Days in Wonderland

Vipassana meditation - that sounds exciting. At 7 o'clock, half asleep, I stumble into the room 'white rabbit' and meet the teacher Yaron and three other participants. Vipassana Meditation is a Buddhist meditation technique from India, in which insight into a higher truth is gained through increased self-awareness. Vipassana means seeing things as they really are and not as they appear to be.

40 minutes - without voices, music, leading words... that's long. My mind keeps drifting off and doesn't want to calm down. But I keep going. Somehow it exhausts me, so I decide to go to sleep after breakfast - there's only vegan food - I'm tired and still a bit sluggish.

At 12:30, however, I participate in a DIY flower hairband workshop - and that even though I'm not creative. But shifting my comfort zone a little is already my goal. There is little talking, everyone is busy with their craft. Next to me sits Amelie - we occasionally exchange ideas, but wait to talk until after the hour. The hairbands - really beautiful - are finished, one participant takes a little longer, the three of us stay with her and keep her company, we get into a conversation. Because there is too much going on in her life - she is an actress in the States - she is here and looking for peace. In the coming days, Ashley is like a ghost - you rarely see her, but she wished for solitude. After the course, I talk for hours with Amelie and Clara - both are very young, but serious conversation partners, they have only known each other since Wonderland or shortly before, have been traveling alone for months and have now arrived here. In the coming hours and days, I realize that I stand out with my 30 days of vacation - most of the women - regardless of age or whether from Germany, Austria, South Africa, China ... - have been traveling alone for months. Whether on sabbatical, as a break from studies or before starting studies, as a gift to themselves, now that the children are out of the house...

We click, laugh, ask the right questions, search together for answers - it's beautiful.

The shared (many and sweaty) yoga and meditation sessions or workshops also repeatedly provide the basis for conversations.

• - 'Oh my god, the vinyasa class in the morning was sooooo exhausting, but Betty - the teacher - was great.'
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• - 'Thank you for dragging me to the yoga class - it really did me good.'
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• - 'And what did you take away from Aly's class? I think, for me, the sentences 'the map is not the territory' and 'always go back to the raw facts and be aware that most of the evaluation of a situation is our own story that we put on the raw data' were the most impressive.'
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• - 'it's simple but not easy.'
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The teachers (Cyclical Living for Women, HOME | Awaken with Aly) come from all over the world and provide food for thought for each of us...

Food for thought and conversation with:

• - Shermaine: she has 2 adult daughters, is from South Africa, but has been living in Australia for years, and has been traveling for months: China, Vietnam, Thailand ... alone, as her daughter didn't want to join.
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• - Amelie - she is from Austria, just turned 20 and enjoys being friendly with other girls above all. She reports how good she feels because the friendly interaction between women is not so well known to her at home. She feels very comfortable. And is satisfied that she is healthy again now, she was in Indonesia, Singapore, and so on, and has been ill several times in the meantime.
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• - Maria... She loves to travel and never thought she would go back home after eight months. She realizes that she is now at least temporarily satisfied. Satisfied with discovering new things, being amazed, that's why she came to this place to relax before she goes back home. In the months she was in Colombia, Nepal, and so on.
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• - Nadine: Took a sabbatical year and is traveling with her husband, who is from New Zealand. However, he is still in Australia because he couldn't sell the car, but she really wanted to do something on her own and that's why she is here or has already been to other islands.
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• - Clara is quiet but communicative, interested, thoughtful, she is still struggling with herself whether to start the yoga training here in three days, theoretically she still has time until September. Due to the price and her lack of previous experience with yoga, she is very unsure, we will see.
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We hang out, alone, in pairs, in groups. And mostly sitting on the floor. My butt really starts to hurt.