Pondicherry, a wind-swept seaside town on the east coast of southern India, an ex-french colony, a spiritual hub thanks to exceptional visionaries having set up base here and a centre for promoting yoga and other practices around ‘well-being’.  The perfect place for me at present, especially because there is nothing to do here. No sightseeing. A lot of colonial architecture, lovely cafés with little boutiques attached selling pretty clothes, handicrafts, incense sticks, handmade paper and jewellery give it an endearing and relaxing quality. The street dogs love to sleep all day and chat all night. Numerous crows add to the ambience.

I take long walks along the sea front, sit, people watch, drink as much coconut water as I like and meditate. It’s the meditation that is helping me with my sanity. I feel lucky for having had some practice in the past. It means I don’t have to start from scratch. I can just plunge in and be. Be the witness, watch my thoughts come and go, observe the feelings inside me without getting caught up in them (mostly), as though I was watching a film. I look within and the deeper I look the closer I get to me. Is it me or the nothingness in me? Sometimes I can’t tell the difference. It is like ceasing to be. I get glimpses of true freedom every now and then. They are enough to make me want to go back again and again.

It surely looks like I am doing nothing and that is true. But stuff is happening, the atmosphere is changing, stress is getting released, the body is relaxing, negative feelings and vibrations are disappearing and the mind is expanding. I come out of meditation feeling immensely loved and supported by the Universe. Thank you!!!