Ep 102: The Magic in Swimming with Dolphins with Dr. Oxana Ormonova

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Transcript

Dr. Gray, Host 0:01

welcome back to another episode of the Dare to Dream Physician Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Whaley Gray. And, I have such a special treat this week. I just, recently met, I've actually known about this physician for a while. but I actually recently met her and we, we had a conversation and, she was telling me about something that I think very few people, very few people do, especially physicians. I told her we have to have you on the podcast and, and, ask you more questions about this really cool thing that you do. so I, I can't wait. It's gonna be an amazing conversation. It's gonna be magical. so, let me first introduce her, Dr. Ana arm Nova. I'm so excited to have her on. Welcome to the podcast.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 0:48

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

Dr. Gray, Host 0:51

Yes. Yes. Dr. Aksana is a very, very special person. Maybe share just a little bit of history about yourself and, where you live and what, what you do now. I, I think you just have a lot to offer to the physician community.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 1:06

Ah, thank you. Well, I grew up in Siberia, and now I live in Hawaii. I used to work as a hospitalist for almost 20 years. And since I was a child, I was very intuitive and I could see, I could sense things that other people could not see. And, since I was a child, I wanted to be a healer. I was healing everybody around me, cats, dogs, people. And I was also very sensitive. And back then I didn't know, I was very sensitive. So when I grew up as a child, I was always sick. And then I went, went to medical school and, I discovered again, said, oh, I have healing abilities. If I put my hands on somebody, people will getting better. And, if I was giving them communication about what I see going in their lives, like kind of looking on a bigger picture. It's like it made total sense to them, right? So we were getting this, transformations and so forth. But, you know, later on I realized, wait a minute, I am a healer, but I'm also, I'm a very sensitive, and now what, what people call empath. So I was taking, all my patients, my colleagues pain, the emotions, right? The problems, trying to heal it and try to solve it for them. So, and, my journey has been learning how to, again, being sensitive or again, being an asse, how to maintain my energetic boundaries, how to maintain my own, again, emotions, my own thoughts without picking up like a sponge from everybody else. And again, being an intuitive. I help people to, again, discover the intuition, teach physicians and healthcare professionals how to maintain the energetic boundaries so that we're not absorbing others. Again, pain, emotions, suffering problems, and so forth. So it's been my passion, helping other physicians and, healthcare practitioners to do, basically to stay healthy and wealthy.

Dr. Gray, Host 3:21

Yeah. That's, that's, that's really amazing. So one of the things that really struck me, you know, when, when you first introduced yourself just like you, or just like you just did on the podcast, was Wow. So she, is from, and grew up, in Siberia, and now she lives in Hawaii. Wow. How did you make that transition? That's like a really different part of the world. I mean, just the, the latitude and the longitude.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 3:49

Well, you know, it was so interesting because again, I grew up in Siberia most people know Siberia. It's very cold, it's a lot of snow and very cold. And when I was growing up, I was just dreaming about, oh my God, I wanna live in a place which is, which has ocean, and it has palm trees. And, um, it's always warm again because when I was, uh, growing up I was a very skinny kid, so I was always cold. And, I don't know how I survived Siberia. So, long story short, I made it to Hawaii and I actually used to, I did my residence in Hawaii many, many years ago. and then I, again, travel again I used, I lived in California, almost 12 years, but I love the ocean and I love again this tropical weather. So I decided, okay, I just wanna be close to the ocean and how my journey. and love for the ocean developed was many, many years ago when I came to Hawaii. I discovered besides the beauty, right? Besides the beautiful nature and beautiful ocean, I discovered swimming with the dolphins. And my first time and, and back then it was allowed, to swim with the dolphins. In Hawaii, you, you had to be respectful, but they were, boats who could take you, to swim as a dolphins. And I remember I was just, it was so magical. It, I mean, to me, literally, it was life changing. And back then, I actually didn't know how to swim.

Dr. Gray, Host 5:28

Hmm. was gonna ask you about that because, how does someone in Siberia learn how to swim?

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 5:37

Exactly, and, and you know, I never learned how to swim. I didn't know how to swim. And when I was a child, I almost drowned twice. And one time my mom saved me. Another time my friends saved me. I was just terrified of water. And I would never, even when I was swimming in the ocean, I would never, if I could not touch the bottom with my feet, I, I would not see, you know, past that, right? So I would just be in a shallow. But when I, discovered dolphins, I just so wanted to be with them, right? And I said, okay, what can I do? So what I start doing, I would get the full life jacket on, and I would go in the water and I will be, Sometimes half mile out of the shore in the open ocean with dolphins. And I had no fear. And I thought, well, I have a life vest on. Like, technically probably it's very hard to drown when you have a live jacket anyway. And you know, I would be floating far with dolphins. And a couple of times actually, I had couple of boats try to pick me up because we, time was lost in sea

Dr. Gray, Host 6:44

What is doing with life jacket? Loading a half a mile from the shore.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 6:49

I know. So, but what happened? And, and again, I was so terrified, people would tell, tell me, oh, you just sing as a noodle. Like, you know, those, kind of floating noodles. They said, just take the life jacket on and just sing as a noodle. It's so much easier. And I was terrified. I'm like, no, no, no. Like, I'm scared. And what happened over time? Dolphins helped me to overcome of my fear of water and drowning and condemns. And eventually, I took my life jacket, I don't know how many months it took, and I took it off and I start swimming with noodle and then, now I swim freely in the ocean. So sometimes a mile and a half out of the shore,

Dr. Gray, Host 7:28

are you saying that Dolphins taught you how to swim? I'm trying.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 7:33

you know, in, in, in some ways. Exactly. In some ways. And again, because when I was around them, it was, I, I didn't have any fear and of course, are sharks, right? And, you know, you're an open ocean. But would, a lot of times they would sleep very close to me and. I, I felt safe. Right? And then because they're so playful and they just have this natural gray sense, the water, it's almost like you start matching them. And I start feeling like, oh, I'm just like one of the dolphins. And it, it's so, it's so much fun.

Dr. Gray, Host 8:09

Mm.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 8:10

Again, it was, and some of those experiences that, swimming with dolphins, it's really changed my life in some ways and it changed me, in a lot of different ways. And, one of the experiences I remember was, again, many years ago I was swimming with the dolphins. And then, you know, when we get to know you, we come to you very close and we start interrupting with you. They, they start, swimming very close. Sometimes a couple of inches away from my face, looking into my eyes. and so so I was playing with a dolphin and there was a leaf in the water, right? And so dolphin, so I, I picked up the leaf and I dropped it the water deep for the dolphin to pick up, and he picked it up. And in this film,

Dr. Gray, Host 8:53

How did he pick it up with his nose?

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 8:55

sometimes they pick it up with nose, but they usually pick it up with their things, right? They, they have a things right. And so like, people like, like little hand anyway. And so he start carrying the sleeve, carrying it, carrying it, swimming, swimming together. And then he dropped this, kind of deeper in the ocean and uh, for me to play. And I'm like hurrying up, trying to hurry up to, to pick up the leaf. And I dive down trying to pick it up, and he's like right in front of me. He just comes and snatches out

Dr. Gray, Host 9:25

Oh.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 9:26

and, and start like, looking at me. And, and it's almost like he's laughing, right? And it was such a playful, magical experience. I just start laughing and I mean, it's hard to laugh on the water and it's what, what was happening? I received an amazing killing from this dolphin because what he was showing me again, playfulness, joy, carefree. And when I grew up, I didn't have much fun and joy in my childhood. And as you know, I grew up to be very responsible kid. And again, as physicians, they're very responsible. They, they tend to be sometimes very serious. And through this experience, it's almost like all of the pain I carry from my childhood, it just, Like dispersed. It was so, so magical. And it's interesting, about dolphins, there are different, dolphins are very, very unique. They have this pure unconditional love. They have pure joy, they have very, very playful. So if you absorb them in the water, it's, you just get a tremendous hearing from that. And, no wonder there a few, again, centuries dolphin therapies. So I know, risk couple, I think in Florida, uh, dolphin therapy for autistic kids or children with, who have some disabilities. There is also, dolphin therapy for t s d for people who suffered ts d and part of that, And again, experienced, a lot of people with the dolphins. And I used to, when it was allowed, I used to take people, sleep as with dolphins, part of the therapy and, and teaching people how to communicate with dolphins. And I mean, I've seen profound transformations. the people, again, were saying, okay, my life changed, or I, I've seen people sometimes burst in tears, um, in the presence of dolphins. Or we just start laughing. It just, yeah. anyway.

Dr. Gray, Host 11:29

Wow. That's, that's, that's beautiful. And what a great description. And of course I have like, so many questions for you because you went ahead and described these beautiful experiences with dolphins and I'm still stuck at weight. So she got, she got to Hawaii and somehow she started swimming in the ocean. And then somehow, she started interacting with dolphins and then, and then she learned how to swim. I actually wanna go back to when you were in Siberia and, you presumably maybe you saw pictures or watch TV and, and got these glimpses of, tropical islands or, places with palm trees and the ocean. Cuz that's so different from the landscape in Siberia. Like, you can't have two different pla like, landscapes in the world, in Siberia and Hawaii, and. And so tell me a little bit about that. I mean, did, did you just look at these pictures and you knew that you had an affinity for the ocean? Like how, how did you, without actually being in the ocean, realize that that's what you're drawn to

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 12:28

I, again, when I grew up, I mean, I heard about Hawaii, but I never seen, photos of Hawaii. But again, as children, and this is sometimes I teach people about manifestation as children be amazing at manifesting, at creating our reality. And to me it's pretty much, I created for myself to again, come, eventually to come to the islands and be in, in the ocean. And my, my friends, All my friends call me Mermaid.

Dr. Gray, Host 12:58

in

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 12:59

because of Oh, no, no. Here. Um, I, I mean now in the US and in Siberia, those who see my photos, this, in the ocean and with a Dolphins of Wales call me Mermaid. Yeah. So I just, I don't know. It, it was, I guess part of me as a child knew and on some level is that eventually I will, end up in some way, but and it's also part of just nature. I love nature is it's ocean. Is it's forest. I lived for almost 12 years in the mountains, surrounded by forest because nature is, is just so, so hidden. again, is it's ocean, is it's trees, forests, yeah.

Dr. Gray, Host 13:41

Mm. Yeah, that's, really amazing. And I, I have sort of similar parallels, although I didn't really dream this as a child, but when I, about two years ago, maybe two and a half years ago now, when I sat down and reflected on my life and, you know, like what. What I would miss if I, if I were to die tomorrow or, in five years, what, what did I miss in my life? And. Just sort of out of the blue, this, idea or vision or whatever you'll call it, came up. I would really miss swimming in the ocean. and I knew how to swim in a pool, cuz I, I took lessons as a kid, and I had, stood, I would go to the beach, in, Maryland. So it sort of like the mid-Atlantic area, very different from Hawaii or any of like the Caribbean. So there was really, people didn't really swim in the ocean cuz there was the water was murky and there's sharks there. Like you can get mistaken, for uh, what, whatever, basically like the only interaction for people who swam like far from shore was you might get bitten by jellyfish or a shark. and so, so, so I didn't really have much exposure and my parents didn't do that either. And, and I just had this idea. And so about eight months ago, I went and tried scuba diving for the first time. And when we took a vacation to the Virgin Islands, and it was, I was just amazed, just, you know, diving. I, I mean, it was this scariest thing because they were like, okay, put all this really heavy equipment on you and then go jump down, jump into the ocean from this boat. And I'm like, what? Like, what if this thing doesn't flow? Like, I don't know how to word this. Um, um, basically my life was in, the, this guy's hands who was, doing the, who was the dive, dive instructor and, and so I just did it and oh my goodness. It was it was it's exactly like what you're saying. There is the fear, but then once you sort of get in, like there was no fear. Like once I was in the water, I actually, this is kind of a silly thought. I'm like, wow, if I, even if I died here, it's okay. This is so amazing. This is just, this is worth living for. And so, Yeah, that's how it started. And I'm like, I live in Vermont. I don't live near the ocean. And I just started making plans on I'm gonna get my scuba diving certificate and I, want to dive around. I didn't actually get to dive when I visited Hawaii for the first time, a few months later. cuz the waves were kind of a little crazy there. But I did get to snorkel in Hawaii, which was also new for me. The whole, snorkeling and just in general, swimming in the ocean. so yeah, it, it is, it's been amazing. And then my kids actually didn't know how to swim when we were in the Virgin Islands. and I got them life jackets and I, I was like, Hey, let me just hold your hand with your life jacket so we can go and snorkel. And and they were hooked because it's, it's just so amazing, that. The life that you see under the sea. It's, it's just, it's a whole different world that I don't even like if you live on Earth, it's, it's, and you haven't swam in the ocean and, take a look at what's in there. You haven't really lived on earth yet. It's,, it's this whole other dimension of being on earth that you don't, you don't even have to go to the outer space this is, it's right here. It's just really undiscovered by most people.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 16:48

Yes. And, and I, I love because this what exactly how I experience you, you get to be like in a different universe, right? Cause it's so different right? From, being on, on the ground. And, and it's so magical. Every, you know, every day is me. I discover something new. And it's interesting, we were, you were talking about, sharks, right? They being afraid of sharks. And there are numerous stories where dolphins. Protect people from sharks or, and I had the two where, I would be swimming and again, this was, when swimming, this dolphins was allowed in Hawaii and all of a sudden I would see dolphins will like, surround me very, very close. Right. And they would just, you know, like almost accompany me. And I would look down and there would be a big shark. And like, okay. So they watching, right? Protecting me. And other times it was, I was swimming cause the dolphins we were playing and again, a long time ago I dropped the leaf, for dolphins to play. And all of a sudden I see there is a shark coming to his leaf and she bites the leaf. And it was just a couple of feet away from me, right. And so the shark was trying to play. Too, or, or maybe she thought it was fish. I don't know. But again, there are numerous stories there. dolphins, try to protect, people from sharks. And it's a very amazing because, besides what I was mentioning, the therapy, uh, for P T S D for autistic kids, there is even, this think where people given births, they given births in the ocean, this dolphins, or, or black sea. And it was pioneered, I think it was pioneered so many a black sea. And what I noticed when dolphins, they love children. So if are children in the water, dolphins just concentrate on kids and pregnant women, they're very, very curious and part of it, when they swim, they are very, They have very high perception, so they can see your emotional state, they can see your energy state. They kind of like read you right on a deeper level. And a lot of times when they ve around you or they, sonar you, they're breaking all that energy, stuck energy patterns in your energy field. So people get, again, tremendous healing on emotional level, physical and mental,

Dr. Gray, Host 19:07

Mm. Wow. That's, that's really amazing. Yeah. And, and so It'ss definitely on my list. I would love to swim with dolphins. swim with Whales. We're gonna talk more about that too. And, and so it's definitely my list, but it's, it's hard, if you don't live in Hawaii and you just hang out, in the bays and, and just go in the water, it's, it's a little bit harder as a tourist. but it's, and, and I feel very strongly about, I wouldn't wanna swim with a dolphin that was in captivity, I would wanna swim with dolphins who have the freedom to, to actually do their own thing instead of be made to swim with tourists. so most of the time when you're scuba diving especially cuz I think with all those bubbles, the undersea life is just like, we don't know what this thing is and they just kind of swung around you and you know, they don't, um, and it's funny cuz you mentioned sharks because, um, my, one of my first dives after I got, certified like the next day, um, which happened to be on, um, National Physicians Day this year. I swam, I did a scuba dive with sharks, a couple of them. And it was like a, I was actually like 40 sharks probably, but like a couple of dives. And it was so much fun and amazing. And I mean, of course, like there's a respect for these animals. They, cuz they could, they could absolutely kill any of us when we're, we're swimming next to them. But they don't, cuz they're really not interested in people. and so they are much more interested in if there's like a fish that, especially the, there's a dead fish laying around, they're much more interested in that. But it's, Interesting. even when we were, snorkeling in the Virgin Islands, and there were these little, tropical small fish, there was one that just followed us, for the whole, we, we swam from it was probably a good five minutes, they just, I, I was holding my son. It was his first time snorkeling. This is my, he was eight years old at the time and, he didn't know how to swim, but he had a life jacket on him holding his hand. And I finally convinced him to get in the water cuz he was afraid to get in the water, understandably. and, and he just loved it because, you see all these creatures and this little fish was like following us. It was so fun. And it's just, it's, it's amazing to, to be able to interact with, I mean, it, you, you people have similar experiences on land. they, they have connections, like to horses and, and other land animals, but it's like, wow, you can, that also can occur in the ocean, which is even more amazing.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 21:24

Mm-hmm. Yes. And exactly. What you were saying when we entering the ocean and for me, dolphins, wells, they're entering their home. So they have to be very respectful. And again, I never sleep after dolphins. So if, if I'm sleeping, they come to me fine. Right? So it's like way initiate interaction and. A couple of years ago in Hawaii, they passed the law that it's not allowed now to swing the dolphins. And I see, I see the aspect of it because a lot of people were chasing after the dolphins trying to grab them and disturbing them. So, which is, no, no. Right. We are entering the ocean. Is they guest? So it's you don't want somebody to come to your house in the middle of the night. Right. And, do whatever they want. But there are places in the world where, it's allowed to, one of the places where people, able to do that. It's bimini and actually, you know.

Dr. Gray, Host 22:15

Bahamas.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 22:16

Mm-hmm. So, and I'm actually, looking into possibly creating a retreat, dot think human retreat in Bimini,

Dr. Gray, Host 22:24

Really? Oh, he didn't me that. That's, that's

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 22:27

because it, it is, Yes, it's, absolutely magical and learning how to communicate with dolphins, you get with, again, healing, profound insights. Yes, it's, it's amazing.

Dr. Gray, Host 22:39

Mm.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 22:39

So,

Dr. Gray, Host 22:40

Is also where you can, you, you can do amazing shark dives too. It's just that's, that's actually how I know about that island. but, but you know, what you said is, I, it didn't even occur to me that, when I was doing my shark dive, but the, the dive master, you when he was sort of prepping us, he was like, yeah, and don't touch the shark and don't hold onto their fins. And I'm like, wait, why would you even say that? Like, it's, and he's like, well, yeah, because people have tried and it just boggled my mind that, anyone even thinks to do that. But I guess, that unfortunately, if, if enough people are, are doing things like that, then they would have to pass laws.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 23:19

And the same as dolphins, because I had to stop a couple of times to rest. They would, I think one guy, he was trying to ride a dolphin, and I, I was just, and, and I think, or like I see sometimes people try to touch dolphins, like, no, no, no. Right. And part of it, I think maybe if people see this movies or had this experience with dolphins, captivity, um, they, they think is, it's, it's okay to do that. But again, just we just have to be very respectful to, you know, all the ocean creatures or, animals, nature in general. Yeah. And swimming with sharks, it's, it's magical. I've done it a few times,

Dr. Gray, Host 24:00

Oh, you,

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 24:00

because

Dr. Gray, Host 24:01

swimming with sharks.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 24:03

mm-hmm. And I, I used to have fear of sharks. and I just, of course now I, when I swim, I, I see sharks often, but I said, okay, I need to get over my fear with sharks. and so I've done a couple of sharks since these tiger sharks, uh, shining white tips um

Dr. Gray, Host 24:22

Wow. Was this in Hawaii?

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 24:23

mm-hmm. It was in Hawaii and it was kind of unexpected. One of my friends, who works in a boat, called me, said, oh, you wanna come as a guest? You're going on a open ocean safari. in a couple of days. I said, sure. So I thought, we just go in the ocean, explore, and I get on a boat and the first thing I see, it's like a big, Red bucket, one of those like trash cans. And on the lead, this like big lettuce, it said shark food only. So I ended up with a group of like avid professional shark swimmers. So who, who does at the poor living

Dr. Gray, Host 25:01

That's a perfect place to learn how to swim with sharks. So that's the other thing that I, I learned, when, when I was diving with sharks, was that, you really can only attract them if you have some sort of bait. Cuz I asked, I asked the dive master, like,, how, why is this a, a diving spot for sharks? He's like, yeah, because people feed them here, so that's why. So the boat is parked there and I'm look at all those sharks that are under us. and, and it's only because they, they've learned that, hey, this is the place where, this is the place where the boats park and they, throw the dead fish bodies carcasses down. but yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's, it's like you don't usually accidentally, swim. If you're like just going for a swim in the ocean, you're probably not gonna swim into 40 plus sharks. just out of the blue.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 25:47

Well, I didn't have 40 plus sharks, but I had a few times I had four sharks came to me, and basically they were just checking me out, but they came like four or five feet close and, I was like, oh, oh.

Dr. Gray, Host 26:02

very curious. They're very

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 26:03

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But again, you, you know, you have to know how to behave around sharks it's, it's a very, very important.

Dr. Gray, Host 26:13

So tell us, tell, tell. Teach us Teach. So for the audience who's never encountered a shark when you're snorkeling or swimming in the ocean, what, what do you do if, if you, what does Dr. Sana do when she encounters sharks when she's swimming?

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 26:27

Well first, you know, always tell people, even if, uh, you're swimming in a place, there are reef sharks. don't swim if, if, if what is working. So, because if you can be mistaken for, for a fish

Dr. Gray, Host 26:41

Cuz they're really not interested in people, but if they can't really see, they might think you're something else, like a seal or something.

Dr. Oxana Ormonova, Guest 26:49

yeah, so I try to stay away from north borders and if I do see a shark, so what I usually do, I get vertical. So instead of being horizontal, I get vertical. And because it's part of it. What I was told in Tahiti when I, slam is the whales, it's kind of a little bit confuses them, right? Because usually fish doesn't stay vertical. And so I go vertical and I maintain eye contact. So one time I had four sharks came around me. Three of them were in front of me, and another one start going behind me. And I'm like, oh, how I'm going to maintain, I contact this with all four of you anyway. So you, you, you keep watching them, right? So You don't try to slim away. You don't try to splash and don't splash. don't panic. Don't try to kind of again, steam away. And if they come really close to you, you can, whatever device you have. So let's say if, I have long fins, I usually just stick my, foot out and, kind of try to push them away, right? So if some, some people slim with long pulse with GoPro, so you can stick it out. So basically you just deterrent them,

28:01

That was part one of a two-part interview with Dr. Oxana And I am just so blown away by what she is sharing is just so incredible. I was interested. I actually looked up, swimming with dolphins. As one of the things I wanted to do, before talking to her, but after talking to her, I have plans solidified, so in November of this year in November, 2023. I will be on an island. Where they do allow swimming with dolphins. And I cannot wait to try this out. And maybe I might even get a chance to do it earlier. You never know. And so stay tuned because part two is just as amazing. We'll continue talking about swimming with sharks and even more amazing, dr. Exxon has experiences swimming with whales. I cannot wait. Don't miss it. Stay tuned.