Breathe, Focus, Thrive: Mental Strength & Motivation Training from the Depths of Freediving – Career Talk with Christin Gerstorfer

Ever felt like you’re drowning in deadlines, expectations, or uncertainty? What if mastering your mind was the key to navigating studies, work, and life with more ease and clarity?
In this interactive session, Christin Gerstorfer, BA –competitive freediver & FHWien alumna – shares her personal journey from escaping burnout to achieving mental strength through the transformative power of freediving. In her role as a coach and consultant, she will offer you valuable and practical tools such as mental techniques and breathwork exercises that will help you boost your mental health, resilience and motivation in everyday life.
Freediving is more than holding your breath – it’s a mental sport built on control, calmness, and clarity. These same principles can be applied above the surface, especially in high-pressure environments like university and the professional world. Discover what it really means to dive deep — not just into water, but into yourself.

You’ll explore:

• What freediving teaches us about focus, fear, and flow
• Mental training techniques to rewire your brain for resilience & motivation
• How to breathe properly — and why it matters more than you think
• Simple, science-backed tools & teambuilding elements to boost presence, motivation & mental energy and to strengthen peer connection & support

Expect an engaging, down-to-earth format with practical exercises guided by Christin and an open space to share your experiences and ask all of your questions.
Why should you attend? Because mental clarity and strength isn’t just for athletes — it’s your competitive advantage in everyday life.

THE TALK WILL BE HELD IN ENGLISH.

About the speaker:
Christin Gerstorfer, BA, completed her Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management at FHWien der WKW. She is a standout in the Austrian world of freediving: Austria’s youngest freediving athlete to hold multiple depth-related national records and currently ranked the country’s #1 female freediver to depth. By diving as deep as 75 m on a single breath and holding her breath for up to 6 minutes, she pushes the boundaries of human performance. Her story began in youth—already diving to 18 m at age 12—she went on to become a freediving instructor, training under elite mentors and setting more milestones as a coach, underwater model, and mental strength mentor.
In 2024 she was nominated as Female Athlete of the Year (Lower Austria / Baden)—recognition of her athletic impact and growing public presence. Beyond competition, Christin teaches beginner to master courses, does (online) coaching in various fields, hosts freediving retreats, is an academic speaker, models underwater and designs transformative workshops that translate the psychological grit of freediving into tools for everyday life, studies, teambuilding, leadership and career resilience. Her aim is to make the sport of freediving more popular and recognized in Austria. As a former FHWien student herself, she brings a powerful message of overcoming burnout and building mental strength through freediving—tailored especially for FHWien’s BA and MA students and alumni.

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