The outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic has changed our lives into a “New Normal” or new consciousness. Self-care and self-responsibility have emerged as being key for survival.

When considering an individual’s health and wellbeing, we look at three main elements: Body-Mind and Spirit. Prior to the pandemic, we were highly focused on the physical body, and once the physical body was restricted by the isolation, we had the opportunity to focus in a deeper way on mind and spiritual elements.

We used to relax the body to calm the mind.
Now, we learn to tune the mind to heal the body; some of us have taken this a step further and discovered their spiritual journey.

It’s as if the long period of isolation offered us the opportunity to indulge a ‘great retreat’ time; time that allowed us to re-discover basic life skills, such as cooking on a survival mode.
On a deeper level, it gave us an opportunity to embark on a self-discovery journey, enhance our mental focus and learn how to overcome worries and fears, fully aware of how these emotions deplete the immune system.

The pandemic challenge guided us to explore further our mental health adopting a simple mindfulness practice in our daily life.
Unable to travel, people have connected and meditated on their own or with the support of a physical or online community. For example, i have established a daily morning group, chanting with the aim of helping my students to focus on their purpose and inspire them to maintain high levels of energy throughout the day. This later become a platform of an online community for spiritual wellbeing. Similarly, during the last two years, there has been a rise of secular, new age or religious organizations establishing channels on social media in all corners of the world.

Virtual communities, classes and workshops have allowed everyone to train their mind while connecting with practitioners in remote territories and countries.
In the future, they will be able to travel and access integrated physical experiences – mental, and spiritual elements –within the cultural context of each ‘destination’.

Whether the world will remain under pandemic restrictions or move toward a busy lifestyle again, these experiences are likely to influence how travelers will select destinations in the future.

While luxury travelers will still look for overwhelming destinations, perhaps, the simple lifestyle and shared mindful experiences of these years will transform the way we will decide to travel. Hopefully, in simplicity, supporting local sustainability, tapping into indigenous wisdom with a peaceful mind.