annual Instructor conference in Copenhagen. Stig will give a lecture on freediving physiology and also focus on the safety procedures for freedivers and scuba divers during record attempts and competitions.

2004 was only a few weeks old when the Danish multiple World Record holder Stig Åvall Severinsen once again impressed the entire world with his aquatic abilities.

Read more here

As last year, Stig will be giving a speak on freediving. This year he will focus on his World Records set in 2003. Questions on Freediving can be adressed to the DYK stand, where Stig will be found most of the weekend.

At AIDA’s newly held awards, Stig Aavall Severinsen was selected as “Best Male Rookie 2003″ at the ICARE Trophies. This trophy is given to honour an athlete who has accomplished outstanding achievements and done an extraordinary effort to develop an promote the world of freediving.

Stig sets a new World Record in the discipline Dynamic with fins and is the overall winner of The Second Dutch Free DiveINN.

Stig broke the surface after 204 meters. See the dive here Stig 204m

Stig Aavall Severinsen now holds 3 World Records.

For the third year in a row, Stig winns the Danish Indoor Championship and also the international competition Copenhagen Open.

On November 15th Team Jutland (Peter Smed Jensen, Peter Pedersen & Stig Aavall Severinsen)continued on last years winner course with a convincing victory in the “6.th Night of Apnea”. On top, Stig also won the individual competition.

Stig sets a new World Record in the purest discipline of freediving – constant weight (deep diving) without the use of equipment. The dive to 61 meters took 2 minutes and 14 seconds and was realized in the national park of Mochima, Venezuela.

Stig wins the Danish Freediving Championship.

18. juli – 150 m in the disciplin Dynamic without fins
19 juli. -166 m in the disciplin Dynamic without fins

See the 166m dive here World Record 166 meter 256kbWM9 (8.75 mb)

Stig wins 1st Dutch Free Dive-INN – the largest international competition in Europa this year.

New Nordic Record 7´23 min. in static apnea – the best time ever realized in an international competition.

Team Jutland (Peter Petersen, Bo Simonsen og Stig Åvall Severinsen) become the first Danish team to win a big international competion with a great victory at ”Night of Apnea” November 16th in Berlin.

Stig gives the first Danish intro freediving clinic on October 20^th 2002.

A great day for Stig Åvall Severinsen, which today made an official dive in the discipline of DNF (horizontal distance diving without fins) during the AFK Championship. With a distance of 131 meters he equals the official World Record held by Austrian Herbert Nitsch.

On May 25^th 2002 Stig made the longest dive in the world in the discipline ”dynamic apnea without fins” – 134 meters.

Don’t miss out on the great Omnimax movie “Oceanmen ” featuring my Italian friend Umberto Pelizzari and Pipin from Cuba.
 

During the AIDA World Championship in Ibiza, Spain, Stig made a new Scandinavian record dive to the depth of 62 meters.

The first official Danish Pool Championship was celebrated in Beder-Malling near Aarhus. Stig made a clean swipe taking gold in all three disciplines.

In the crystal clear waters of Lake Heemoor in Germany, Stig made his first Scandinavian Record with a deep dive of 56 meters (fresh water record).

Today was a historic day for Danish Freediving, since Aarhus Freediving Club was constituted. The three persons giving life to the new club were Dennis Stello (student of astro-physics), Peter Mejlhede Andersen (student of biology) and Stig Åvall Severinsen (student of biology).

For the first time Stig was selected for the Danish National Freediving Team and joined the World Cup in Nice, France. At this large international competition, Stig managed to set a new Danish record in constant weight (deep diving) by reaching 50 meters of depth.

 Stig set his first official freediving record, diving 45 meters into the dark and chilly Baltic Sea. The dive was done during the first Danish Freediving Championship which took place on the beautiful Danisk rocky island of Bornholm.

In beautiful Costa Brava just North of Barcelona, Stig managed for the first time to dive deeper than 40 meters in training. This will make him ready for the Danish Championship later in the Summer.