We had quite a reminder of nature’s power just after arriving in Hawaii for this year’s wild dolphin swim and vision retreat. On the Saturday night before the official retreat festivities began, we were confronted with a tsunami warning for all the islands of Hawaii. This warning was due to a 7.7 earthquake 125 miles off the coast of British Columbia. Sirens were blaring as we were told to leave the low-lying area where we were eating dinner with friends. Fortunately, our retreat center near Hawi (on the north part of the Big Island) is on high ground, so we were safe from any possible large waves that threatened the coastline. It was all for naught as the earthquake did not affect the waters around Hawaii at all. The next morning, relieved and refreshed, we were ready to receive our snorkel session at Jack’s Diving Locker.

What a wonderfully sweet group of people gathered for this year’s dolphin swim and vision retreat! Here’s a day-by-day summary.

Day 1, Monday: At our morning opening circle, I talked about the powerful elements that Hawaii provides for us to use as a catalyst to release any self-limiting beliefs we may have accumulated in our lifetime. I shared the importance of acknowledging all of the traditional gods and goddesses, and the medicine they offer us, as we are guests in Hawaii. I spoke about the Fire Goddess, Pele, and her influence as the fierce “Destroyer,” as well as the Mother Goddess. Pele contains within her both the destructive and creative powers of life. These powers are still very evident in Hawaii where her home volcano of Kilauea has been erupting periodically since 1983. She is a tangible, physical presence not only in the volcano area of the island but throughout the entire Hawaiian island chain.

We said a Hawaiian prayer to invoke her protection, energy, strength, and the ability to let go of our past history. After sending her prayers, we anointed each other with Ocean Pine, a wonderful essence that helped ground our roots into Mother Ocean. With these roots, we headed out to meet our dolphin friends. We had many swims with them during the day, as people acclimated to their energy and swimming in the Pacific Ocean. They were so playful with their spinning and moving around us. As we headed back to the Marina, people were pretty wiped out.

In the late afternoon, we returned to our retreat center, and I led a session on vision therapy. Then we had a delicious dinner and went to bed early to get ready for the next day.

Day 2, Tuesday: During our opening circle, we anointed one other with high-frequency Rose essence, which helped expand our “love vibration.” We also sent many prayers to all our brothers and sisters in the Northeast U.S., who were dealing with effects of Hurricane Sandy. After expressing our gratitude to the spirit of water, we started our second day with great excitement! My colleagues Mary, Natalina, and Natalina’s husband Yon joined us on the boat today, as they were collecting data on how the dolphins affect the energy field around the boat. This is part of an on-going project that I have been doing the past three years in Hawaii. Mary is organizing an international conference next September in Hawaii, and we will be presenting our results to a group of scientists.

As we headed out of the marina, we had some great interactive swims with the dolphins, but our last swim of the day occurred in a deserted bay where we were met by forty dolphins who played and swam with us for a very long time. The dolphins created such a playful wave and spiral motion around us that we all felt incredible love for them. One of our guides, Celeste, dropped some leaves she had brought into the water. As a leaf began to sink, a dolphin would swim below and catch it with a fin or tail and bring it to the surface. We also played with the bubbles the dolphins produced in the water while swimming with us. These bubbles were different sizes and some of them actually looked like crystals as they floated to the surface. Jan, our other guide, said that the bubbles carried important information that the dolphins wanted to convey to us. As the bubbles swirled to the surface, we absorbed them into our bodies. I received some information about how the dolphins use their energy to create scalar waves—hmmm, I need to really think about that for a while.

One of their major teachings today is that they told us to play more!! Some of the dolphins moved in a tetrahedron spiral shape, while others made love with each other while swimming around us. We had several encounters where they passed very close to a face so that eye contact was established. We called this “face time” with the dolphins. They just kept coming and coming until finally it was time to return to the boat. They really did not want us to leave! We all felt like our brain cells got re-arranged, and everyone was very happy.

After returning to the retreat center for a long rest, I offered a late afternoon session in vision therapy. In the evening I led people in a restorative Continuum dive, which put people in wonderful state for sleep. (Continuum is a process that uses various sequences of movement, sound and breath to create increased aliveness in our being.)

Day 3, Wednesday: We had a day off from our dolphin friends so we could have some integration time. My wife Charly and I had been invited by our island friends Barrie, Suzanne and Bob to meet a special man named Richard Spiegel and his lovely wife Candice. Their business in nearby Honokaa is called Volcano Island Honey Company. On the drive over, we felt transported to the British Isles as we drove on a rural two-lane road surrounded by green, rolling hills. As we entered Richard’s property, we could tell immediately that he is an amazing man. He has strived to create a sustainable business model with his employees as well as with the bees and their honey. I highly recommend his honey as I found it to be very medicinal and lovely. His website is www.volcanoislandhoney.com

After lunch, we traveled back to the retreat center to meet our group. I took them to Pololu Valley Lookout in Kapaau. We hiked down to a beautiful black beach and encountered a secluded taste of the natural world.

After this satisfying hike, we enjoyed dinner out in Hawaii at a place called Sushi Rock. It was delicious!

Day 4, Thursday: During our circle this morning we anointed each other with the wonderful essence Angelica Root. This essence helps connect us with our “roots and wings.” We had another great day with the dolphins, playing the leaf game again and experiencing more face time with our friends. Celeste taught us a chant to call the dolphins and whales. We begin chanting “Oma Ka Om” over and over again in the water as the dolphins swam in a more restful, sleepy state. We also met up with a pod of dolphins that were playing and swimming with their children. We all felt like we were in a meditation with them. One other highlight of the day was swimming at the Golden Arch, which is a beautiful reef to snorkel. It was simply gorgeous, filled with very colorful fish.

We returned to the retreat center for afternoon and evening sessions of vision therapy and Continuum. I almost forgot to mention that this was my birthday. I had a great celebration and cake with all my friends!

Day 5, Friday: This morning as we held hands in a circle, we expressed how wonderful we felt with one another. We anointed each other with an essence called Listea Cubeba which was very uplifting. As we headed out of the marina, Celeste told us about some whale interactions she has had while swimming with them in Tonga. We were discussing our hopes to see a whale when, all of a sudden, a bottle-nose dolphin showed up right in front of the bow of the boat. He swam with the boat as we headed north, swimming very fast to keep up with our speed. He was very playful. He would swim on his back to show us his underside, then turn back over to breath every now and then. We called him the Kahuna as he gave us quite a show. He stayed with us for about 10 minutes and then headed off to have his own adventure.

Just then we encountered a pod of spinner dolphins, and we could tell that today they were on a mission. We kept traveling north with them and, at the right moment, would jump in the water and swim with them as they swam by.

We had one great swim with them at a spot where the floor of the ocean was a beautiful sandy beach. It reminded me of my times swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas.

After lunch, we headed further out to look for pilot whales and met up with pod of spotted dolphins with beautiful white noses. They surfed and played with our boat for a while, then said goodbye to us and hoped we would return next year! After we returned to the marina, we said our goodbyes to the wonderful boat staff and headed back to the retreat center for our last night together.

At our evening circle, people shared the sweetness they experienced during the week. It was a magical week together.

I would like to extend a special thank-you to the staff at Hawaii Island Retreat Center: Jeanie, Jacque, and Kelli. The vision of this eco retreat center is to offer a tranquil nature experience, and it fit the bill for our group. It was a great place to rejuvenate and immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature.

I would also like to thank all the boat crew – Kawika, Erin, Jim and Allison – for their expertise in helping us find the dolphins. Finally, I would like to thank our dolphin pod leaders Jan, Celeste, and Pete. They were our “dolphin whisperers” and the ambassadors who introduced us to these amazing beings.

We feel deep gratitude to all the creatures that inhabit our oceans.