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Novak Djokovic has spent some of the second half of the season soul-searching.

The world No. 1 is embracing meditation—and a peace, love and hugs philosophy—as an answer for ennui.

Could a new coach be next?

Watch: Top 5 Funny Moments of 2016, Part II

Djokovic has been studying with former Spanish pro Pepe Imaz, a tennis and spiritual life coach advocating love, peace, meditation and extended hugs, according to a new Daily Mail report by Mike Dickson.

The alliance is raising questions about Djokovic's future with coach Boris Becker.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion met Imaz through his younger brother, Marko Djokovic, who credits Imaz with helping him overcome the depression he felt over struggling with his own tennis career.

Finding love and peace can come from connecting with the internal divine light, Novak Djokovic tells the audience at about the 62-minute mark of the above video, shot earlier this year at the Amor & Paz (Love and Peace) Tennis School at the Puente Romano resort in Marbella, Spain. Former Top 10 player Daniela Hantuchova also shared the stage with the Djokovic brothers.

"Essentially, we are all looking for love, happiness and harmony," Novak Djokovic says in English as brother Marko translates his words into Spanish. "To find the love, happiness and harmony we need to be able to look inwards and establish this connection with the divine light. And to be able to find harmony and love, we need to go inside and connect with the divine light because that is for us to find love."

The Australian Open champion advocates meditation for clearing a cloudy mind of gloomy thoughts and emotions to connect with the positivity within.

"If your mind is a clear blue sky and your thoughts are the clouds, the clouds are passing by constantly but they are not your mind," Djokovic says. "If you connect with the clouds instantly you might lose the perception of your clear blue sky...

"Why is it important that you observe things from a more general perspective? Because then you can select the thoughts and the emotions that you want to be connected with. That is why the meditation is so important. The self-work because you're being able to select the right emotions and the love that you're looking for. And to finish, I wish all of you here in the room that you feel this connection with love now and forever. Gracias."

Can't go wrong with love and peace. Nole's new guru, Pepe Imaz, in the house in Paris, sitting next to brother Marko... pic.twitter.com/0AMpclxuKo

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 2, 2016

Is Djokovic, who adopted a strict gluten-free diet to combat lethargy in the past, deeply committed to Imaz's spiritual approach and considering him as coach? Is the peace, love and hugs mantra public posturing to reduce expectations and external pressure as Djokovic continues climbing the all-time Grand Slam ladder? Or is the No.1 just in need of a good long hug as a blanket from immense stress?

Imaz was sitting next to Djokovic's brother, Marko, in the top seed's support box during his BNP Paribas Masters opener against Gilles Muller. Neither Becker nor Marian Vajda, Djokovic's long-time coach, are in Paris as Djokovic tries to hold off second-ranked Andy Murray and retain his world No. 1 ranking.

 

Greetings from Paris #threeamigos

A photo posted by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on

Nov 1, 2016 at 2:15am PDT

Imaz's increased influence and visibility has prompted some speculation Djokovic could part company with Becker.

Asked about Becker's role at last month's Shanghai Rolex Masters, Djokovic replied: "Well, yeah, we are still working (together), yeah.

"Well, for now the plan is (to work together for) the rest of the season, what's left, indoor tournaments."

Djokovic has shared the love with fans this season visibly expressing his philosophy.

The world No. 1 has adopted a post-match celebration gesture of pushing his heart toward the crowd, he emulated former French Open champion Guga Kuerten's memorable move of tracing a heart onto the red clay canvas after winning his first Roland Garros title in June and orchestrated this group hug after capturing the Rogers Cup title in Toronto.


On his Academy website, Imaz cites the power of love in life and tennis as his mission statement.

"Our philosophy is based on the belief that through Love one can achieve true happiness," Imaz says. "So with this in mind, we apply that principle to our tennis training."

Djokovic has openly discussed coping with "personal issues" after suffering a stunning upset to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon and his search to reconnect with the joy and passion of playing rather than focusing solely on chasing Grand Slam championships and defending the top spot in the rankings.

It's unclear where this path will lead the 29-year-old Serbian or if he will partner with a new coach in 2017.

In Shanghai, Djokovic called this a "transition" time in his career, conceding retaining No. 1 is no longer his top priority.

"The last three months were up and down a little bit with oscillations, but generally I didn't find that kind of satisfaction on the court, which is the very reason and the source of my motivation to play the tennis," Djokovic said in Shanghai. "So if I don't have that kind of inner joy of playing. I know that every day obviously is different and it's not easy to always feel at your best and always enjoy 100%, but, you know, in the last period it was just too many of those days where I felt like I'm spending too much energy and effort, mental effort, into my training and matches.

"So that's my priority now to get back into that inner joy and really feeling happy for being on the court and everything else comes second and behind that."