Welcome dear friend.
Today I will walk you through a relaxing meditation where you will swim in a calm sea and encounter a group of friendly and playful dolphins.
To ensure you are relaxed and comfortable during this meditation,
Swimming or being out in open water should be a happy place for you.
Please make yourself comfortable either sitting or lying down in a quiet space where you will not be disturbed.
Feel free to step outside for some fresh air if you have a relaxing place to rest there.
Position yourself so your spine is lengthened and in good alignment so you can breathe with ease and comfort.
Softly close your eyes and allow yourself to settle into the posture.
Draw your awareness to your breath.
Sense the air flowing into your nostrils as you inhale,
Filling your lungs,
Inflating your belly,
Ribcage and chest.
As you exhale,
Notice the soft release in your body as old energy leaves your lungs and flows out through your nostrils.
Continue to follow your breath.
Now tune into the rhythm of your breath.
Count the length of your inhale and the length of your exhale.
After a few breath cycles,
Begin to gradually adjust your breathing so that the length of your inhale matches the length of your exhale.
For example,
If you count to four over the course of your inhale,
You will also exhale for four counts.
As you continue to breathe,
Start to smooth out any hitches you feel in your breath,
Especially being aware of the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale.
Imagine that your breath is riding on a Ferris wheel.
Ride the inhale up to the top of the Ferris wheel and then let the breath very smoothly flow over the top into the exhale.
Ride to the bottom on the exhale and then very smoothly flow into the next inhale.
Continue to ride the breath like this for a few cycles,
Noticing how easy and fluid your breath feels.
Now transition back to breathing in your normal rhythm.
Start to notice the screen in front of your closed eyelids that we call Shidikasha.
Maybe you will notice colors and shapes on this screen of your consciousness.
Continue to maintain your awareness of this space and allow yourself to take a journey with me,
Bringing images alive on that screen in your mind at first like you are watching a movie and then stepping right into that scene and immersing all five of your senses in the experience.
You are standing near the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez in San Carlos,
Mexico.
It is a bright sunny day.
The sky is a clear azure blue and the air is clean and balmy.
Sunlight on water diamonds flash across the endless expanse of aquamarine sea.
The sun warms your skin and the sea breeze ruffles your hair and tickles your skin.
You see rugged volcanic mountains all around you along the curving shoreline.
You sigh with contentment as you look out at the brilliant aquamarine blue sea.
The water is so clear.
You see small silver fish swimming in shallow water near your feet.
You wade slowly into the water,
Which is just the right temperature,
Feeling the sand squeeze between your toes.
You position your goggles over your eyes and begin to slowly stroke away from shore.
The water slides over your skin,
Soothing every muscle in your body.
You savor the sensation of being surrounded by sea water and the flow of it around your body.
You stroke through the water,
Establishing a comfortable swimming rhythm,
Savoring the woomy feel of the water and its buoyancy.
You periodically raise your head to sight on a distant volcanic peak to help you swim straight and parallel to the shore.
You lift your head once more to breathe and see a line of dorsal fins in front of you.
You smile as a wave of joy and calm washes over your whole being.
You had hoped to encounter this friendly pot of dolphins and just seeing them approaching makes you feel elated.
You want to shout with joy.
There's something about being near dolphins that always makes you feel better physically and emotionally.
They seem to have healing power.
You transition into a slow breaststroke,
Which makes the dolphins more relaxed around you than when you swim freestyle.
All at once,
You see three sleek dark bodies jet underneath you.
Two are several feet long.
Between the two larger ones is a baby dolphin with a foot-long body and small pectoral and dorsal fins.
Its little two-pronged tail or fluke is so cute.
One of the adult dolphins circles back around.
With his mouth turned up,
He appears to have a perpetual smile on his face.
His eyes appear bright and intelligent.
He gazes at you face to face and then opens his mouth to display a row of teeth before swimming away.
You can see a semicircle of scratches near one of his pectoral fins.
Soon another dolphin swims upside down underneath you,
Raising his beak just a little as if to say,
Look at my white belly.
Once again,
You notice how happy you feel and as if you were 10 years younger.
Every day you've encountered the dolphins in open water has felt like a miracle.
There were days you felt tired or sad or under the weather and suddenly all those negative experiences of body and mind fled and you felt like a child out here in the water,
Joyous and free and unlimited.
The dolphin with the circular scratches swims up close to blow bubble rings for you.
It's so much fun when they want to play.
You clap your hands and after he repeats this a few more times,
You roll in the water and then leap up and splash down a few times to show you're in a playful mood.
Three nearby dolphins jump into the air at the same time.
You are impressed by their strength.
They swim so fast and leap in the air seemingly without effort.
They seem genuinely interested in you.
You find yourself speaking underwater to them,
Saying hi,
How much you enjoyed the bubble show,
How cute the baby is,
How amazed you are by them.
Suddenly the dolphins disappear as quickly as they appeared and you find yourself alone in the water,
Rising and dipping with the waves.
See you next time you say to open water.
By the time the group surfaces again,
They are at least a hundred meters away,
But the elated feeling still lingers.
The dolphins chose to visit you.
You had a beautiful swimming experience with them and you continue your swim feeling happy and joyful.
You know every time you swim you'll have this hope that maybe they will swim with you again.
It won't happen every day you know.
Swimming with them is a special privilege and you feel grateful to have once again connected with these unique and magical creatures.
Now allow these images to descend into the recesses of your mind so that you can bring them back whenever you need them again and bring yourself back to present moment time and space.
Notice the outline of your body in the quiet room where you are resting.
Slowly bring movements into your fingers and toes and when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me for this swimming with dolphins meditation.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
