“Courage is something you can learn”

Courage is a muscle that needs to be trained. We are putting people who inspire courage in the spotlight: people who are taking vigorous action in areas such as climate action, political education, international understanding, and refugee protection. 

“Just one metre below the water’s surface, you enter a completely different world – without a spaceship.” Anna von Boetticher is a world-record freediver who takes her social media community along with her on her adventures. Deep beneath the glacier ice in Greenland, in an underwater forest near Hemmoor in northern Germany, and below the Mexican jungle, she shows how fascinating our planet is – and why it is so in need of protection. 

Ms von Boetticher, why freediving? 

Even as a child I was curious about the unknown: I wanted to fly into space, explore the depths of the oceans and climb the highest mountains. That’s why I started diving early on, and later went on to dive to great depths under extreme conditions. And because I’m always keen to develop further, freediving came along at some point as well. It allows me to experience the underwater world in a new and very immediate way. 

Freediving is an extreme sport. Are you a courageous person? 

I think everyone is courageous in some situations and less so in others. If I see a spider behind the cupboard, I tend to be cautious. But not if a shark approaches. As a diving instructor and guide, I’ve learned to step forward, take decisions and act before others do – some people would probably call that courageous. 

So is courage something you can learn? 

Yes, it is. Some of it is certainly down to personality, but everyone can train mental strength and resilience. One way is to regularly try something new – master something you’re not yet capable of, and go back to being a beginner again. You have to learn to tolerate discomfort and put your ego aside. That takes courage. It doesn’t have to be an extreme sport. It could be knitting (laughs). 

What gives you hope? 

When I go freediving, I feel particularly strongly that I’m part of something bigger. There’s so much that is beautiful on our planet. If you go through life with your eyes open, it never gets boring – and hope comes naturally. Whether it’s the birds bathing in the flower bowl on my terrace or a whale off the Azores. You don’t have to travel to the end of the earth to experience special moments – you just have to look.