Ever since childhood I had dreamed of swimming with dolphins, so it was no wonder when I heard someone shout “there are dolphins in the bay!” I dropped everything and ran to the beach. This was my first up close glimpse of wild dolphins. I was on day one of my first Retreat on the magical big Island of Hawaii, and seeing wild dolphins was a life long dream finally fulfilled.

Without thinking (which turned out to be a good thing) I put on my snorkel gear and started to head out in their general direction with a friend. Having been previously advised by a few friends experienced in the area of swimming with wild dolphins, I was told to not approach the dolphins, but to swim out and “mind your own business”. Or just hang out in their general vicinity, and maybe, just maybe, they would come over and check you out.

  I was normally pretty terrified of swimming in the ocean, and phobic of sharks, but on this day I felt completely safe, as if the aura of the dolphins were saying “it’s OK we will protect you”. At some point when I was swimming out I could hear the chirps and whistles under the water, and the feeling of safety and calm strengthened. I looked up and could see the fins off in the distance, and decided I was close enough. Not wanting to disturb their personal space, I just floated where I was, waiting. My friend had asked me to stay close by, as he wasn’t a very strong swimmer, so I was keeping my eye on him. At some point we decided to float and meditate, in hopes that the dolphins would get curious and come over to see what we were doing. I started to enter a meditative state, and let my inner heart open, as if sending a message to the dolphins that I was happy to see them, and could almost immediately feel a deep love and joy come back to me. Continue reading →