One last swim…
On the final day of my trip I arrived early at the beach to enjoy every precious moment before heading to the airport. I swam out to join two women who were playing with nine dolphins who had just arrived from their nocturnal activities in deep water.
Mommas, Babies, & Bubbles
Two pairs of moms & babies plus a couple of escorting dolphins congregated in very shallow water close to shore, while four individual dolphins played with leaves and people nearby. Swimmers & dolphins were spiraling in the water column, as the sun filled the sky over the peaceful bay.
Since the ratio of dolphins to swimmers was so small, we were mindful of each other as dolphins weaved through and around us. I played with a few of the juveniles and blessed the mom & baby group of six dolphins who swam together. Later, the moms separated from their group to swim independently with their babies, as the two escorts swam intermittently between the pairs. The babies were tiny, measuring no more than 20 inches long.
The mothers brought their babies very close to us, and invited us to dive down and spiral with them, as if to show their babies ‘what people can do’. I watched as one mother dolphin taught her baby girl to play the leaf game. Both babies experimented with blowing bubbles… exhaling tiny trickles of bubble trails as they finned underwater.
The More the Merrier
For the fist part of the swim, the overall energy of the pod was light and playful. Dolphins cavorted with some of the people, particularly especially flirtatious dolphin. Occasionally the pod would emit loud squeaks & chirps, then would group together and swim away for a few minutes, to momentarily return with more dolphins.
Unconditional Trust
As the morning progressed both of the mothers became even more trusting. They swam their babies within inches of me so that we could gaze at one another with pure adoration. Occasionally a tiny dolphin fluke would brush my arm, and one time a baby was so close to my chest that I thought she would jump right into my heart! She glided along beside me, right under my chin. The mood was profoundly tranquil and sweet.
The mom-baby pairs eventually regrouped with their friendly escorts, and I began streaming Reiki ‘on the fly’ as we moved through the water. Both moms swam their babies close to my palms. At one point I had to plaster the back of my hands against my chest & stomach to avoid touching a baby. His mom had nudged him so close that I was practically ‘holding’ him! His eyes were closed and his little dolphin-face held a blissed-out expression as we glided together along the surface. All six dolphins were tucked in tightly and seemed to bask in the radiance of the cascading light. It was an intense experience… in an ‘all-encompassing-love’ kind of way.
Listen to Me!
Another memorable moment was when one of the moms flipped on her back and began slapping her tail on the surface as we sped along. She wasn’t agitated (or she would have swam away); she appeared to be communicating to other dolphins in the group.
Pay Attention to Me!
There were a few interruptions during the swim… including the intervention of a larger juvenile, who wedged between me & the group to ‘dolphin-nap’ me for a solitary swim. He stuck his nose in my face, then squeaked, bubbled, and flirted until I gave him my undivided attention for a round of circling & playing, out of visual range from the bigger pod. He clearly wanted ‘one-on-one’ time, and we swam together for about five minutes. He then ushered me back to the larger pod, where the momma-baby group gravitated back to my side and we fell back into a comfortable rhythm.
Nap Time
Later in the morning, the dolphins calmed down and began moving in mixed groupings in a broad resting pattern. I swam in tandem on the surface and watched as the pod glided in unison no deeper than 6 feet beneath me. The babies drifted off to sleep as mommas finned alongside.
We glided together in a lazy, circle-y pattern for the duration of my swim. During this time, I saw my photographer friend Kathleen Carr, swimming gracefully alongside the pod, and I tried to stay out of her way as she filmed. She was able to capture a few moments of the momma-baby group on video, which she was kind enough to share with me. Dolphin Love
Harmonious Friendship
One of the nicest aspects of this swim was the calm, respectful, and beautiful energy emitted by the swimmers in the water. I saw several of my dearest dolphin-sisters communing with our cetacean extended family in the bay. We shared a blessed morning in the vibrational field of supreme harmony.
The Power of Being Present
The message that I received from the pod that day was the importance of being completely present within each moment. The mother dolphins in particular were perfectly attuned to our energy & movements in the water… they were 100% present with us.It is my belief that the profound trust they extended to us (by sharing their babies) was the direct result of a state of heightened sensory perception made possible by their concentrated focus of attention in the present. Within the encapsulated experience of ‘the present’, our hearts were connected, and the only living vibration was that of love.