My Journal Notes on Swimming with Dolphins
August 2003
The trip surpassed my expectations in every way. It was a journey for the body and spirit, full of healing, joy and love, from the incredible energy of swimming with the dolphins to the healing sessions on land. Along the way there was gourmet healthy food, fabulous massages, and modest and comfortable accommodations right in the neighborhood with the local community.
This was an experiential week, a vacation with personal growth for me. We were out on the water five days, and on three days swam with dolphins, one day the dolphins played with the boat, and on the last day we did not see the dolphins. There are no guarantees on this, WildQuest operates an environmentally conscious excursion, we do not feed the dolphins, we search for them, and if they find us, and if they choose to interact with us, we are in the water and it is glorious! Sometimes we interact on the boat with the dolphins, even if we do not see them.
On the first day we learned to snorkel . . . really. There were women in my group who had never seen the ocean, and through the gentle encouragement of the WildQuest staff, we learned about fins, masks, breath, and letting go. Some held on to flotation devices, and we all conquered our fear together until by the end of the week we were free diving and playing just like the dolphins. We were out on the boat every day, going to beautiful spots to snorkel and then out on our daily dolphin search.
I learned to dive over the Atlantis road. Yes, the Atlantis road . . . swimming there was such a peaceful experience I was able to embody the words that our teachers had been saying . . . it was right, it was natural, the peace and the history of the place awakened deep memories in me that allowed me to swim, dive, and use my breath differently. It is like Nia or Reiki, you can hear about it and understand through the mind, but someday you embody the experience and have the ah-ha moment.
Daily we would be in the ocean, and in the middle of the Atlantic, we would spot a movement. Maybe a fin? Maybe a wave? The captain of the boat would take us to the spot as we all looked, following the movement, calling to the dolphins with our hearts and minds and voices. And sometimes we found them. Then we whooped and hollered like five year olds as they came to play and swim with us, darting around the boat, crossing in the currents, teasing and crisscrossing in heart stopping closeness to the boat water stream and the engines. A staff diver would go in the water to see if they wanted to engage with us . . . if they did . . . there was pandemonium, everyone grabbing fins, masks/snorkels assigned to us and in, in, in. Clear blue water, in the middle of the ocean, no fear, and there they are . . . mothers, babies, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, full of life, curiosity, diving, nearing surrounding us . . . melding their pod with ours. I saw three swimming together holding fins, like holding hands. On another day, a mother and her babies engaged with us . . . swimming circling playing. Here they are children . . . the humans . . . don't get to close you see how excitable they are, and don't touch them! I heard faint clicking and they stayed with us . . . and stayed and stayed until we all were circled and engaged, and then they left.
On the boat, there is sun, shade, music, conversation, meditation, and quiet. Everyone learned to take care of themselves and to blend with others when desired.
My heart opened to our group, all women that week. As I said, some were new to water, others had never taken a vacation alone, several were in physical and emotional healing stages, many of us had felt called to come, many had saved for the trip for several years, and there were two mother/daughter combinations. We were a natural healing circle and throughout the week the gifts of all of us would come forward. We were naturally intuitive, psychic, and healers and the environment supported this until in the end we were transformed together into something new. As I said in our closing circle, we became the dolphins . . . we all left with more than we came with; we each were given the opportunity to transform our hearts.