The practice of meditation is all about letting go of thoughts and losing oneself in stillness, and for many centuries has been seen as a good way of having a thoroughly spiritual cleanse.
There are many retreats around the world offering courses for around 10 days where masters teach you techniques and give you the opportunity to leave the rat race behind. There are plenty of spots to choose from, but here are some of our favourites.
India
The earliest references to meditation are in the Hindu Vedas, written around 3,000 years ago, so it seems the practise purportedly began in India.
Buddhists and Hindus tend to be pretty big adherents of meditation and you’ll find plenty of variations on offer here such as Bihar and Vipassana, with many entrancing backdrops to choose from such as the River Ganges in Varanasi or the Himalayas in Narendranagar.
French Polynesia
If you’re going to get away, then you should really do it and head to this remote cluster of 130 islands in the Pacific. There are places in French Polynesia where you can combine meditation with “yoga surfing” which sounds enticing although a bit confusing – simply meditating amidst the beauty of Tahiti or Bora Bora should be more than enough to keep anybody happy.
Italy
In Europe, meditation is very popular Italian pursuit with retreats in the likes of Assisi’s countryside and the hills of Florence.
In Milan, you can do laughter meditation – which sounds hilarious but is probably very serious.
The Mediterranean climate lends itself very pleasingly to meditation, and if you’re lucky, maybe you can catch a tan whilst you do it.
Main image of meditation, Varanasi, India by Lucía Puertas
