When she’s not busy exploring her home city of London, Adiba Osmani is spreading the word on the trend she made a way of life – mindful meditation. We ask the co-founder of the capital’s first drop-in meditation studio about favourite retreats, London hangouts and why you should zone out at 35,000ft

I’d love to travel on the Trans-Siberian railway
That’s my bucket list journey. I love vast empty landscapes and train journeys, so it’s the perfect combo. I’m curious about China and so tempted by Tibet. I spent a brief time in Bhutan in the Himalayas, and it was the most beautiful place I’ve seen. I can imagine Tibet will be more rugged in its beauty, and I want to soak up the architecture and spiritual history.

My favourite hotel is in Buenos Aires
The Faena Hotel (pictured below) has an other-worldly style. As soon as you walk into the long red hallway, with its high ceilings, you know this space is special. Its restaurants are beautiful and the service excellent. If this one is anything to go by, I bet the new Faena Hotel in Miami is amazing, too.

I wanted to create a city space for people to refresh their minds
I was inspired to create Inhere because I understand the power beautiful spaces have to create calm, wonder and stillness. At a time when everyone is focused on apps and virtual worlds, I felt we needed to transform spaces in the city into tangible places where you can refresh your mind and restore clarity.

The name means ‘to exist within’
I came upon the name when researching ideas around meditation. I realised there was already a word to describe that meditative feeling – inhere, derived from ‘inherent’. To ‘inhere’ means to exist ‘essentially within’, which made me fall in love with the name even more. I wanted to resurrect this little-used word, and whether people understand it as ‘in here’ or ‘inhere’, both work perfectly.

I adore living in London 
Especially where I live, near London Bridge. The whole area laps the Thames and is vibrantly modern yet full of history. From the centuries-old pubs to the shiny Shard, there is so much variety. We are spoilt for places to eat – Borough Market, of course, and my favourite restaurant, ’O ver (pictured above). It has a Naples-inspired menu, and they cook with sea water. I take a long time over every morsel!

Once, I stared at a tree for an hour
Probably the most bizarre thing I’ve done in the pursuit of meditation. There were virtually no other instructions except to stare at the tree, and I did wonder what it had to do with meditation. Of course, it had everything to do with meditation. Looking at that tree taught me how wild the mind goes when we tell it to be still, how difficult it is to concentrate on one thing at a time.

My favourite retreat is in the mountains of Thailand
Kamalaya (pictured below) is a natural health and wellbeing resort in the mountains of Koh Samui. After I stayed there, I offered to work with the founders to understand how it works, because I knew one day I’d like to build something similar in a city. Everything is lovingly created, from the delicious food to the many treatments, and, most of all, the space. It is built around an ancient monk’s cave, and monks still go there every year to pray.

A plane is the perfect place to meditate
I mediate in the air often, helped by the essential oils I always bring. Depending on the focus of my meditation, I can fully absorb all the surrounding sounds, scents, textures and movements, and be completely present. Or I can stay with my breath for a long time and see what the stillness brings out in me – thoughts, emotions, sensations.

My family are in Belfast and my summer holidays in the Mediterranean
So I spend my Avios on flights to get me to both these places. I joined the Executive Club because I travel so often it made sense to collect Avios while doing it. And for the price of a fare you have comfortable seats, a clean plane and service that gets better every year. 

To de-stress in the city at Adiba's Inhere Meditation Studio, to find out more click here

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This article has been tagged BA, Wellbeing