I have spent the last seven years of my life trying to understand the mystical aspects of the lagoon. I have witnessed so many unexplainable events since I arrived. Even my own story. What happened to me the first time I met the dolphins has happened to so many people. They arrive, their hearts crack open, they look into the eyes of the dolphins and something shifts inside. People go home and change their whole lives.
I know that many retreats around the world can have this effect on us. Being together so intimately for a week, while also doing inner work, is fertile ground for contemplation and reflection. When you move away from everyday life and routines, when you remove the constant input and demands from people around you and from social media, you begin to truly listen to that voice inside you.
But I have to say, there is another layer added when you come close to dolphins.
I have had many powerful experiences over the years, but the most powerful one was very recent,. One dolphin specifically came to me, and I recognized a mark on him. He had approached me before. During that week, he returned to me repeatedly. And one moment was especially intense when he and another dolphin came closer than ever before.
There were only a few centimeters between his eye and mine. Not even an inch. We looked so deeply into each other’s eyes that I felt I could drown in his. It was like looking into another universe. Time slowed down. We swam slower and slower, as if everything around us had disappeared.
At the same time, one of the other participants was on the other side of the two dolphins. The second dolphin was approaching him just as closely. It felt as if we were being drawn into something together. Like a doorway opening between us. The colors shimmered. The sea shifted. And suddenly, it felt as if we were no longer in Sataya. As if we had been lifted into another space. Another time. Another world.
Then, just as suddenly, I was back. I heard a whooshing sound in my ears, like returning from deep sleep. I blinked in the sunlight, with the dolphin still beside me. He gave a sudden twitch and disappeared in an instant.
There were so many questions. What happened? Where was I? Was this something the dolphin initiated? Did he take me somewhere? Or were we both having some kind of out-of-body experience?
I started crying. My body was shaking.
A few minutes later, about thirty meters away, another woman began crying too. She had been in the water, completely unaware of my experience, but clearly something had happened to her as well.
The other participant was shaken. We tried to speak about it afterwards, but we couldn’t find the words. It felt almost impossible to explain. And maybe that was the point. Not everything is meant to be understood with the mind.
But I am so curious. What do these encounters mean? Are they projections? Nervous system responses? Or is there something more happening when two beings meet without language or expectations?
What I do know is this: something shifts in people here. Again and again. I have watched women arrive guarded and leave softened. I have seen terrified participants go from being held by us to swimming freely in the lagoon with the dolphins. I have watched men stand speechless, crying after a single moment in the water. So many tears in Sataya.
I have a theory that the dolphins mirror something ancient within us, and that when we look into their eyes, we are really looking into our own depth. If you think about how strong a symbol the dolphin is across cultures, maybe there is a reason. Maybe there is a chance that we can allow ourselves to believe they are, in some way, magical beings.
What happened that day in the water remains a mystery to me. But it was real. My body felt it. The others felt it. Something opened. And for a brief moment, the world I knew became wider.
If you like these stories, don't forget to subscribe below.