Meditating with Whales–Humpback Adventure Part II
Monday--I walked up from my cabin below deck to the dive deck and then climbed the set of stairs to the sundeck at 5am. The nearly-full moon surprised me and stars overhead sparkled their good light on me as I stepped onto my mat to begin my yoga practice. It felt as if my entire being opened to the moon and stars and sea. So open and at-one was I that there was no noticeable difference between ‘me’ and the elements.
After breakfast and loading our tender (small boat), our group of ten and crew of three left the mother ship. After a short distance we did a practice entry and direction-following session for when we would actually see a whale and have an in-water experience. We got back on board our small boat and immediately the tour operator said, “Okay, get ready. There’s a mother and baby in the area. She hasn’t really settled but you might get lucky and get a fly-by.” In what reality does this happen? Usually it takes hours of riding the bumpy waves to get such an opportunity.
I left my camera on the boat and must say…’oh, well’ because on the last of many fly-bys, the mother and baby came within 10 to 15 feet of our group. Mom was surfacing slowly and baby was riding on mom’s head. The youngster’s eyes were closed in pure and perfect whale bliss. The absolute bliss filled me with profound and uncontainable joy. Had I been holding my heavy camera in front of my face concentrating on framing a shot, I would have missed the moment. Sometimes it’s really okay to miss a photograph. Truly okay. I now have the imprint, the pattern of what baby humpback bliss is and wouldn’t trade it for anything. When I close my eyes now, as I write this, I feel the perfection of peace and contentment and total trust.
Such sweetness I have never experienced before…ever.
As I sat on the flying bridge writing this after lunch, humpbacks on either side of our large boat are fin slapping. A gentle tap on my shoulder pointed it out…the engineer of the boat who rarely says anything wanted me to see the whales. Mama seemed to be encouraging a baby to fin slap…one way the mothers help babies build strength for their long migration back north to feeding waters.
There is nothing more sacred than a mother humpback’s love for her baby. It makes my heart so wide open I feel as if it contains the Universe. These beings are as aware and sentient as any human. They are loving and tactile and teach their babies with such care. Humans are only one species, in many, that are consciously aware and mindful.
For the past year I have been meditating envisioning a grandmother humpback. The potency of this journey, this trip to see them, is amplified by many months of preparation….to learn, to grow, to heal on a deeper level.
The willingness to expand into our own potential is magnified by the effort we put into it.
After lunch and the restful time on the top deck, it was time for whale searching once more in the tenders. It didn’t take long and we were in the water with two sleeping whales for about an hour. They surfaced twice to breathe but gently sank below us to ‘sleep’ after breathing. The male and female appeared to be sleeping but when I hovered over them and went into meditation, I sensed that whales don’t sleep as we know it but rather enter a dream-state, the dreamtime. Somehow their presence and their dreaming seems vital to the balance of the Ocean, the planet. Scientists would laugh at this, but I’m no scientist. What am I then? A sea priestess? Mermaid? One who listens on a deep level…no doubt.
Meditating with whales today may be the most profoundly moving experience I’ve ever had. It will most likely takes months to understand everything I learned during the experience. I managed to take photographs when I finished the more important task of connecting with them on a deeper level.
Meditating with whales….a continuation of last year’s trip and the many months of meditation at home. I felt a real connection, a real solidifying of the work we’ve been doing together in a formless realm. Today’s experience was a mind connection on a deeply spiritual level. It felt like a working relationship that was strengthened by physical proximity.
There is no doubt that I will continue dreaming with whales…here and when I return to that place I live. Home, however, is here with the humpbacks…where I feel most alive and in-tune with life.
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