Dolphin Assisted Therapy

Day 3 was the day for Dolphin Assisted Therapy. First we had a class meeting in the morning to check in about the previous day's ocean session.  In addition to a tense discussion initiated by a classmate, and my own sharing about feeling cranky after the ocean experience, I was paired with a 14 year old girl, the daughter of the teaching assistant, and I was not happy about this.  She was there under the condition of having promised to participate as an adult. But she wasn't capable of that. Instead she'd check out during sessions and barely share anything about her experiences during our meetings. She was a child. And I viewed her as a crack in the container; I didn't feel safe with her in this context. Not at all. Luckily, before I even had the chance to discuss this with the teacher and insist on having a different partner, the teacher said, "on second thought, let's have mother and daughter experience this together. Rebecca, you're with Nuno." Nuno was the teacher in training. Much better! Lucky me.

After the meeting, we boarded a boat to go back to Unexso, where we'd been for the dolphin swim on Day 1. As soon as I saw the dolphins, the yesterday's crankiness and the morning's tension melted away. We were all paired off, standing on a platform in the water. Each of us would have twenty minutes to float with our partners supporting our bodies however we wanted (i.e. hands at feet or head, hands under sacrum and head). There were 2 dolphins, Coral and Cayla, who would come and interact, or not, however they wanted to.

Coral

Nuno asked me to just lightly support his ankles. And he spent most of the time with his head underwater, just coming up for air when needed. During this time, I focused on Nuno as much as possible and silently requested that at least one of the dolphins give Nuno plenty of attention. And Coral kept hearing my request. Cayla, Coral's mother, spent the whole 20 minutes in one place, between two of my classmates. But Coral kept coming and going, often popping up right behind Nuno, as if standing up in the water. And she'd look at me when she did this.

I tried not to look back so much, since this was Nuno's session, not mine. But I couldn't resist. She was just so cute! We had several short eye gazing sessions each time she'd come over and stand up behind Nuno with her flippers open wide as if wanting a hug.

I was in love.

And then it was my turn.

I had a feeling Coral would be giving me plenty of attention since we'd already been bonding. But I knew I had to release expectations and just be open, even open to the possibility of nothing other than hearing the dolphins speak and swim by.

I started out the way Nuno had. With the head farthest away from the platform and Nuno just holding my feet. But after a while my neck and upper back felt they needed more support, so I turned myself around and asked him for more support, placing my head in his hands. I floated there in a very receptive posture, my palms facing up and arms slightly, or largely, away from my body. Although tempting to open my eyes at times, I kept them closed so wasn't always sure what was happening. But at least one of the dolphins kept coming to visit me. I'd be lying there with my arm stretched out and suddenly I'd feel some part of a dolphin arrive in the palm of my hand and just park there. I'd wonder if my hand was on her heart. I had no way to know for sure. Later I found out that both Coral and Cayla were coming over to me frequently, and at one point towards the end, I was between the two of them with one hand on each.

One thing I remember very clearly is that at least one of the dolphins kept knocking into my hands and arms, especially my right wrist and elbow. And not just bumping into it, but repeatedly and intentionally doing something to my arm. I wondered if the right arm had to do with the 60 plus sand flea bites (yeah, I forgot to mention that in previous entries), or with the on and off again repetitive strain injury I've had over the years. Or perhaps something else?

Cayla

Something else I remember is that water splashed in my face. I didn't know for sure if it was meant for me until Nuno later told me that Cayla had suddenly showed up at some point just to squirt water in my face. Very directly, very intentionally. Pretty sure Cayla was the dolphin I'd been with during the majority of the dolphin swim, so when Nuno told me this I felt it had something to do with the playfulness we'd found towards the end of our swim.

And whenever the dolphins were not in direct contact with me, during that 20 minutes, I'd just float there and focus on opening up more and more. I'd think about being love. Radiating love. I hoped that would attract them, bring them back to me, but even if it didn't, I'd feel great so it wouldn't even matter.

I could just float there so full of love and radiance and joy that it wouldn't even matter if I didn't get any more "special" attention. But usually within what felt like a minute or so, one of them would come back and physically touch me or I'd hear and feel one swimming right below or near me, speaking a mysterious language that seemed so full of meaning.

It's been a bit more than two weeks now since Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and I'm still feeling those dolphins, one in particular, with me. So much so that on the plane to Croatia, I'd wake up periodically, look around in a daze, and find myself wondering, "Am I a dolphin?"

I know it sounds strange, but I had this really strong feeling as if this dolphin Coral was not only with me, but inside of me, as if seeing/experiencing life through me. And I hear dolphin sounds in my head on and off all throughout the day. Go ahead, call the loony bin; I don't care; I kind of like it.

And actually, it's not so crazy. I told my parents, and they said "Maybe it's true. We don't really know what dolphins are capable of with those big brains of theirs." So I did some research. The funniest result was a Yahoo question "Are dolphins telepathic?" The top answer? "They seek to destroy mankind. Beware."

On a serious note though, there is quite a bit out there about dolphins being telepathic, and I even found something about dolphins and astral projection; they only turn off half of their brain when they sleep: "This means that dolphins are the ultimate lucid dreamers in that they exist both here and on the astral plane simultaneously! Scientists have studied this phenomenon in dolphins...."

Maybe Coral astrally projects herself around to visit various people who have swam with her?!

I don't know.... I don't need to know.

This is one "how" and "why" I'm fine with not understanding. And perhaps that, in addition to being more playful, receptive, and just simply being love, is part of the dolphins' medicine.

Not letting the desire to know or understand ruin the magic, hinder the creativity, or taint the imagination.

So excuse me if I am sometimes at a loss for words now and instead just start laughing because what I really want to do is just make dolphin sounds and find a body of water to jump into. But that's just the way it is. At least for now....

Just found this picture of Coral that somebody else took. I love it!

© 2012 Rebecca Clio Gould. All rights reserved.