Screw the box

Stig Pryds is a Danish record holding freediver. He was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2008, which disabled him so much that he lost his business. After 5 years of intense pain and increasing dependency on drugs, he decided to quit all drugs cold turkey, and find alternative ways to deal with his disease. He began practising yoga daily, changed his diet, and started practising freediving. This caused drastic changes: within months he could walk without a cane, and he could play with his two young daughters again.
It also taught him how good he actually was at freediving; within a year he started setting Danish records. He started traveling the world going to freediving competitions, where the warm weather and sun also improved his condition. He used his increased exposure from the Danish records to tell the story of his recovery and inspire people to live a healthy lifestyle. He started teaching others how to deal with auto-immune disorders.
The downside of his new fame was that the insurance company, who paid his monthly disability check, noticed that he was doing things a healthy person does. Despite the argument that he's only healthy because he can do these travels and trainings, the insurance company threatened to sue him for lying -he'd have to pay back all the disability checks plus a fee. With the help from his doctors Stig managed to convince them his disease is real, just that he manages it well, but the insurance company decided to stop paying him his disability. The stress this whole procedure caused was enormous and Stig relapsed into severe pain.
We shot this video in January, the hardest month for Stig, where he had to figure out how to proceed. We talked about how life can keep dealing you blow after blow, and how you know that you'll be ok anyway. But it still sucks that you have to deal with the blows, and have to go through that uncertainty of what comes next. Stig has decided to focus on his new breathing program, in which he teaches people how to breathe properly to deal with stress and disease, together with yoga and diet. He might not be able to compete much this year, but he's getting back up and doing his best to be of use to others. Find out more about Stig here:

[trumpwatch]

The least they could have done was let you see him break the water & take his first breath. Sick artists like to leave you hanging instead of the crescendo of resolution. Such sadistic artists are not celebrators of life but celebrators of bondage. I'm not interested in that. I've always been into extreme sports but you have to either show the victory in it's fullness or the defeat in it's fullness or you're not an artist that celebrates life & reality but a manipulator & most likely a bully. Not saying the diver had a say in how this was filmed. Based on his bio I doubt that was his doing. It's probably the doing of the photographer. Hopefully the diver never uses that production service again.

PS. After having the dialog you may have noticed I have changed my attitude. I was wrong to have concluded that Daan is guilty of any of the hyperbolic comments above that I made. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt & used a less accusatory style. He explained what really happened & I felt kind of small when I realized he knew what I was talking about and actually agreed with the on factual point I made. I decided not to edit my comments out but to leave them as examples of how not to communicate with an artist about their work.

[roarv]

I felt unsatisfied because I wanted to see him take a breathe at the surface.

[justpassingby]

My lungs collapsed while watching this

[nyarlathotep]

I read the whole description and I can't to describe just how inspiring it was. It resonates so much in my life. I was so afraid of deep water that I would instantly tense the moment I entered the pool, but now after a couple of months of practicing I feel so inspired by free diving. I want to include free diving to my life. <3

[wickedsickfunkyfreshroller]

Imagine the water pressure at the bottom of that pit.

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

After watching this video, I had to watch a horror movie to relieve my anxiety.

[LVUJC-FM]

WOW, what a deep powerful message it was, "awe-inspiring!
As I was watching him dive deeper into the water, the message he was giving about being in a box I thought was about "Not to fear death!"
I realized the message was, "Take yourself out of your comfort zone, and take a leap of faith!"
Many of us don't know what our full potential in life is because we fear the unknown!
Many of us settle into a comfort zone too soon in life and stay there until our time comes!

[KYNG_DARK]

I have a fear of deep parts in water but his voice and him being able to hold his breath calmed me down and i was fine

[moysauce]

This whole segment spoke to me profoundly. I've been crying thinking of how i'm spiraling with my life, where I feel trapped by all things listed and more. But taking that step to leave the box is so unimaginably hard that I struggle....this helped me. Thank you

[giraffeman]

This is both the most amazing and inspiring thing I’ve seen in a long time

[kevinmatthews]

This guy holds his breath longer than I can hold a job 🤧

[renee]

This was so beautiful to watch. I could close my eyes and just listen to your peaceful voice.

[MichelaEpifani]

Only Great Soul and living Human Being can be so brave! Thank you for this story. Is a whisper of healing ♥️

[keyrose]

He probably has a water brewing potion

[royalsquadgaming]

I am so proud of him. Very inspiring. U can do anything in life. That u wanna do. Never give up.

[otrenav]

This is one of the best videos I've seen in a very long time. Thank you for creating and sharing it with the world .

[zaoawz]

Jesus Christ, he can hold his breath longer than I can hold a relationship


Edit: Stop liking this

[youtubiente]

That's the new technology he is receiving air by bluetooth.

[breathej.]

Dude, this is the coolest video I've ever watched; not just on YouTube, but anywhere. It's ironic, too, because I actually really needed this today ♥️

[gcko]

My favorite part of this video other than the inspiring message is that, once you're out of the hole (darkness and fear), as you get closer to air (safety), you regain the color that's been hidden by the depths.