Preface - The Dolphin Within - Awakening Human Potential, by Olivia de Bergerac

This book does not pretend to prove the healing power of dolphins. It's simply aimed at describing the Dolphin Within experience, which is our name for the shared but intensely individual experiences people have when they are in close contact with wild dolphins.

Years ago, very few people in the western world talked about near death experiences; it's only since collective experiences have been gathered that we are now able to conceptualise this phenomenon more widely. Following the same approach, we have collected a large number of Dolphin Within experiences over the last three years, from our regular research trips during which we have witnessed many encounters between people and dolphins. A pattern has emerged out the two hundred case studies which show the power of transformation and healing that such encounters can create.

However we went further than just collecting experiences; we tested our brains and those of our participants before and after their Dolphin Within experiences, using an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine connected to a laptop computer. Using this method, we have found scientific evidence of and possible explanations for the changes in mind, body and spirit we have observed in people who encounter dolphins. The brainwave pattern changes after a Dolphin Within experience are quite remarkable, and are linked to the self-transformation processes that many of our participants have reported.

One can say that our scientific research demystifies the healing power of dolphins. However, the more we observe, the more we realise how much we don't know, and the more we realise how much we People of the Earth have yet to learn from the People of the Sea.

This book is our story with the dolphins. It's told through human stories, photos and drawings, transcripts of videos and conversations with participants of our Dolphin Within expeditions, and through our research into human brain states before and after dolphin encounters. It integrates all the different ways we have used to capture the experience we call the Dolphin Within.

This book explains why, since 1993, we have dedicated our lives, our financial resources and our time to explore the human-dolphin connection through the creation of the Dolphin Society, our non-profit institution, and ODB Consulting, our management consulting company. Both of them are aimed at bringing Dolphin Within experiences to the general public and to the business world. As management consultants, we have created a new human psychology of human potential based on a dolphin model. Not only do we talk about the Corporate Dolphin way of doing business, but we also bring business people to experience the Dolphin Within themselves, in order to bring change in their personal and professional lives.

A Dolphin Within experience is indescribable, by definition. Each and every person coming out of a powerful experience with dolphins says the same thing: 'There are no words'. We ourselves don't even want to talk for some time after a Dolphin Within experience. So, creating a book on something which cannot be expressed in words is quite a challenge.

Until we humans develop our communication systems towards those of the dolphins (who share information with each other holographically, transferring images from brain to brain using sound), the written word, pictures and sounds are the best we can use to offer a taste of the Dolphin Within experience to a wider audience. Our Internet page is another, more interactive way for us to share our explorations globally, and we are currently working on other ways to provide the healing and uplifting experiences dolphins can give us, without the intervention of dolphins themselves, in order to preserve their habitat and lifestyle.

We hope you will soon be able to hear, while reading, the oohs, aahs and oh-my-God's which are part of any Dolphin Within experience. In 1994 we were asked by ABC Radio to put together some sounds of our trips for an interview, and we realised how much a Dolphin Within experience was about opening the heart and laughing, having the sounds coming out at each dolphin's jump at the bow of the boat.

Much of this book was written on the sea, on our yacht, with the dolphins around us. We just had to pop our heads out of the cabin, away from the computer screen, to spot a fin, even when the yacht was moored in the marina. We found that floating among dolphins was our best source of inspiration. We hope that this book will inspire you too to follow your dream.

Enjoy your Dolphin Within adventure, and come and join us one day!