29Rooms — Refinery29’s magical art and fashion funhouse – is back for its second year, kicking off during NYFW, from September 9 to 11. We’re bringing our commitment to women claiming their power to life, through the event’s theme, “Powered by People.” To celebrate this sense of possibility, we’ve curated content that embodies our theme and pushes you to do more — start the conversations you want to hear, make change. We built our dream world and want to inspire you to power your own. For more information on the 29Rooms event and our initiative, click here Adrian Grenier is an actor, producer, director, and founder of the Lonely Whale Foundation. The views expressed here are his own. This story was originally published on May 18, 2016.I’ll never forget my first breath underwater.I was 27 and living in Bushwick, the middle of industrial Brooklyn, when I decided to escape the city and head to Mexico with my friend and producing partner, Lucy, to shoot a documentary. She was an Australian water baby and I was a New York City kid, so she suggested I get PADI certified so we could dive together.Our instructor used the scuba gear as tools to help us understand the cycles of the ocean, connecting our breath to the tides and natural rhythms of the sea. He also explained that monitoring the levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in our blood was just as critical as understanding the ocean’s own careful chemistry.In those 48 hours, we learned to become guests of the ocean, to observe and wonder at our underwater environment, not to dominate or master it.