Living on a developed barrier island, Ponce Inlet Florida, USA, and floating in the ocean daily has built an even more intimate relationship with nature. What a contrast from the island of Manhattan, New York City to this island, and thinking back on the years being on the Small Island States, such as Fiji and Samoa. The opportunity to learn from biodiversity and interact with nature is immeasurable and teaches so much about how each species is organically wired to survive.
When I moved into a home on the beach during recovery to regain my health, floating with the dolphins led me to an ocean curriculum. Then two mama sea turtles chose to make their nests on the shore of the beach where I live. We have learned so much about being able to witness the life cycles of sea turtles during this time and these precious endangered species we are called to team-up with others here to help protect.
The mother lays her eggs onshore and goes back to the sea. Months later, the sea turtle hatchlings’ journey to the ocean for the first time by themselves. Watch this little leader:
The learning that is unfolding is immeasurable and inspires the sharing of the love for biodiversity with new experiences in the wild with birds, fish, crabs, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles grows from being in the ocean.
Being immersed in the ocean and island, life breath by breath strengthens that interconnection to all species. But the key is how to not merely survive, but to thrive, with interdependency on one another beyond siloed life systems, using both science, consciousness, and life’s ultimate mystery to discover how to better protect nature. Urgent action on both local and global levels to approach this change is needed, but it begins with becoming aware of the challenges and opportunities.
When we are immersed in nature, each one of us can come into a more balanced relationship, not just to the ocean, flora, and fauna, but one another. This island has a team that supports marine life, with wild species education, rehabilitation, all in the effort to support, conserve and preserve sea turtles, and more!
Actions on Biodiversity World Team Now is taking include:
From a global view, biodiversity worldwide is rapidly decreasing. Urgent action is needed as witnessed in the United Nations’ just published 5th edition its Global Diversity Outlook.
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5)
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5), published by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), offers an authoritative overview of the state of nature. It is a final report card on progress against the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline, and offers lessons learned and best practices for getting on track.
The report calls for a shift away from “business as usual” across a range of human activities. It outlines eight transitions that recognize the value of biodiversity, the need to restore the ecosystems on which all human activity de-pends, and the urgency of reducing the negative impacts of such activity.
There was to be a UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon Portugal in 2020 but that is moved to 2021, date TBD.
United Nations Ocean Conference
One of the Sustainable Development Goals, #14 Life Under Water, mandates the conservation of our worldwide oceans.
Leading to COP26 in Glasgow Scottland 1-12 November 2021.
HOME - UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2020
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference will take place in November 2021, at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow.
Observing nature, and organically discovering natural-based solutions from the ocean, is leading to new pathways forward for our common future.
The respect for nature grows with each breath on the World Team journey. I continue to learn from dolphins, even when self-isolating in this large home, on this small island off of Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA.
My writer’s retreat was meant to go into the early months of 2020. This retreat, now hermitage, or imposed self-isolation, began when I couldn’t return to Fiji. I wasn’t able to make the flight from California to Fiji because of my lung’s ability to heal— to take a deep breath from the smoke of fires in CA 2019.
How surreal it is like the world, the collective consciousness, that is the WE, US, have joined together in having to go within, stay home, reprioritize, renew our life’s patterns and systems, and for many of us, take a deeper breath. A breath to review and renew what is important.
Yes, I was incredibly challenged to breathe, for what seemed like an eternity, but was only about 30-40 hrs. All I focused on was conscious breathing and each moment striving to take a deeper breath. I used every breathing technique I knew from over the years of taking on my pulmonary function and respiratory system, which had been in the past impaired. I tried to recall what I learned from Nei Kung to Conscious Breathwork. Each new breath, birthed an infinite light within, unattached to a presence in form, as I let go on the exhale.
The “Stay Home” mantra, began to challenge me coming into week four. I remember in being human we are each unique, we each sometimes respond differently to the same thing based on our immune systems. But we do have our breath in common, and this home, as mentioned in World Team’s Universal Declaration.
After all of the years of swimming with the dolphins in the wild in Malibu, Hawaii, Fiji, even New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island the dolphins continue to teach and enlighten. One dolphin actually came to me, during this recovery time, when I couldn’t go into the water. I had just begun to go outside to walk on the private property out on to the dock that extends from the home yard to the water for a “self-isolated” communion with nature.
Swimming with dolphins in the wild in different parts of the world for decades the name, “The Dolphin Lady” became an alias. I feel most at home floating in the ocean, and often when I float the dolphins come, as if “called”.
Can you image the heartfelt joy I experienced during #StayHome with me, coming into this Holiday tide when a single dolphin (perhaps pregnant and about to give birth), swam underneath the dock as I walked above? I notice the dolphin’s breathing— the importance of the breath has a deeper meaning now, amidst this COVID19 Public Health Crisis, not only for me personally but perhaps for us all?
A learning and deep observation from the grace of bio-mimicry medicine offered out for all to consider from the dolphin’s breathing.
We can learn a lot from dolphins. Dolphins stay underwater, and just when one wonders where they will rise— surprise! The dolphin breaks the surface from the depths, breaching up to move in new ways.
Did you know dolphins breathing is conscious? For a dolphin, every single breath is an active choice. Breathing is not automatic for dolphins, unlike humans. In other words, dolphins can’t go into deep unconscious sleep and still breathe as far as we know. Dolphins float and reach a meditative state where they are not totally unconscious. Dolphins use one half of the brain to rest, remaining semiconscious. This cat-napping state is often referred to as “logging” as the dolphin will float horizontally or vertically like a log. A dolphin’s conscious breath heals and reminds us all how to consciously breathe deeper!
Nei Kung is the single most important element I do now related to breath. Tai Chi offers this fundamental principle with exercises unlike any other form of movement from my experience, as it is conscious. The importance of weights for the bones and muscular skeleton, Nei Kung is fundamental to understanding the energy of the body(Chi) with breath, (as is singing)! And how the Chi can be used for self-healing, which may be the highest form of self-defense, immunity!
Breath and conscious breathing are key for us all now, understanding the importance of each breath can be a matter of life or death. Coming to learn to move our brain to higher frequencies of consciousness through meditation and prayer. Or even floating may allow us also to turn part of our brain off and realize a higher consciousness through our breath. Realizing the healing power of nature with respect may also be a matter of life or death for human beings, and our world as we live in this common home. Will we give nature time to breathe to recover from humanity’s priorities?
I wish we could just “Pass Over” and skip the global #Pandemic #COVID19 #CycloneHarold #Catagory5 aka #TCHarold #LocustsEastAfrica #GlobalCacophony #EconomicCollaspse #GeoPoliticalConflict #TradeWars #5GControversy #ConspiracyTheories and fast forward to collective systems’ transformation to the part where we all rise together? What is the role of the UN, the SDGs the global goals? And US, the people around the world?
The present realities require us all to give our all— to collectively embrace the elephant in the room, related to what many call the #ClimateCrisis, but really it is a collective inquiry— how does humanity live in balance with nature, including our own human nature for the future we want, together with systems ready for transformation?
These times of crisis can bring us true communion with nature, and our global diversity of humanity may indeed come together, perhaps a deeper realization of Pentecost this year?. Will we have the arch of illumination, to awakening to that light of Buddha to birth with the spring flowers of Hana Matsuri Blossoming, birthing with Buddha’s Birthday celebrated by the sprinkling of water celebrating or the Takayama Spring Festival, in nature this year?
It’s a lifetime of learning in observing dolphins, their capacity to love, to breathe and to teach. May we each prioritize both personal and collective transformation until we can live in a better balance with nature and when it is time, ALL RISE!
