Soul trips

Soul trips

Megha Bajaj urges all of us to indulge in more me-time to enable spiritual metamorphosis 

Every year, I take a couple of  soul-o-trips. As the spelling  suggests, they end up being  extremely soul-fulfilling. Man is  a social animal. But man is also  given the ability to be alone, to  close his eyes, introspect, and  connect with the Divine. It is in a  balance between being with people  and being alone that we find that  perfect harmony in life. 

With advancing technology, our  time with ourselves has taken  a real beating. Be honest. What  is the first thing you do in the  morning? For 9 out of 10 people,  the answer is bound to be, “Check  WhatsApp or social media.” I  was no exception. And yet, these  days, I am training my system  to believe in who I am, and that  gratitude and a little appointment  with God are more important than  everything outside of me. So, very  consciously, the first hour after  I wake up, I ensure I don’t touch  my mobile. (You should try it; easy  as it seems, it isn’t. And yet, when  you master it, what a difference  it makes!) I felt that even after  taking some time out with myself  in city life, it wasn’t enough.  I wanted to get within myself.  Know what is crying. What is in  bliss. What needs correction. And  what needs celebration. While  I am in Mumbai, I play so many  roles: I am a wife, a dog mother,  a daughter, a sister, a friend. But  who am I when I am alone? 

Getting away by myself for a few  days puts me back in touch with  my core. And it’s an incredible  feeling. Sometimes the core tells  me that I am getting something  wrong and I need to correct it. And  that’s okay. When feedback comes  from you to you, there’s no ego.  Sometimes the core simply smiles  in gratitude and says, Thank you  for being who you are. And it  makes life feel worth it. 

In my time with myself, I get a  chance to relive the past. I lost  my mother about five months ago,  and in my recent soul-o trip, one  of those afternoons, all I did was  relive some of the most beautiful  memories of her. Her hugging me.  Her tousling my hair. Our trips  together. One would think this  would be painful, but I cannot  describe the deep peace it gave me.  It made me feel she was right there  with me, sharing every moment. It  was deeply nourishing! 

One of those evenings, simply  gazing at the sunsets, I relived  all my successes. Those moments  where I knew my presence had  made someone’s life better. Much  better. Those awards. Those  projects. Those “You go, Girl”  moments. And I felt so beautiful.  I realised we crave validation from  the outside only when we don’t  invest enough time in celebrating  our success. Simply loving myself,  patting myself, and hugging  myself in quiet pride made me  feel, Wow, you have come far. And  

although there is a long way to go,  the journey has surely and most  certainly begun. 

One of those early mornings,  while strolling through the  gardens, I was just overwhelmed  with gratitude. I went down on  my knees and thanked life for my  relationships and each person for  adding what they did. 

There were moments of sudden  insights—and also a revelation, of  a correction I needed to bring to  feel like my healthier version.  

So much happens on these soul-o  trips. Every moment seems laden  with meaning. It somehow cleans  me up of what needs cleaning.  It charges me about who I am  becoming and what I need to do.  And it makes me recognise how  inherently important I am to  myself. 

And everything outside of me  comes later. First, it’s me. 

I urge each one of you to go on  these soul-o trips. Allow yourself  to talk to yourself. Allow yourself  to reveal yourself to yourself. I  can promise you, you will return  lighter, happier, and more ‘You!’  But first, begin with that morning  with yourself. Tell me what it does  for you! 

Megha Bajaj is a bestselling author,  

film script writer and poet.  

An ardent seeker at heart, she also  

runs her online writing and healing  

workshops called WoW. You can  

read more about her on www. 

MeghaBajajWoW.com. 

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