Rediscover Your Inner Zen

Sarah Maxwell shares how she finally found calm in the middle of a forest

No matter how hard I try, I can only manage three minutes of meditation before I’m utterly distracted, bored or find myself doing something else. My monkey-mind won’t rest. I’ve tried listening to whale music, birds, bees and a rainforest, which only left me more stressed than I was before I started listening to it…

Many people swear by the Calm app – my husband is a huge fan – however as much as I love Stephen Fry’s voice, the sleep story about the lavender fields in Provence failed me. I listened right to the end and spent the next hour wondering what was going to happen next (when not thinking about tomorrow’s to do list). Those monkeys just keep chattering.