The sea, the only distraction…

Staying perfectly straight on the beach is a challenge that can strengthen the body and the mind. You have to make sure that the wind or the joyful sounds of children playing don’t make you lose your concentration and carry you away like a kite floating off in the sea breeze.

Practising yoga and meditating on the beach is nothing like doing it in a gym or a quiet room at home. There are more distractions here, but the sea more than makes up for them.

Everyone knows about the many benefits of spending time by the coast: the clean air helps to cool you down even on scorching summer days, a vast, endless horizon makes a welcome change for eyes that spend far too much time looking at screens, and there are lots of other, more subtle qualities such as the fragrances of tamarisks or pine trees, and the peaceful sound of the waves washing away. They can all be summed up with one word: well-being.

I’ve had my fill of closed rooms, with music playing on stereos or phones and no wind to clear the air and our minds. Here in Bibione, everything is just waiting to be discovered: the golden sand into which I sink, the sounds that fill the air from the natural world, the sea and the pine woods. The beach is like one big gym where exercise is twice as good for you.

I have to confess that I had my doubts when they first brought me here. I’ve got a long tradition behind me. My ancestors came from Asia: a vast continent that is home to monasteries on tall mountains and coastlines as long as entire nations. However, I don’t think you need to go that far away to feel good about yourself and find a sense of peace.

Head to the beach at sunrise, when there aren’t many tourists around and there are just a few boats sailing past, so you have it all to yourself. Or go when the sun is setting and watch it light up the water with bright colours before disappearing behind the nearby mountains. At these times, it’s the ideal place to find a sense of calm as you let your body relax and all your worries drift away.

Let the sea breeze carry away everything that you don’t need. Let all of the pressure that you feel float away among the waves. Leave all of your burdens in the sand. You don’t need to travel to distant lands to disappear, lose yourself and then find yourself again, maybe in a slightly better state.

I know that I’m not alone. There are lots of women, children and young people around me. I share my floral scents with them, although the fragrant air that blows in from the inland areas does the job just as well. There isn’t much call for incense here in Bibione because it’s already filled with the sublime smells of the sea and the summer.