Stig Åvall Severinsen
Stig Åvall Severinsen is a four-time World Champion freediver and holder of two Guinness World Records. Freediving consists of diving deep or long while holding your breath.
He holds a Master’s degree in biology (2001) and a PhD in medicine (2007) from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. During the last decade he has practiced and investigated the beneficial effects of breathing and breath holding on body and mind.
His lifetime passion for water and breath holding lead him to write the book "Breatheology – the art of conscious breathing" which appeared in Denmark in 2009 with the title "Træk Vejret – mere energi, mindre stress". It quickly became a bestseller and was subsequently translated and published in English in 2010 by Idelson-Gnocchi.
Through his company BlueConsult, blueconsult.biz, and his international web community breatheology, he offers courses and lectures on efficient breathing and mental training.
“If only the physical aspects of hatha yoga are used, it is called ghatastha yoga (ghata means “physical effort”). Modern expressions like “fitness yoga” and “power yoga” that flourish within gym classes are within the same category, even if they do not derive from the original exercises’ rhythm and succession. In many instances “power yoga” has a positive effect on physical health; but if there is no aim to ease the mind, to gain self-insight and control of your thoughts, and to experience the divine within you and within the universe, the deeper meaning of yoga and - possibly life - is lost.”
“The more you believe in the power of thought, and the more you listen to your breath, the greater changes you can create in your life.”
“It is impossible to express the experiences you have below the surface with words, when water gently caresses your face and body, the pulse decreases and your brain relaxes. You are immediately cut off from the stress and hustle of everyday life when you are below the surface – there are no noisy telephones or SMS messages, no inboxes full of mail, no electrical bills, or other trivialities of everyday life taking up time and energy. There is nothing connecting you to the surface but the same withheld breath that connects you to life. There is only you and a growing pressure on your chest that feels like a loving hug and the vibrations from the deep quiet tone of the sea. It is quite possible that this deep quiet tone is none other than the mantra Om, the sound of the universe, trickling life into every cell of your body.”