The night before my first dolphin encounter I tried making contact with the Dolphin Diva, essence of dolphin energy, on the great cosmic telephone through meditation. It seemed like a good idea to make allies of the huge creatures I'd be swimming in the ocean with the next day at Isleta Mujeres, a small island off the coast of Cancun.

She soon appeared, poised on her muscular tail in a sea of aquamarine.

"Greetings!" she said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Yes, I know. I've heard your dolphin call to swim with you for two years now but don't understand what this whole thing is about. I'm feeling anxious about what I don't understand," I said, fishing for answers. 

"Don't worry, I've already scanned you and know your issues. Let's just say it's time for me to bump you along," she said cryptically.

"Why? I already know how to swim," I joked. 

"No, this isn't about swimming, silly. It's about your spiritual path. It's time to trust and just jump in the water with us without seeing the bigger picture. The timing is right and the ocean's special electrical conductivity will help with the work we're going to do," she said. 

"Okay... but please be gentle," I whined. She nodded, let out a joyously high pitched "Wheeeeeee!" sound, then did a graceful back flip before swimming back to the Source of All That Is. 

Next day I met Lissy and Fatima, two female dolphins assigned to our small group of six at Dolphin Discovery. Stripped of my contact lenses, they looked like huge black torpedoes tunneling towards me in the fenced-in ocean field. It was all I could do to stay upright while treading water, wearing awkward fins and life jacket. I felt as vulnerable as pelican bait bobbing up and down in their churning wake. 

At first they kept their distance but soon swam over to size me up. "Uh-oh," I thought, as they nodded to each other. 

One dolphin came dose enough to pet. Her skin was a slate color, marred with lighter scratch marks "from other dolphins" our Mexican guide explained. I didn't want to think these playful creatures fought, or might attack me, a remote possibility alluded to in our informational session: "Just in case the dolphins start poking you, cross your arms over your chest and slowly swim away. Get back to the ladder and get out of the pool. Whatever you do, don't turn your back on them or swim away fast..." No, instead of focusing on that, I tried to remember the dolphin diagram and all the do's and don'ts of where to touch and not touch them. But my adrenaline was up. I feared making a mistake, like accidentally molesting them and raising their anger. 

Suddenly, one dolphin glided towards me, a mischievous look in her eye. Tentatively I reached out to touch her but she quickly slid beneath my palm, "making" me pet her! Her flirtatiously precise move startled me. Being toyed with by a thinking mammal the size of a small whale raised issues of vulnerability. I wasn't the one in control here, but any fears about her wrestler's muscularity were dwarfed by her bristling vitality. Her skin felt rubbery yet smooth, like a peeled hard boiled egg. But just then our guide pointed to me and yelled "Okay, ifs your turn to swim out to the center of the pool! Go! Go! Go!" 

Each of us was to take turns getting water rides from Lissy and Fatima. As soon as I stretched both arms out to my sides, both dolphins sandwiched me, each gently positioning a dorsal fin in one of my hands. I grasped these living handles and—zoom!—we took off body surfing, ocean spray salting my laughter. Then I felt a strange sensation, ..a tingling feeling radiating from my little finger up the inside of my arm to my armpit. This was my heart meridian, that body energy pathway that affects the heart. The Chinese classics say "the heart is the root of life," the seat of the spirit, or Shen. As the ruling "official" or organ, the heart influences the overall stability of our emotions, so this hands-on experience with dolphins was giving me an emotional tune up besides a ride. 

The next water position our guide suggested was floating on my stomach, legs spread apart and braced. I felt vulnerable lying face down in the water. The dolphins snuck up behind me then quickly pushed me forward from the bottoms of my feet. Their powerful momentum whooshed me into a standing position. The sheer surprise of "walking on water" almost disguised the real energy work taking place. 

Their noses pressed into Kidney I, an acupuncture point located on the sole at the bottom of the balls of both feet. Called "Bubbling Spring," Kidney I is a strong physical revival point, sometimes used to alleviate fatigue. It worked. Dolphin stimulation of Kidney I certainly got my juices flowing! 

So far the dolphins had given me a real physical tune-up, but they weren't done with me yet. Now came what looked like a classic photo opportunity where dolphin arches up halfway out of the water to "kiss" person's face while she hangs dockside. Cute. Innocuous looking enough. But when Ljssy pressed her snout into the side of my face, she drilled into Gall bladder 2, an acupuncture point called "Madly Running Away", located on my jaw bone, just below the ear. Stimulating that point felt electric, as if someone had attached a personal vibrator to my face! Buzz! Fzzt! filled my neck, scalp, jaw, ears, teeth and eyes, but I couldn't run madly away with this dolphin glued to my face. 

Former acupuncturist Lynn Abbot tells me that in Chinese medicine the gall bladder has to do with decision making. Up to this point, I think I had been madly running away from my emotions, often finding them annoying. I often dealt with them by trying to analyze them. But now Lissy was giving me a new suggestion concerning decision making: 

"Make a decision to immerse yourself in your emotions, just like diving into this pool of water," she conveyed. "Feel them, then let them go. Experience them but quit thinking about them so much. They're meant to be experienced, not analyzed!" She pressed until I got her point and she unhinged herself from my face. 

Such wisdom from a dolphin! A beautiful gift to me. Lissy's message helped me accept more of who I am—my emotions—by teaching me to feel their power rather than trying to scientifically quantify them. 

My healing with the dolphins actually began two years ago when I heard their call then finally let go enough to follow my heart to Mexico where they awaited me. This was the right time, the right place and these were the right dolphins. Maybe one of them calls to you. If so, honor your intuition. You've got call waiting with a porpoise.

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Nancy Wright is a freelance writer, author, speaker, and Reiki Master specializing in metaphysical, inspirational, alternative healing, paranormal and travel topics.  She is author of Suitcase Down The Nile: A Spunky Woman's Transformational Journey Through Egypt which is now available through Amazon.com. For an autographed copy of her nonfiction book, send a $19.95 check made payable to Lexigram Books/PO Box 693/Westford, Mass.  01886.  For book signings, writing, speaking or paranormal research engagements, email: NancyWri@aol.com, Website: www.lexigrambooks.com.