When former Reggae Boy Nathan Smith told relatives and friends he was going on a soul-searching mission into India’s rustic backlands, they reacted with raised eyebrows.

His decision, to say the least, came as a bombshell – popping out of the proverbial blue.

“What’s happening in your mind, have you gone mad?” one relative was said to have asked.

It was easy for Smith’s family, relatives and friends to think that he had gone bonkers, because his new idea for a holiday was a big drift from his seventh-straight year of light-hearted rendezvous to his ancestral home, Jamaica.

But the 29-year-old left-back, who plies his trade for League Two’s Yeovil Town, had his mind made up. He was, it appears, determined to find a new path in discovering the person he knows all too well – himself.

And he was off to the unknown, some 5,000 miles away from the comfort of his England home.

Smith, who has two caps for Jamaica’s Senior Reggae Boyz, had learnt about the Dhamma Arunachala Vipassana Meditation Centre from friend Selina Brown, who is a “soul coach”.

It’s a place located on a mountain of Tiruvannamalai town in the state of Tamil Nadu, and based on the professional footballer’s descriptive recollection, time is frozen there.

This sensational throwback in time is without the basic modern comforts: there is no Internet, cellphone access, cable television and electricity. And for those tempted to indulge, there is no fast food franchise around the corner.

Time is only measured in this place in night and day as clocks and watches are outlawed.

Once inside its walls, visitors are literally cut off from the rest of the world, and tested to the limit as the practice involves a vow of silence, no reading or writing. Eye contact is also forbidden.

And Smith, a first-time visitor, lived the trying life for 10 days, starting May 25 to June 4.

“I was very nervous at first as I was stepping into the land of the unknown. I didn’t know anything about India, and the retreat,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer.

In essence, the retreat focuses on a meditation technique called Vipassana.

“Vipassana meditation is universal and its goal is to purify the mind to eliminate the tensions and negativeness that make us miserable. It is not religious,” the England-born defender explained.

Smith’s day started at 4:00 am and finished at 9:00 pm. During this time, he notes, more than 11 hours were dedicated to meditation.

“The gong would sound three times with 20-second intervals to let us know we had 10 minutes until meditation starts.

“If you were not out of your bed in time, the assistant teacher would come into your room ringing a tiny bell for ages until you were up,” Smith said.

At the facility, there are no showers, and beverages. And there are no maids. Every guest does his or her own chores.

“We had to walk as far as 120 metres each time we wanted to fill up our water bottles. I would count in my head and time how long it took as I didn’t have my watch. It took on average two minutes and 44 seconds each way in temperatures of 35-37 degrees.

“I would drink four or five litres of water per day and have a wash three to four times as well. We had to fill up a bucket of water and then use a small cup to splash the water over us. We all had to wash our own clothes and our own dishes.

“This all may sound tough, but it was all great fun going back to basics,” Smith shared.

After a long day of meditation sessions and servitude that is synonymous with the rustic lifestyle, night-time brings little relief.

“We all had to sleep on metal beds that did not have mattresses. I used my flat sheet and folded it many times to make a pillow.

“I had many sleepless nights, but managed some of my best sittings the next morning using techniques taught if you can’t sleep to help the body recover efficiently. My mind was saying I should be tired because I haven’t slept, but my body was full of energy,” Smith said.

The experience for the former Chesterfield player was one of enlightenment, which he has fully embraced.

“I have learnt that everything in life is constant moving energy vibrations, so nothing stays the same. This means you will never be the same person you were a second ago,” he noted.

Before embarking on his spiritual journey, Smith had long been a vegan, so it was a seamless transition in acclimatising to the food inside the Dhamma Arunachala Vipassana Meditation Centre.

“I am a vegan and the food was vegetarian, so the selection of a few was able to cater for my needs. But in India they put buttermilk in some foods, so I had to listen to my intuition and not eat certain foods in case they contained milk.

“Meals varied from coconut rice and some vegetable mixes. Some meals would be in a tin that was full of chickpeas or various types of beans. I thought I would get hungry, but not once did I feel hungry, which helped to show me the power of being in control of the mind,” he said.

Smith said throughout the 10 days he learnt techniques to help observe sensations, but to “minimise any meaningful connection to them and make them equanimous”.

“For example, the sweet tooth craving a person might receive isn’t the food itself, but for the sensation they get when consuming the food,” he noted.

“By being aware you are letting the mind know the sensation is objective and you are aware of it. As everything in life where energy is always moving, then so will this sensation end up passing with no attachment to stay,” Smith recounts.

Born in Enfield, England, Smith said: “I lost close to a stone during the 10 days and I feel great.”

The 5ft 11in left-sided player says so spiritually uplifting and consciousness-awkening the experience, he will quickly recommend that fellow footballers, friends and family consider this retreat.

“Some feel going away on holidays is relaxing, but the mind is still very much active. This helps get the mind relaxed, concentrated and away from all the mayhem.

“I would advise people to do something like this retreat, regardless who you are, many people face many deep-lying impurities in the subconscious mind. Some different to others,” Smith stated.

“I will continue my practice and hope to show more of its benefits in the near future.”

Smith argued that the meditative process, as is taught at the India retreat, is one way for a person to probe deep into his or her subconscious state, far deeper than anyone else can go.

“Only you yourself can get to the deep-level subconscious part of your brain. Doctors, psychologists can only work on a surface level.

“The vibrations felt throughout my body during this experience has definitely showed me there is a better way to live life through flowing positive vibrations,” Smith said.

Though he admits he feels a brand new man, Smith does not want to get ahead of himself by thinking that his life-changing encounter will have a direct impact on his game.

“I will let my performances do the talking, and what I know for sure is that the experience has already made me a better person,” Smith expressed.

He is currently seeking projects in communities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to help empower youths.

The Vipassana Meditation Centre warmly welcomes seekers of wisdom and has been an abode of many sages and saints. It is said that during the first Buddha Sasana, this region was an integral part of the holy Kanchipuram zone that supported Buddha Dhamma.