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I have taught myself voluntary tubal opening as a kid. The method I used was first block my ears whilst being above water by pinching my nose and making a slight vacuum or suction in my mouth. Next whilst maintaining the suction and pinched nose you equalise by either moving your jaw or swallowing. You will hopefully feel your ears block up. When you can block your ears like this manually you use this to focus on consciously controlling the eustachian tube muscles to 'click' open or contract. It sounds like a click inside your head. I believe everyone hears the click when they equalise, your goal is to do this on purpose. I practiced blocking and unblocking like this for several minutes multiple times per day untill I was able to one day just do it automatically without touching my nose both blocking and unblocking.

I'm blown away, I always tried to go to the bottom of the deep end when I was swimming (12 feet) and couldn't because of the pressure and I always wondered how scuba drivers did it. 😅 I can't wait to try equalizing

HI Gert, I really appreciate your youtube channel, all things that I search all of my life about freediving knowledge and technique, finally found it here. Thankyou so much!!!

Thanks Gert! So easy! I learned this technique from another video with schematics of the oral and nasal cavity, tongue, eustachian tubes etc. I forced myself to completely close my throat as if I was making the T sound and the doing the swallowing movement. Your explanation is so much easier! But at least this way I leaned how to do it without even thinking to produce saliva. And it works head first. I'm only a begginer and have been freediving up to 10m to get a closer shot of sharks or some bottom-dwelling fish like rays, so I adopted learning by doing technique instead of doing apnea walks and meditation. The awe of seeing amazing ocean creatures relaxes me in a way I'd never be able to on the surface :)

Woww!!!! This is the content I need! Before I got a lisensce, I ever had watching movies that showing people can stay for a long time in the water and deeper and then I got the answer from your video. Hopeful I can learn more from your video and also practice this technique! Thank you so much!

I can just pop my ears whenever i want without doing anything dont even know how

thank you for putting great content out there. totally enjoy your video. it helps alot. keep it going mate.

In the past with scubadiving I had always ear and equalizing problems. Even with the swallow technique I couldn't get equalized. What worked for me was starting equalizing before my head goes under water. These days I practice underwaterhockey and have no dificulties getting equalized anymore 😀. Great footage Gert 👌

thank you very much 0 every video I learn something new congratulations

I'm 71 years old and just beginning to free dive. I don't get very deep now. But I'm working on improvement - not for depth records - just for the ability to see more beauty and to spearfish. I currently use the nose hold to equalize and am not great at that. My deepest free dive is only about 10 or 12 meters. Thank you for this video. I look forward to trying this in the Med in the fall.

I have noticed that on scuba trips it is harder to equalize the first few dives but as the days tick by I find that I equalize without even thinking about it. I have also used several brands of vented earplugs which many divers react negativity to... I find they work and can really help getting to that place of just equalizing without any thought or realization it is happening. I don't know if freedivers use earplugs but I wish more people had an open mind to the possibility. I know of people who have given up diving because of problems equalizing. The earplugs are a very easy trick to get past this issue. (and yes, I know DAN encourages people not to use them... based on the belief they could malfunction... but with scuba any malfunction is possible and we train to overcome those issues)

Helpful video...looking forward to try it...thanks

I use hands free without swallowing. I create a pocket of air between tongue, and roof of my mouth. I then press my tongue up agaist the roof of my mouth. Some of the air moves into the ears. Been doing it for years.

i am taking my level II AIDA course this month! nervous and excited! i have never used my hands on my face to equalize. a combination of swallowing, pressing the soft palate with the tongue, and moving my jaw has always worked for scuba (100 feet, slow descent) or recreational freediving (10 meters, slightly weighted descent). hopefully this capability will serve as i get formal training. but learning frenzel as backup sounds pretty smart as well ❤

Ik denk niet dat ik ooit mijzelf zie freediven, maar ik heb onlangs bij TODI in Beringen voor de eerste keer een persluchtduik met volgelaatsmasker gedaan en ik was er echt helemaal weg van! zeker iets wat ik snel weer hoop te doen. het was echt niet te geloven hoe zo onderwater duiken je hoofd ineens zo klaar van mindfulness maakt. echt een fantastische ervaring!

Toynbee and Frenzel are the ones I know. Frenzel is about pushing up your tongue against the palate and creating pharynx pressure. Low jaw lateral movements also release pressure on muscles around the eustachian tube and help to equalize. Spearfishing I usually go Valsalva, on scuba I do experiments sometimes.

By moving my jaw I push a little air op into the ear channel. Only works when descending slowly. Never use it when diving with fins since the descending speed gets too fast and you can only equalize a little bit at the time with this technic. Learned this by myself as a kid. I use the same technic when I am flying. Peace 😘

Your video actually inspire others to do hands free in a wrong way.

Two thoughts on practice: 1) swim along bottom of 4-5 m pool, equalizing continuously (hands free). This is how I learned initially. 2) On the line, equalize normally at 5m. Then, go down hands free, head up from there. The pressure change is slower, of course - easier to learn.

Ich hatte mal im VDST ein Joga Kurs über ein verlängertes Wochenende teilgenommen und konnte mich sofort um 40% in der Zeit , und 8meter mehr an tiefe verbessern können. Ich kann jedem nur empfehlen so ein Lehrgang zu besuchen zumal es nur den Schwimmbad Eintritt und Beteiligung an den Sprit und Unterkunft des Lehrers gekostet hatte👍

Nice video ,i move my back part of my tongue upwards when i start the dive and when i pass the first ten meters i just bring air to my mouth from the lungs,the deeper i go i refill my mouth with air so i can equalise at the depth i am operating.

i love snorkling since i was kid. I never learn how to pop, but i can do it automaticly, since i realize, by putting pressure in my troath, without swallowing, it can equalize well.

Interesting, will have to try

I use the half-yawn (not sure how else to call it). When I yawn fully, I always hear a popping sound in both my ears. So, I started doing the first movement of the yawn without actually opening my mouth and that again popped my ears. I can now do this equalising almost instantaneous without having to swallow, just a small movement of my tongue is enough.

I used to dive with a high volume scuba mask that required a ton of air to keep from getting mask squeeze. Once I started filling that thing up with air through my nose I just popping my ears simultaneously. Blowing air into the mask as long as it’s tight works pretty well for equalization

I use a subtle nose clamp and that allows me to blow into my nose without touching it to equalize. Very easy haha. I also noticed the more i dive the less I have to equalize. In the beginning my ears started to hurt even at only 2m. Now I barely notice anything before 6m. It's true that relaxiation is key in diving even beyond equalization. If I'm not relaxed my body consumes way more oxygen and I start to panic quickly especially in waters where I can't see the ground.

Awesome video thanks 😊 I’ve surfed as long as I could walk and never consciously equalizated but recently been trying to dive deeper 👃 plugging is a concept I haven’t been able to grasp yet though last week I was near a diver getting 10m-15m I was invigorated seeing someone so deep I had to get down there managed to find a few swallows but kept getting stuck unable to swallow and sinking to start ear pain, FF> yesterday in my dry breathing techniques(not sure if it will work underwater)I managed to do a pop(equalize) at a rate of about 1x per second by simultaneously making the start of a swallow or yawn 🥱,wiggling my ears(picked that up earlier in the week in another breathwork sesh), flexing only the part of 👅 that is in my throat(causing the space above my Adam’s🍎 to expand) and slightly activating the lower jaw pushing chin/teeth forward(almost like causing an underbite but more energetically than physically pressing). I’ve been exploring this version of popping👂 not only during breath holding but during all parts of several breathing techniques (4part,3part,4/8 etc.) and also practicing isolating left or right only(since I previously practiced moving ☝️👂 at a time). I’ll be attempting this under da sea 🌊 next week after a bit more practice. Question 🙋 do I need to spend months incrementally going deeper or if able to equalize I can just keep swimming?(I have a 3.5 minute dry breath hold so if I figure out equalization I could probably just drop it right off⏬⏬⏬)

Hey Gert! I've been able to hands free equalize for as long as I remember. I've been diving following my spearo brother around since I was around 9 (16 years ago) and I don't ever remember needing my hands to equalize. Not sure what technique I use but if i had to describe it, it is like forcing a hiccup, if that doesn't get it done then I do the force hiccup while simultaneously flexing the side of my neck (focusing the on the muscles attached just below my ear to my salivary gland under my jaw, but not the entire muscle going down to the base of the neck). Usually the faster I go down, the easier it is because that extra pressure acts as potential energy that allows me to do lighter "hiccups" and/or side neck flexes. If I had to describe the "hiccuping" it would be like this: 1. Your teeth are not closed and your lower jaw is relaxed open. 2. Very very slightly imagine you are flexing the muscles under your chin to push your lower jaw in back towards your throat. But very very lightly. Even just the thought of trying it should be enough. 3. Flex your throat WITHOUT flexing your neck (except you can optionally flex the small muscles on the side of your neck that go from the bottom of your ear to your salivary gland under your jaw).

I am not sure how you would call my method. I use muscle memory to equalize my ears. Just works. I taught that to myself while working as dive instructor. One day I just could pop open my ears at will.

Hi Gert, I really like all of your video's!! I have a question about using a noseclip. I'm now in the process of learning to freedive with a noseclip. The moment I start to ascent back to the surface I can feel the pressure in my nose building up. How do you release this air pressure when your are using a nosclip? When I use a mask the air just escapes from my nose to my mask. Thank you! Greetings from Bonaire!

Thank you for sharing, I just move my jaw side to side as I go deeper. greeting from Cancun Mexico

My body provided the best way to handsfree equalization. Its like there is some muscle which allows me to control that thing in ear like a switch. It can be turned on, it can be turned off. Not just like clicking your ears to quickly equalize, but stay in that state for some time (it makes funny echo effect when listening something). IDK when I learned it, we traveled to croatia with family every year when I was a kid and we snorkeled a lot there... Its so effortless and automatic I dont even have to think about it when going down. Tried to about 15-20m max and didnt seem to be getting harder and harder in bigger depth. IDK how it would work in bigger depths, hope to find out :)

Nice video Gert 😉 Actually this tecnique is also called Toynbee manouvre, I guess not so much common in freediving because, as you said, it requires more time to equalize. Anyway, I've used this manouvre in the past in shallow water and also to the depth of 27 m in Y40. Thank you for sharing this video in the KZfaq community 😉👏

for this technique to work it depends on other factors. Eustachian tubes can be shaped slightly differently for different people, and any kind of sinus congestion can make it more difficult as well. However, my scuba diving instructors have said that the swallowing method is the safest. The Valsalva method can cause damage to the inner ear if you blow too hard.

I actuelly use a technique, that is also for a slow descent. You need a nose-covering Mask or having your nostrils facing downward for this. Yahwning ist a thing we all do. But keeping you mouth shut and gently moving your lower Jawbone a little bit forward while doing it, you will notice 1st the little pop in your ears and 2nd the Air moving due to the slow miniature breathwork. You do not exhale while doing this, just relaxing your muscles inyour cheat, lungs and jaw/face-area. It works, but with a fast descend I would pinch my nose so I could push a bit more air into the ears. That gives a bit more time and reduces the risk of trauma to the eardrums. Have a great time diving.

I do think I know how to do hands free, I haven't tried it during freedive yet, I'm still new to freediving. Your videos help, I'll try hands free this coming weekend when I'll freedive. Thank you!

I was able to hands free equalize for almost as long as I can remember. I taught it to myself by trial and error at the age of ~6 to equalize the pressure from tunnels in trains without having to touch my nose. Its hard to describe what I am doing. Its like wiggeling your ears. I would say the following: For me it simple feels like there is amuscle (and there probabply is), which opens up the path to the ears. I think it is importaint to know that this is possible at least in principle (even if you can't controll this muscle right now) So How to get there: Swallowing is a good start I guess. Maybe try to wallow with less and less Saliva. You will sometimes fail to swallow, but justTRY. The funnny thing is: Sometimes or even mostly, you will equalize even if you fail. You can do this easliy at land as well. Just pay atttention to what is going on there (musculr wise). Try to recreate this without actually swallowing at last. Trying this you will can and probably should create all kind of Gurns. Thats what I did in the beginning. By now i can equalize constantly (simple keep the connection open), or open and close it at a rate of about 1.5Hz without showing any facial expression. You can do it as well.

Used to do hands free (swallow with jaw retraction) as a kid to 6 fathoms. Just done AIDA 2 + 3 depth last weekend using frenzel. Will hopefully go back to hands free.

I can also just pop my ears when ever I need to as well. I don't even have to think about it, it's second nature, and I have been swimming since I could walk. I am also a diver and it's hard sometimes because that isn't something that I learned first and it goes against everything I know. I have been doing more free diving lately.

Thanks for sharing this video. There's just one thing which makes me wonder. You mention 'feet first is easier because the air goes up'. Can you further explain that theory? I think it has more to do with the surrounding soft tissue. Since the body is a closed system underwater, the pressure is equal throughout connected airspaces in the body. Air moves from high to low pressure to create equilibrium. As an example think of two connected balloons. If you turn them upside down, air doesn't go up, it remains the same because there's no pressure difference. I think the soft tissue plays a more significant role here. There are soft tissues in the nasopharynx which surround the membranous Eustachian Tube. No doubt gravity plays a role in their normal functioning. The most likely candidate for positional obstruction is this soft tissue. A sub-optimal position can compromise marginally patent Eustachian Tube.

i use the same method as you but also found moving my jaw as far as it will go left and right can help too

Hi Gert Nice vid Personnaly, to use (almost) hands-free : - final breath - waiting 10 sec to reduce stress - pre-equalization FRENZEL above water - heads down handfree - if i get my jaws very « disconnected down » , i do not swallow but a nose pinch every 15 meters

I do this technique and found after about 2 hours of diving I begin to have leakage between my airway and sinuses. Usually keep a small amount of water in my mask to clear hands-free with a head movement but this water can draw up the nose. Have not experienced a blockage from this, but it can be uncomfortable.

This worked for me but it’s absolutely one of the slowest methods I’ve ever used. You can also use a nose plug to act the same as your hand on your nose.

Nice video!I have noticed in depths more than 15-20 meters i have to also equalise the presssure created from the mask pussing to the face. I always exhale a very small amount of air through the nose just before i do the equalisation for the ears, in order to loosen the mask and not to feel this pressure from the mask that can get a bit frustrating. Also i think that a big part of equalising with no hands is being hydrated.

I never had any problems with equalization and can actively open the eustachian tube since I started freediving. I didn't come that far to try out every method in detail, but head first is more challenging. Sadly, after I moved home last year, I couldn't find any buddy in my region :(

I’ve faced problems with equalization while diving in which I stopped diving unfortunately 💔 The first thing is while using valsalva it doesn’t work. Second thing when I go back to the surface (just 1 meter below) I suffer from severe dizziness and I don’t know why ! And I have 2 Qs if anyone can help : 1- if i used a diving glasses that has an ear cover with tubes, will it help ? 2- can I use the equalization technique that I use when I go on an airplane? (Just like the swallowing method but I can do it without swallowing 😬)

I do mostly scuba and some free diving too. I always have had problems with ear equalization, frequently been the last diver in the group to equalize, but I never abandoned any dive for equalization problems. Valsalva maneuver have never worked for me, no matter how hard I tried - hard, slow but long, tried every possible way, no avail. Swallowing + jiggling my jaw and neck is the way to equalize for me - maybe a funny sight to other divers, but it works. When I pass 10-12m depth and manage to equalize, no further equalization problems for whole dive. My buddy has different problem - he can go to 30m with few valsalva maneuvers, but his equalization struggle starts just below 30m. I guess that ear equalization is highly individual, so all available methods should be better addressed on diving courses.

Finally a video about this to verify if what I am doing is correct. Haha! I tried freediving last December and cannot do Valsalva to save my life, I just started swallowing and then it worked for me, I thought I was cheating the system this whole time.

Thanks bro god bls

Great video. Also cracked me up with the Simon clip at 1:11 hahaha

I m a mediocre free diver, 20 m and not wiiling to go deeper but i have control on my eustachian tubes ,opening them whenever i want without any special move ,which is handy to equalize.

Still never figured out the Frenzel. I can valsalva by plugging my nose with my upper lip. It works better for skydiving than freediving.

Hi, i just finished my intro to freediving and this is how i equalize. I didn't realize this is what I'm doing until I watched this video. However, I am unable to do it continuously (nor sure why) so I can only go as far as 8m. Do you have tips or exercises that I can use to improve this way of equalization?

thx

Love your videos ❤️ I do this but it doesn't work for me after a certain depth, I hope I can find my own technique too ❤😊

Gert, I don’t know if you are seeing this or not but yes I agree free hands is more great than doing frenzel. I tried feet first with frenzel I stuck on 7 or 8meters. But when I tried free hands I can go until 9meters+ I know it still “short”, but now I know that I feel more comfortable with free hands. Next Sunday I’ll have training sessions, can’t wait to train my free hands. Hope I can go deeper already ;)

Frenzel i do . The past 1.5 year I'm having reverse block when i dive to 20 metres and as time passed i could dive at 16 metres without problems then at 10 and 3 month's before only at 3 metres 😢😢 . I did a surgery at my nose and doctor told me tha the efstachian tubes will be free some months after the surgery so i don't have this problem of reverse block. Do you have friends that had this problem and after nasal septum and sinuses surgery they solved the problem? Thanks a lot. I subscribed now to your channel. Greetings from Greece

I must be super lucky but of I do that action that makes your ears bob up and down it makes the same ear drum noise that yawning does and that's always worked for me. I can even hold it open for about 4 seconds. Probably longer if i trained it but those muscles tire quickly

Thank you for this tips. I recently suspected that I had sinus baratrauma and have problems equalizing. Let's see if this would be a gentler way to equalize for me. :D

Frenzel for sure !

Question: How often do you equalize? Like, how many meters deeper do you swim between two equalizations?

Hi Gert! I have a question. I do something (but i don't know how i did it) and hear something, like click sound or something. But it's not like a bubble popping sound. Is what i do consider as equalization?

another easy technique that I've discovered is that if you 'push' from your throat, as if you were trying to burp something up, if you burp first then do that same movement again it'll make your ears pop atleast it does for me idk about the science of it i just figured out that makes my ears pop

Im now using frenzel. I did train to do hands free. Haven't went in the water to test it. The pop doesn't sound like a frenzel. Just a little click. Should the pop sound like a frenzel or valsalva? I realise i auto hands free equalize when i woke up and sometime when i yawn. But. . . . Never did try it underwater

hey nice video, do you think we could combine this with a mouthfill to push it deeper ?

Hey Gert! I have learned so much from you channel as I am beginning my free diving experience. We just came back from the keys and I bought a new mask, it's not a free dive specific mask, but an upgrade from the us divers big box store. It actually sucks to my face if I press on it, even w out a head strap on. Now I noticed now that it makes a seal, I noticed I equalized my sinus as you taught me, but I got mask squeeze and felt like my eyeballs were gonna suck out. So of course I immediately resurfaced so I didn't burst any blood vessels. What are your tips on mask squeeze

Any tip how to prevent water from getting inside the ear? Should i try some swimming earplugs?

Wow a Merman! 🧜‍♂️

Hey Gert, thanks a lot for teaching us... Me also use this technique... swallowing saliva!!! Works fine for me!!!

I swallow and wiggle my jaw as a scuba diver and it works for me! I’m about to do my wave 1 free diving

I cannot even describe how I equalize. I don't swallow, I don't move my jaw, I just click inside my ears xD I can do head first, drop like a stone down to 30+ meter and I have no problems. Just very rarely, when I forgot and dropped too far without equalizing, I have to squeeze my nose. Happens like once in every 10 dives xD

Btw- what watch do you recommend? I used to have a Suunto D-3. I’m thinking about the Suunto D4 Black. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

I'm a beginner, but swallowing is the only way I can equalize every time head first. My only worry is that I m8ght swallowing air which would limit depth at some point . I'm working on making the swallowing movement only partially, and some air gets into my ears, but not as much.

i have a question? instead of swallowing saliva, can we swallow the water where we are diving? for example i made it in the swimming pool and it worked. But i am not sure it is dangerous or not for our refleks against free diving

I’m one of those people that can just pop them on command. But I was told by my friend who freedives professionally that this is bad to do for deeper depths. He said its because its way more possible for them to not fully clear.

3:30 is that diver in the back ground having a real emergency where another diver had to assist him to the surface! Cheers, #SeattleRingHunter

I have no idea how but I don’t need to swallow or do anything, I can even be talking and equalise, I think it along the lines of tensing up my muscles around my ears.

I am curious, can you try this with a snorkel or scuba reg in your mouth? I have been trying to do the same while scuba diving as pinching my nose causes my mask to flood, but so far I have been unsuccessful.

And what's about diving back up? What do you do there? The same thing?

What / where is this place you did this ? Looks very cool for training.

i only dive up to 10 m while snorkeling and i use the pinching method. but i do it before decending and not while im going down. am i doing something wrong? i never experience ear pain.

My problem is, that I can‘t relax underwater. Can you explain me, how to slow down my heart rate under water and how to relax? By the way: I love your videos😊

Hi Gert, I am newbie to learn freediving. Can you also make a tutorial video about vasalva tecnique? I never success try this method with baloon.

I would like, please, clips to adjust ear pressure by diving vertically, then swimming horizontally for adjustment, and so on

This is the same location i just found out that i could not go beyond 4 or 5 meters. I kept swallowing but nothing was happening except that the pressure is getting greater.

b can you guide me how to balance the ear with the hands free method . i really need that advanced method .thank .

I learned to equalized when i was inside a plane.

i equalize by opening my jaw in the same function as if i would jawn and get a effectect of thunder in my ears if i humm i can ear myself like 10x louder that equalizes me

So you have any advice for me I'm struggling to equalize right around 16 meters but then becomes impossible when I hit my max which is 22.4 meters and I'm trying to adjust at depth so I can do hangs and equalize better so I can be able to hit 30 meters got anything that can help😅

Bedankt voor de interessante video! How comes you are negatively buoyant in the clip filmed in Nemo33? You're not wearing any weights. Did you breathe out before descending?

Hands free

When i push my bottom jaw out (mouth closed) and sort of force a yawn my ears pop. Does that mean that i equalized?

I try to practice 5m efficient diving, I can make it to 5m but I am unable to stay due to pressure pain. One method that worked was to blow some air out but that reduces the operation time underwater.

Where can I get some Clasess ?

Is it ok to use earplug when diving? Or it may cause equalisation problem?

The simon clip killed me 🤣

Another thing.. Do you have any techniques to reduce the leg pain due to water pressure??

Thanks 👍 for information 👍👌