SUAN MOKKH, THAILAND

For Vipassana meditation in the forest, Suan Mokkh Buddhist monastery at Chaiya, north of Surat Thani, runs popular, highly affordable and deeply effective 10-day silent meditation retreats every month at its International Dharma and Silence” by Rumi) or pieces of prose (such as “What is a Goddess?”) to reflect on before bed.

Very quickly, in such a rarefied atmosphere, my tension unravels, and free of the chit-chat that goes with daily communication, ideas about my life pop up for me to examine. I have nothing especially to “sort” – my body and mind need to rest and reboot for the same reasons of “busyness” that most of us have.

Being quiet undoubtedly quickens the pace of this process, though my surroundings are not wholly quiet. I’m in India, after all, and though the hotel and grounds are tranquil, sounds often call to me in the distance – dogs barking, birds singing, cockerels crowing, villagers talking, men drumming, women singing while they thud their washing on bare rocks.

I’m not totally silent myself either, as I would be in a closed retreat, for this a hotel, and while I avoid company, if a fellow guest says hello to me or a member of staff asks me a question, I naturally respond. As Faraz points out, I’m aiming to create a silence within, rather than a silence without – a sustainable stillness of thought and focus which, if found, is not going to be disturbed by saying hello to a guest or thanking a waiter.

Do I find that stillness within? After I come out of silence, on the last day, I take a guided walk through the lively village, visit a local women’s cooperative and buy an Indian-British designed kaftan in the hotel’s new shop,

Marigolds and Roses. I feel rested and reassured, content to have been quiet and now also content to be speaking freely and busy again. This is not the transformative silence I’ve experienced on Buddhist communal retreats. But I would happily experience it again if I’m stressed, and for longer next time. Hermitage, starting on the first day of each month. You can’t book in advance – you need to turn up on the morning of the day before to register. Be prepared to get up at 4am, wash and eat communally and help out with chores during the day. Guidance and talks from the monks and nuns are inspirational. Ten days from 2,000 baht (£51), which you pay in advance and is non-refundable: 0066 2 936 2800; suanmokkh.org

Five nights’ full board at Raas Devigarh, with daily yoga and ila treatments, meditation, sound therapy, village walk and temple tour, from £2,860pp through Greaves India (020 7487 9111; greavesindia.co.uk), including international and domestic flights.