First of all...a big oops!!! This post was meant for another list. My apologies for mis-clicking in my email editor! It was prompted by a post in the NYCKayaker list regarding a rescue report which included a comment by the poster about the benefits of staying calm. Anyway...I would welcome commentary from the members of this list in any case. An additional comment as per Philip below: Even further, I have found that I must focus on relaxing the diaphragm in order to maintain balance. If I do not, my shoulders rise, my arms tense, the paddles come out of the water, the lower body tightens and it's time for a dunking even if the conditions are not that bad. Regards, Jeff On 4/5/05 7:37 PM, "kayakwriter_at_netscape.net" <kayakwriter_at_netscape.net> wrote: > > I can't remember where I read about this, but I've found "pressure breathing" > helps: consciously taking slow deep, full breaths in through the mouth, and > exhaling slowly through the nose. I've used it a few times when I've found > myself in hairier water than I'd intended. I haven't read an explanation of > why it works, but I suspect it's a combination of physical (keeps you fully > oxygenated, so you don't start on the downward spiral of short, shallow gasps > that don't deliver air and so make you gasp more) and mental (the act of > focusing on breathing distracts you a bit from what might cause you to panic.) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 05 2005 - 21:10:28 PDT
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