How the Ocean Found Me: A Journey of Connection, Trust and Discovery
For many people, the ocean is a place they visit. A vacation destination. A place to relax, swim or watch the waves.
But for me, the ocean has always felt like something more.
Long before I understood the science, the ecosystems, or the creatures that lived beneath the surface, I felt a connection to the ocean that I could not explain.
I was born and raised in Colorado, a landlocked state about as far from the ocean as you can get. The ocean was not part of my everyday life. I did not grow up walking along beaches or spending summers by the water.
I think the first time I truly experienced the ocean was during a family trip to Bonaire in high school.
Until then, I only knew the ocean through pictures, television shows and books. And yet, I remember having dolphin figurines in my bedroom.
Looking back, it feels significant that I felt connected to these beings before I had ever experienced their world in person.
There was something about the ocean and the animals who called it home that had already captured my imagination.
In high school, I began thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. Like many people, I was trying to figure out where my interests and my future might meet.
I took a Computer Aided Design class because I loved drawing houses and thought architecture could be a practical career path. But very quickly, I realized it was not the path for me.
I remember asking myself: "If you could do anything in the world, what would you want to do?" And immediately, an image came to mind.
A dolphin trainer.
I remembered seeing a television show with a dolphin trainer and a dolphin and something inside me said, "That is what I want to do."
It was not the most obvious choice. It was not the practical choice. But it was the choice that felt true. So I decided to trust that inner pull. I followed that instinct and pursued a degree in Marine Science.
At the time, I thought I was simply following my fascination with the ocean and my dream of working with marine animals.
I did not realize that I was also beginning a much deeper journey. One that would teach me about connection, trust, resilience and the wisdom that exists all around us.
The ocean would become my first teacher.
Learning From the Ocean Through Science
My first lessons from the ocean came through science.
After high school, I moved from Colorado to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi and enrolled in the Marine Science program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
For the first time in my life, the ocean was no longer something I saw in pictures, books or on television. It became part of my everyday life.
I loved the people, the environment and the opportunity to learn from a world I had felt connected to for so long. Being surrounded by the ocean felt familiar in a way I could not fully explain.
For my senior thesis, I studied the sleeping behaviors of spinner dolphins.
Spinner dolphins are unique compared to many of the more familiar dolphin species people know. They spend their days resting in sheltered coastal areas around the Hawaiian Islands and at night they travel offshore to feed in the mesopelagic zone — an area of the ocean where small fish, shrimp and squid migrate closer to the surface after sunset.
During the day, these dolphins enter a resting state where they are not fully asleep in the way humans sleep. Like many marine mammals, they rest with one hemisphere of their brain at a time, allowing them to remain aware of their surroundings.
I studied their patterns: when they arrived in certain areas, how they used these spaces and whether there were consistent behaviors I could observe. At the time, I was studying behavior, biology and ecosystems.
But looking back, I realize I was also beginning to learn something deeper.
The ocean was teaching me that every being has its own rhythm.
The dolphins did not rush. They moved between rest and activity, between the shallow waters and the deep ocean, following patterns that had existed long before I was there to observe them.
They were living examples of adaptation, connection and balance. These were lessons I would continue discovering throughout my life with the ocean.
Working Alongside Ocean Beings
After graduating with my degree in Marine Science, my relationship with the ocean continued to deepen through my work with the beings I had spent years studying.
My first opportunity to share the ocean with others came through Atlantis Submarines in Kona, Hawaiʻi, where I worked as a co-pilot and ocean narrator. I had the opportunity to guide people beneath the surface and introduce them to an entire world that many people never get to experience.
What fascinated me most was watching people see the ocean differently for the first time.
They were not just looking at fish, coral and marine life. They were discovering a living world. A world filled with movement, communication and connection.
Later, I worked as a Scientific Aquarist at Sea Life Park Hawaiʻi, where I worked directly with sea turtles, stingrays, fish and sharks.
This experience gave me the opportunity to understand these animals beyond what we see from the outside. I learned about their behaviors, their needs and the unique ways they interact with their environment.
Then came an experience that felt like a full-circle moment.
I became a dolphin and sea lion trainer at the Miami Seaquarium.
The same dolphins that had inspired me as a child, the same animals I had imagined from my bedroom in Colorado, were now part of my everyday life.
Being in the water with dolphins changed the way I understood them.
I still respected the science, their behavior, intelligence, communication and biology but I also began noticing something else.
A presence. A connection. A way of being that invited me to slow down and truly pay attention.
The ocean beings I worked with were not just animals I studied or cared for. They were living examples of qualities we often seek within ourselves.
Dolphins reminded me of connection and joy.
Sea turtles reminded me of patience and rhythm.
Sharks challenged me to look beyond fear and see the power of being exactly who you are.
The ocean was continuing to teach me.
A Deeper Understanding of Connection
My experiences working with marine animals gave me incredible opportunities to learn, observe and build relationships with the beings I had admired for so long.
They also began to shape my understanding of what it truly means to honor the ocean and the creatures who call it home.
Over time, I found myself asking deeper questions.
How do we truly support the wellbeing of the animals we say we care for?
How do we create relationships that are based on respect, understanding and connection?
These questions led me to reevaluate the direction I wanted my life and my work to take.
I realized my relationship with the ocean was not only about studying animals or working with them. It was about listening to what they had taught me and honoring the deeper connection I felt with the natural world.
The ocean was becoming more than my career.
It was becoming a guide.
Discovering the Unseen
For many years, I understood the ocean through the lens of science.
I studied ecosystems. I observed behaviors. I learned about communication, adaptation and the incredible ways ocean beings survive and thrive.
But over time, I began noticing something else. There was a deeper relationship happening.
The animals I worked with were not only teaching me about biology. They were inviting me to pay attention in a different way.
They showed me presence. They showed me trust. They showed me the importance of living in rhythm with the world around us.
I began to wonder if the connection we feel with nature is more than what we can explain through observation alone.
Science gave me a way to understand the ocean. But my experiences with these beings opened me to another layer. The subtle connection, intuition and energy that exists within all living things.
This curiosity led me to explore practices that helped me understand that unseen world more deeply. I began studying energy work, crystal healing and spiritual practices that expanded the way I understood connection.
What I discovered was not a replacement for science. It was another way of listening. The seen and unseen were not separate. They were two ways of experiencing the same interconnected world.
The Birth of Ocean Energy Wellness
Looking back, I can see that every part of my journey was leading me here. The child in Colorado who felt drawn to dolphins before ever seeing the ocean. The marine science student who wanted to understand the world beneath the surface. The aquarist and trainer who had the privilege of working alongside incredible ocean beings. The spiritual seeker who began exploring energy, intuition, crystals and the unseen layers of connection.
Each experience became a piece of the same story.
I began to see that the ocean was not only something I studied or a place I worked.
It was a teacher. A teacher of rhythm. A teacher of resilience. A teacher of connection. A teacher of coming home to yourself.
Ocean Energy Wellness was created from the meeting place between these worlds.
The seen and unseen. The scientific and the spiritual. The ocean and the self.
Through guided ocean journeys, reflection, energy practices and spiritual exploration, my intention is to create experiences that help you reconnect with your own inner wisdom.
Because the ocean does not ask us to become someone new. It invites you to remember what has always been within you.
The ocean found me many years ago. Now, I invite you to discover what the ocean may be reflecting back to you.
Stacy Stehle, Founder of Ocean Energy Wellness
With a background in marine science and a lifelong connection to the ocean, I explore the wisdom of ocean beings, crystals, energy and spiritual practices as pathways for deeper self-connection.
Through Ocean Energy Wellness, I create guided journeys and reflections to help you slow down, listen inward, trust your intuition and reconnect with the wisdom already within you.
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