How to Breathe Underwater

This is what I've learned so far about breathing underwater in my SCUBA class. This is common-knowledge for divers, but I just started and I'm processing the info by writing about it. These were some things that I was worried about before I started, but I'm much more at ease now.

1) If the regulator comes out of your mouth, it isn't difficult to get it back again, so don't panic. You can sweep your right hand behind you for the hose or lean forward while lifting your tank/BCD with your left hand so you can reach behind you with your right to find where the hose connects.

2) When you lose your regulator, as mentioned above, you have to get the water out of it so you can breathe again. If you don't have any air to exhale, there is a purge valve you can press that will do it for you. We also practiced blowing water out of our snorkels and switching between our snorkels and regulators while under water, which ended up being a lot less nerve-wracking than I thought.

3) If all else fails and your regulator is not available or malfunctions, you have an alternate air source, which can also be given to your partner if he/she has a problem. You can then breathe from the same tank while you ascend.

4) Equalizing is not as difficult as it sounds. You clear your ears just like you would if you were traveling in the mountains or flying in a plane.

5) Here's a biggie for me - What if my mask fills with water and I'm deep below the surface? This would happen to me while snorkeling but I was on the surface so I could readjust my mask any time I wanted. Well, as it turns out, even when you're below the water, you can take a deep breath, hold the top of your mask, and blow out through your nose to clear all of the water from your mask.

6) Finally, the MOST important rule: Never hold your breath while diving. It's a natural instinct for us to hold our breath but it can be dangerous the deeper you dive. We practiced at the surface by taking our regulators out of our mouths and exhaling slowly (blowing bubbles). If you hold your breath at the surface and then descend, the natural air you take with you compresses and the decompresses as you ascend. However, a breath taken from a tank below uses air that is at the surrounding pressure of the water. If you were to then ascend with that air in your lungs, it would continue to expand as the pressure decreased, causing overexpasion of your lungs. But this is a rule that is easily learned and practiced.

Overall, my first experience was good. I never doubted that I would love diving, but I was a little worried that it would take me a while to get the hang of breathing without panicking. The only problem I had was that my mask fogged up because I hadn't cleaned the new film off of it well enough. That made it a little difficult to see but we were in a pool so I was okay.