A Guided Tour to Inner Peace —

Next stop: Enlightenment.

In an ideal world, you can head to a beach for a sunrise meditation session or visit the cherry blossoms in Japan. Don’t worry, we’ll help you find your happy place – with a few stops around the planet first.

Video: Dominique Lamberton

Let’s start with a calming sunset trip to Cox Bay, Tofino.

“Try taking a few breaths and doing three or four poses a day — anybody can commit to that.”

Ryan Leier

Ryan Leier doing a headstand in front of the Eiffel Tower
   Photo: Ryan Leier

Or try binge–watching three or four movies a day — enlightenment looks different for everyone.

Two people on camels in Lawrence of Arabia
   Photo: Allstar Picture Library/Alamy

Dive deep into the present moment...

Michalsen collects seaweed from Under’s walls
    Photo: Jeremy Koreski
Humpback whale off of the coast of Maui
Photo: Cesere Brothers – NMFS Permit #17845

...Or into a bowl of poutine (comfort food can totally lead to mental calmness).

A bowl of poutine
   Photo: Virginie Gosselin

…And think of one thing that brings you joy while staring at this photo of cherry blossoms in Ōgawara, Japan.

A cherry blossom tree on a hill in Ōgawara
   Photo: Fumi Homma

“The cherry blossom is an important symbol of new beginnings. There is also the tragedy of its short life. It’s intense, and then it’s gone.”

Mayand Plant

Imagine that your mind is as vast as the plains of Patagonia.

Vast plains of arid steppe along route 43 in Argentina
   Photo: Mustafah Abdulaziz

Allow it to soar freely…as free as a bird

Lolu Oyedele wears a seagull hat and matching blue blazer with wings attached
   Photo: Grant Harder

And let the sounds of wood pigeons, nuthatches and chaffinches in an old growth forest in Romania guide you to your happy place…

Carpathian Mountains - Romania 
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The sun shining between the trees in a Romanian forest
   Photo: Ciocan Ciprian (Unsplash)

Or immerse yourself in a sound bath at California’s Integratron.

The Integratron illuminated at night in California
   Photo: Calling All Earthlings LLC

Still haven’t reached zen?

Video: Marco Argüello

Take a cue from the Dominican Republic’s musicologists and blast beats from your car while dancing in the streets. (Keeping your distance, of course.)

This tropical Hawaiian breeze may lull you to enlightenment…

   Video: Kari Medig

If that doesn’t work, a tropical cocktail should do the trick.

A pineapple and rum cocktail
   Photo: Virginie Gosselin

We will travel again. In the meantime, take comfort in Canadian astronaut David Saint–Jacques’ wise words:

A view of the moon over the earth from space
   Photo: David Saint-Jacques, Canadian Space Agency/NASA

“For the moment, I can close my eyes and travel in my imagination.”

We sure do.