Connecting with nature in a deep and meaningful way has been a true desire of Jillian Rutledge since she was a child. She believed she could “talk” with the animals. As she grew up, this desire matured into discovering ways to foster interspecies relationships, as she trusts this is one of the ways in which humans and the planet can flourish together.
Today, I’m here with Jillian Rutledge. She’s a free diver. In case you don’t know what a free diver is, scuba diving without the scuba. She talks to dolphins and she even swims with them. Without further ado, will you help me welcome our guest, Jillian Rutledge. Hi, Jillian. Thank you so much for being on the show.
This is so amazing. I’m so honored to be with all of you.
Thank you. What are your superpowers?
Sometimes, as adults, we get confused about what superpowers are. Most of the time, when I am out in nature, I easily remember that I connect with dolphins.
Nature And Animals: When I dive down into the ocean and hold my breath, it feels like that’s where I’m meant to be.
I can communicate with dolphins, and not just dolphins but most of nature. When I dive down into the ocean and hold my breath for a really long time, somehow it feels like that’s where I’m meant to be. When I’m there, everything seems perfect and peaceful.
Did you know something? My favorite animal is actually dolphin. I actually can do dolphin rings under the water. Did you know about your superpowers when you were a kid?
When I was a child, because I grew up in a place like Phoenix, where there’s no ocean. It was much colder. It was Alberta, Canada. I didn’t really know very much about dolphins. I thought they were cool, but I didn’t know that I actually could connect with them and communicate the way that I do now. What I did know as a child is that I loved being outside. I loved being in nature. I loved animals. Whenever I got in trouble, I always went to animals. I talked with them. They soothed me and they helped me feel better about myself. I felt like I always belonged with the animals.Did you parents give you any tips or tricks on how to deal with your superpowers?
Sometimes parents don’t always know that their children have superpowers. They just want their children to grow up to be the best that they can be. My parents, they never told me that I had superpowers. They never really knew I had superpowers. But they always supported my love for animals. They always supported my desire to be out with nature. I feel really lucky that although they didn’t know that I could communicate, they knew how important it was for me to be with animals. Aren’t we lucky that we can just walk out the door and there’s all this nature, no matter where we live, even if we live in the city, there can be nature, there can be animals, birds, and they’re right there for us to enjoy?
We have a couple pets at home. It’s amazing how they can respond to energy and stuff.
I have to tell you, my dog, Naya, she is thirteen. She has been outside all morning. As soon as we started this interview, she came inside and she’s laying down right here. I think she’s a part of the interview.
Our dog, Callie, she picks up on energy a ton.
Same with Naya. She’s very protective of me.
Have you ever wished you never had superpowers?
Yes, for sure, because sometimes when we have superpowers, people think you’re strange. Sometimes, it’s hard to relate to people. Sometimes, my superpowers make me really sensitive. When I’m out in the world, especially in the city, I get really tired sometimes. I had to learn how to take care of myself and how to make sure that I hang out with people that love me and support me, and help raise my vibration, help raise my energy up.
I can basically see through the world, anywhere I look, there’s lines. It’s really scare because things will come to me in dreams. It’s hard thinking that your parents don’t exist. They’re pretty sure that we’re going to be together no matter what. What is your favorite superpower?
I really love that I can hold my breath for at least five minutes. Because to hold your breath, you have to prepare, which means you have to breathe. The breath is so magical to me. Of course, our body needs to breathe. That is very physical. But when I breathe, I also realize that I’m breathing this air that everyone else is breathing, that the trees are breathing, the earth is breathing. It’s the place where I actually can understand in my mind where we connect.
Have beings ever come to you?
Like energy beings, you mean?
Just beings.
For sure, animals in this realm, in this life come to me. I had a very special experience actually yesterday. An eagle came to me. It’s hard to talk about it right now, but someday I will. It was very special, beyond words. I often hang out with dolphins and whales in the water. These are beings that come and spend time with me on earth, in the physical realm. In the non-physical realm, I really connect with angels, the archangels. They also have a very special group of beings that I call “the blue people”. They really aren’t people. They’re enormous. They are my guardians.
One of my friends, she channeled Mother Nature. Mother Nature said that when I’m a young teen, I’m going to meet a deer and it is going to be a fawn. I’ll be in the forest alone and I’ll touch around the chin and she’ll talk to me. She’ll come to me. Her name is Deerie. We have a fairy house. We, our fairies, beings, animals.
It’s so important to create little places nature and animals, the spirits and beings can come to us.
I think it’s so important to create little places that animals and the nature, and the spirits, and the beings can come to us, can visit with us. Whenever I’m in the forest, I always say, “I’m open, I’m here, I see you, I feel you.”
We have a place in our house that I’m actually in right now called “The Vortex”. It’s where I will go to connect with spirits. Actually, you want to hear a cool story? Actually, this is the first time I ever in my life found out I had guides. I knew I had guides, but this is the first one that actually talked to me. Ganesh came to me. We had a giant crystal in The Vortex. I was touching it. He literally started talking to me. I started crying because I felt so safe. Knowing that I was protected made me feel very happy. Ah Puch will come to me. I imagine them as animals. Ah Puch is like that monkey from Lion King. Ganesh is basically just a fallen elephant.
Do you mean Rafiki, the Lion King, the guy that they called Rafiki in the movie?
The one that held Simba. I imagine that. Actually, one time when we were sitting in here, me and my friends and my parents, when we were sitting in The Vortex, oh my gosh. First, I was looking in our dark room, I saw a cute little monkey who was making a monkey face, like a scary jump out face. I slid away, but then I smiled knowing that he’s a good guy that helps me. Have you ever started getting so happy that you just start crying, knowing that you’re protected?
That happens to me almost every day, especially in nature. I feel like when I’m in nature, I am truly who I am and truly what I came here to be. There’s nothing to do other than grieve and look at all the beauty. When I am truly, truly happy. I think the tears come because it’s just a natural way of being. We get the goosebumps up in here and then the tears come. Sometimes people think you’re crying because you’re sad. I’m crying because it feels so good to be so happy and full of joy. I think dolphins live like that. They live like that all the time.
Actually, they come up because they like humans. They like their company.
There are definitely certain dolphins that do, dolphins in Hawaii, dolphins in the Bahamas. They love to be around people. It’s really crazy because they’re trying to pass a law in Hawaii right now that you cannot swim with the wild dolphins. It will be interesting what happens because the dolphins, those dolphins, they could swim anywhere they wanted and they choose to come to the places where the people can swim with them.
I actually swam with a bottlenose dolphin. It was my birthday present. We went to the place called Odyssey here. We swam with dolphins, me and my friends. His name was Bodie and he is six, the youngest dolphin.
Tell me what happened.
It was awesome. We went through an exercise. We had to wear wetsuits though.
Was it sticky?
Yeah, it wasn’t comfy. We went to the whole exercise of what we needed to do. He was the youngest dolphin. It was awesome. We stood on the step. He did a trick where we did the theme song from Jaws and swam to it. It was awesome. We got to dance with him. We got a dolphin kiss. The last person there got a french kiss.
I was just going to say, did you see his tongue?
What he did was she kissed him and then he went out and he stuck his tongue out.
Dolphins have a really, really special tongue. When they’re born, their tongue is, instead of being flat like ours, it has little fingers on the sides. When they nurse from their mom, their tongue goes like this. Imagine this is their flat tongue with little fingers, and when they nurse, the fingers go like this, like a bottle. They can hang on and mom can keep swimming.
That might be what they call them a bottlenose dolphin.
It’s probably also because their face has that long bottle nose shape.
Actually, I have a giant dolphin floaty that I named Winter, but now I changed it to Bodie.
Of course you did, because Bodie’s the dolphin you connected with.
He was youngest dolphin there.
Did you look in his eyes?
They’re gorgeous.
It’s like the whole universe is in there.
Nature And Animals: When we don’t live near the ocean, we don’t realize how much effect we have in the ocean and the water.
It’s like looking into a real human’s eyes.
I think that’s why people connect with dolphins, because they remind us of the most loving version of us.
They’re the most loving animal probably in the sea.
They certainly love to play. They certainly know how to be in a family. I think that’s something we can really learn from them.
It would be awesome if you could just have a giant saltwater pool that you can have a ton of dolphins in.
They could just come and go from the ocean. They would come and visit. I really think if we had a big pool that had the ocean at one end, they would come and go all the time.
They’re amazing creatures.
Do you know what’s so crazy is that they’re amazing. They still live in physical bodies. They still have the same problems on earth like humans have. The biggest problem they have is humans and the things that we do to the ocean.
I’m probably going to write a song about that. People are not always nice.
I think sometimes when we don’t live near the ocean, we don’t realize how much effect we have in the ocean and the water. The water is so important because there’s more ocean on earth than there is land.
If people don’t start taking care of the earth, there’s going to be no earth left.
A superpower that would be really awesome, and I would love to meet a person that has this superpower, would be someone who can help change how we treat the ocean.
Those are probably mermaids.
I bet you it is. I’m not a mermaid-mermaid, but I have plenty of friends who are mermaids. I’m going to ask them.
I’ve been with a mermaid. She had human legs but she talked like one. I actually swim like a mermaid. I can swim to the bottom of our pool. Want to know my mermaid powers? Ice, fire and water.
The ocean loves it because you find the wave and you find the connection, and the ocean can connect with you. Did you see the dolphin’s blow hole? Did you hear it breathe?
No, but I saw it.
The dolphin breathe is one of the most powerful breaths there is on the planet.
Their noses have to be up above the water. They just need the blow hole.
They just have a hole up here. Wouldn’t that be awesome if we were mermaids and the hole was up here to breathe? We wouldn’t have to come up like this.
Especially if you’re in water, just go swimming. You actually reminded me, when you said “physical body.” When I was younger, I would always go back up into the realm of god. I did not want to stay in the world. I just wanted to go up. My dad would check my chest.
He wanted to make sure you were still in your physical body?
He wanted to make sure I was still alive.
Were you ill or were you just really quiet?
I was just really quiet. I won’t take naps unless they were in the room with me. My mom had to pretend to sleep.
Just so you would sleep?
Yeah. Actually, I’m doing a homeschooling project and it’s an ecosphere with guppies. They’re baby guppies.
Tell me about it. What’s happening?
Basically, you don’t have to take care of it. The only thing I need to do is open and close my lines. There’s four guppies and two snails. They’re twins. Since I can talk to animals, they’re twins. They told me which one wanted to be which. The girls are brown and they’re Cleo and Chloe. The snail’s names are Snaily and Snag. I think you’re going to crack up about this. You know, Ariel?
The mermaid.
Guppy and Sebastian. I have two more questions. One, what advice can you give to kids that are listening for their superpowers?
The most important thing is how to breathe. Our breath is how we be in our physical body. When we breathe, we calm down. When we’re calm, we can sense everything. We can sense our powers. We can sense our connection. We can sense how strong we are or if we need help. I think the best thing for everybody, especially children, is to teach all of us how to breathe.
Where can people go to find more about you?
I do have a website because I’m one of those people that moves around in the planet. You can’t find me often in one single place. I like to be in Hawaii. I like to be in the Bahamas. I like to be here in Canada. The best place is my website, because that’s the thing that stays solid. It’s JillianRutledge.com. Thanks for asking.
Remember kids, we all have superpowers and we can change the world. Thank you so much.
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