Dolphins + CranioSacral Therapy + Bahamas = Life Changing

The first few times I was asked about my recent trip to the Bahamas for the BioAquatic program I found myself stalled out AHHHHHHH how do I put this in words that can capture the experience fully without putting you on a plane and sending you down there to see for yourself. The word that was often used to describe the experience is profound and even that word itself feels as if its taken on new meaning. So yeah over all a really fucking good experience. Truly profound. Worth getting on a plane and being a part of it. In fact take me with you! Lets go!

*this is a long blog post but there are dolphin photos at the bottom ; )

Working in the water and in particular in the ocean felt immensely meaningful. Like there had been something missing from my practice as a craniosacral therapist and I suddenly discovered I’d only been working at half capacity. Over the span of the class it went from working in the water to working with the water.

While studying CranioSacral Therapy there is often talk of blending and melding with the tissues to better feel what is going on in the body. Now take that concept of blending and melding and expand it out into the water and connect and then blend and meld with the additional practitioners your working with in the water. Add in the gentle current of a change in tides, the soft lapping of waves that undulate down your spine, the call of the birds, and gentle breeze blowing big puffy clouds through the sky. Now we're way beyond a treatment experience in a room and into a pure life experience.

Now take all that and add dolphins who live and treat in a group continually. Treatment became the interplay of four groups into one giant pod. The dolphins treating with sound, touch, and presence. The trainers caring for the dolphins and holding the space for treatment at their workplace, clients experiencing treatment and being open to sharing their personal stories and lives with so many, and craniosacral therapist working and treating and supporting in a group. It’s was the most beautiful lessoning in being a part of a group, staying present,  and sharing joy and treatment with everyone.

So what’s it like to be in the water with dolphins during treatment? During my treatment time with the dolphins I was floated out into the treatment area. I was surprised by how nervous I was not knowing if there was going to be any dolphin contact. What was truly magical was the sounds the clicks and calls all around you, the movement of water as a dolphin swims under you or pops up next to you and dives down splashing water over your face. The moment that it really clicked for me was when I felt a long clicking call that felt directed at my occiput. It felt that it came into the area that I was hit during my concussion and rippled up through every layer of my brain releasing any lingering restrictions. I remember an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that being seen and acknowledged and will certainly be an experience I will never forget.

As a support therapist during the client program your back in with the dolphins but from a difference perspective. You’re standing on a dock in the water assisting your primary therapist and holding space for your client. Observing the interactions and although it looks like the dolphins focus is all on the clients but there is an additional understanding that just by being in the water close to the dolphins sounds, sonar, and beaming you are also being treated. It reminds me of the quote “We are all island in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” By William James. 
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​It’s hard to sum up what is learned and what’s changed and how but I do know for sure is that I want to continue to go back and volunteer my time, that I’ll be encouraging clients to look at longer treatment programs because the changes can be truly profound, and that I am in need of working outside and in the water more.
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The Dolphin Accompanied Therapy Program for clients, BioAquatic Exploration classes for CranioSacral Therapists, Veterans PTSD program, and Comprehensive Therapy programs for clients are available through Integrative Intentions.