At a time when new age therapies like retail therapy (that forces you to splurge on things you may not really need), transient fixes and comfort food are touted as options to bust stress, I recently rediscovered the joys of travel therapy.
First of all, travel by virtue of the fact that it takes you to new places with new sights and sounds, new experiences, new people, physically removes you from the epicenter, as it were, of the problems of daily life.
Just getting away gives you a sense of leaving it all behind and enables a fresh new perspective.
Distance as they say lends enchantment to the view and this applies both to the scenery and one's problems that initially seem so overwhelming. The vast open spaces that you see when you travel are not only a balm to one's eyes but also have infinitely more 'prana' than our work stations and apartment homes.
As for the problems, they appear more manageable.
You are able to figure things better and since you are in a relaxed, meditative frame of mind, solutions suggest themselves.
This is possible because when you are away from the mind-numbing routine and its pressing problems, de-cluttering happens automatically. Initially you might go on rewind mode and watch in your mind's eye a replay of events that were bothering you. Once this is over and you are thoughtless, clarity occurs on knotty issues.
To make travel an enjoyable, relaxing experience, travel light -in a literal and figurative sense -and don't carry unnecessary baggage.
Negative emotions such as envy, worry, fear are all best left behind. I once went to a workshop abroad with a suitcase packed with clothes and accessories for every kind of contingency. At the workshop many manuals and papers were handed out, as a result of which the suitcase became heavy and impossible to lug around. Eventually some of the stuff had to be shipped separately.
Any journey isn't without its memorable moments -the group from which you nearly got lost, the thrill of driving on roads which are like ribbons in the thick of the night, or on makeshift bridges, a stranger who materialised from nowhere and directed you towards the right route, a village godsend who permits you the use of her open toilet when your bladder was about to burst.
Experiences such as these in which you set aside your fears and reservations, took risks, connected with people you didn't know from Adam or Eve, and were touched by their generosity and kindness, rekindle your spirit.
The writer is a medical astrologer. Write to her at selfdecoder@gmail.com
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