I was actively asking myself what well-being means in travel when the Coorg trip happened. An all- women’s trip, where women and children from all walks of life came together.
This journey was a curated adventures trips specially mapped out with wellness-focused activities including expressive art therapy, music, nature connections, short hike exploring a hidden trail and waterfalls.
Though we began by not knowing each other enough, we agreed on one thing – it was the perfect gift we had given ourselves. Four days, spent in nature, unhurried, cocooned within the folds of a family that treated us like their own. Good food, a crafted experience that seamlessly wedded travel and emotional well-being and the slow coming together of like minds, made this trip special for me.
My first brush with deep wellness occurred when on the first day we went walking up to a hidden waterfall, taking in the changing colours of the setting sun. Amidst the sound of silence, marked only by our voices occasionally or the sound of converging crickets, I discovered what it is to wander into my own inner silence. We had an arts based facilitator as part of the core team, and she brought us to a state of reflection. I had the calming experience of finding my inner state reflect the outer context. This was perhaps the first time that I got in touch with that voice that asks me to slow down, without having to fight it.
From then on there were so many epiphanies. Whether it was because of the stories we shared around the evening bonfire, or a walk up a trail that took us to a point where Kumara Parvat was a neighbor. I have been to Coorg before but to discover it through unhurried walking was something else. Yet another epiphany occurred when over a short car journey, we went over to a local Shiva temple. I had goosebumps while walking inside of it, because what greeted me seemed like an ancient simplicity. And once I was out of the temple I knew why – an 860-year old Champaka tree stood by its side, silently preceding over countless days and nights. I had to pinch myself to believe in that number, but all doubts settled when I felt the tree’s warm bark under my palms.
I was exhausted from the experience but culturally enlightened, spiritually awakened, physically fulfilled and now while I was lying on the hammock staring at the night sky I was tapping into mindfulness.
My slow, surrendered and short trip to Coorg is now a blueprint for many others waiting to happen.
While travel health and wellbeing were once confined to often exclusive retreats, nowadays wellness experiences are not limited to luxury resort offerings.
One of the curated wellness adventures trips I did recently was in north Coorg it was specially mapped out with wellness-focused activities including expressive art therapy, music, nature connections, short hike exploring a hidden trail and waterfalls.
My first moment of our wellness occurred in Coorg while soaking the raw sound of the wilderness while exploring a hidden waterfalls.
I had just trekked up to a trail much known to the local but hidden from the tourists, its close to the famous Kumara Parvat
Linga formation – 860 year old Champaka tree with so much history
I was exhausted from the experience but culturally enlightened, spiritually awakened, physically fulfilled and now while I was lying on the hammock staring at the night sky I was tapping into mindfulness.
The nexus of mind, body, spirit and an overwhelming sense of fulfilment is what wellness is all about and slow travel provides the means of getting there.
While travel health and wellbeing were once confined to often exclusive retreats, nowadays wellness experiences are not limited to luxury resort offerings.
One of the curated wellness adventures trips I did recently was in north Coorg it was specially mapped out with wellness-focused activities including expressive art therapy, music, nature connections, short hike exploring a hidden trail and waterfalls.
My first moment of our wellness occurred in Coorg while soaking the raw sound of the wilderness while exploring a hidden waterfalls.
I had just trekked up to a trail much known to the local but hidden from the tourists, its close to the famous Kumara Parvat
Linga formation – 860 year old Champaka tree with so much history
I was exhausted from the experience but culturally enlightened, spiritually awakened, physically fulfilled and now while I was lying on the hammock staring at the night sky I was tapping into mindfulness.
The nexus of mind, body, spirit and an overwhelming sense of fulfilment is what wellness is all about and slow travel provides the means of getting there.
