Meditation trip - Journeys to the inner center in Africa

A trip to completely foreign countries far away from everything familiar helps to leave everyday life with all its negative effects behind and to recharge your batteries. But that's not the only reason why Africa, with its incredible diversity, is ideal for getting back in tune with yourself and the environment. Instead, it's the fascinating landscapes that help ground you. It is the foreign cultures that make old beliefs disappear. It's the unique experiences of traditional rituals that can change the way you look at your own life - and that's not the end of the list.

No other travel destination is therefore better suited to literally come home a different person, as if reborn, so to speak. For this to succeed, however, the trip must be carefully prepared and properly designed. A meditation trip is an excellent way to do this.

Finding relaxation and inner peace

Inner peace is a feeling that many people in our Western world have lost. It is a feeling of contentment, serenity, freedom from worries, confidence, indeed a deep relaxation. Those who possess inner peace are at peace with themselves and their lives. Such people often have an almost magical attraction on their environment, because who does not find this inner peace (more) in himself, often seeks it in the outside. This is a mistake, since this form of relaxation can only be found or rediscovered on the inside. It is therefore worthwhile to take a closer look at this topic.

What can a journey to the inner center look like?

Anyone who consciously plans a trip in order to find their inner center during it should therefore also consciously integrate methods such as meditation, yoga or mindfulness training - or even place them in the foreground. So it's less about seeing or experiencing the outside world, as is usually the case when exploring new countries. Instead, the focus is on the journey to oneself in order to advance personal development and subsequently master everyday life better, more mindfully.

Precisely because more and more people suffer from stress or other burdens and lose their inner peace, the demand for corresponding offers is increasing. This trend is also recognized by tour operators, hotels & Co, so that there is now no lack of appropriate opportunities, especially in well-suited destinations such as Africa:

• In so-called meditation retreats, such as those offered in Morocco, meditation is the focus of the trip. It is actively planned into the daily routine, whether in the accommodation itself or in nature. The goal is to find complete peace and thus have time for oneself. Such meditation retreats are also an excellent starting point to integrate the learned techniques permanently into everyday life afterwards and thus to preserve inner peace in the long term. Hence the name: Retreat means retreat, which can be practiced particularly well in the beautiful landscapes of African nature.
• A yoga vacation has a similar purpose, but in addition to mental well-being, it is also intended to strengthen physical well-being. This is because yoga exercises, for example, strengthen the muscles or improve stretching - combined with mindfulness training or periods of meditation. The natural landscapes in Africa are also particularly suitable for this, which is why yoga is now offered in the Sahara, for example, or a combination of yoga and surfing in Morocco. Accordingly, everyone can decide for themselves what significance yoga should have during the trip and in what form it should take place.
• Silent seminars are an extreme, but thereby also challenging and effective method to find inner peace again. Here the healing effect of silence is used, because in everyday life many people are exposed to stressful continuous noise. Such silence seminars, as it gives it for example in South Africa, make accordingly possible an intensive argument with itself and a welcome break from stress or other loads at home. At the same time, it is precisely this silence and this intensive time with oneself that many people are afraid of and why silent seminars are so effective. It is a completely new, healing life experience that can hardly be realized without an external "change of scenery". This is another reason why silent seminars are optimal for a journey when inner peace is their goal.

In addition to these three types of journey to the inner center, there are other ways to use the trip to Africa for personal development and the search for inner peace. These include, for example, workshops on various topics such as primal trust, intuition or acceptance. But also mentoring programs or accompanied solo trips are a popular option with amazing effects.

To have this life experience at least once is worthwhile for everyone. Of course, it is important to adapt this particular type of trip to individual needs and goals in order to achieve optimal effects. In addition to choosing suitable programs ranging from meditation to silent seminars, the destination also plays a central role.

Traveling alone but safely in Africa

As mentioned earlier, such trips, which are primarily for personal development, are particularly effective when done alone - that is, unaccompanied by family, friends or other acquaintances. However, there are concerns, especially among women, when it comes to traveling alone. This is especially true for exotic destinations such as those in Africa. In fact, special caution is required when planning such a trip on one's own and traveling alone. Not every African destination is safe for solo travelers or for unaccompanied women.

It is therefore important to choose a safe destination. In Africa, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Ghana and Egypt, for example, are considered to be well-suited for solo travelers. Nevertheless, not all risks such as robberies can be excluded with certainty. Therefore, it is important to observe certain basic rules and to plan the trip carefully. Alternatively, guided tours can be booked, such as round trips, safaris or special retreats. Here the travelers are not alone, but among strangers and completely focused on themselves. The largest effect have in this connection the before mentioned silence seminars. Whether an individual or group trip is to be booked, for example in the form of a special meditation trip, everyone can therefore decide for themselves.

Pay attention to the health

Finally, for the (meditation) trip to Africa, health care is an important issue. Because before and during the trip, some precautions must be taken to reduce risks such as malaria disease and to focus completely on the actual purpose of the trip. The following measures are therefore recommended:

• Preliminary discussion with the family doctor to clarify general as well as individual risks and to find suitable solutions (vaccinations, medication, etc.).
• Timely implementation or refresher of travel vaccinations. Depending on the destination, this may include vaccinations against money fever, hepatitis A and B or diphtheria. This is another reason why an early visit to the doctor is important.
• In some cases, a malaria prophylaxis is also useful as well as a precaution for the case of illness, because this can never be excluded with certainty in malaria areas. Here, for example, agents such as hydroxychloroquine can be used - but only after medical consultation.
• Furthermore, a first-aid kit with basic medicines such as those against diarrhea or cholera should not be missing.

If you are well prepared, choose a safe destination and make sure that you eat and drink from safe sources, you can travel to Africa without any health worries. This security is even higher if an organized individual or group trip is booked, because then the tour operators already select harmless accommodations, restaurants, destinations & Co. Nevertheless, everyone is responsible for the measures taken before the start of the trip, such as vaccination protection. Accordingly, it can be an important lesson when it comes to paying attention to one's own physical as well as mental well-being - even after returning to everyday life. After all, this is an indispensable prerequisite for finding and maintaining inner peace.