Mind, body diet, wellbeing

Edited by Anna Magee

If you only do ONE thing this month. indulge in sun-lounger therapy

It's hard not to feel fabulously relaxed while lying in the sunshine. But can that chilled sensation last when you're back in the real world? To give it a chance, intensify the effects of your vacation de-stressing with this simple technique.

Lie on your sun lounger with your eyes closed and focus on your breathing, relaxing your muscles. Imagine a flow of light energy travelling through the body, invigorating, energising and renewing as you breathe in and out. Continue for five minutes or so, then gradually tune in to other
sounds and slowly open your eyes.

'You should wake up from this "mini-trance" feeling refreshed and totally relaxed,' claims clinical hypnotherapist David Botsford. If that sounds like too much of a slog, then the next best thing, says Botsford, is to listen to baroque music. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Correlli have rhythms that closely follow the human heartbeat of 75 beats per minute and are proven to leave the listener in a relaxed, meditative state. So, tune in and drift off while on the beach, by the pool or in bed.

Try Botsford's Mind And Body Tone-Up CD (£14.97, 0207 7727 6262; selfhypnosiscd.co.uk). Set to soothing baroque music, it contains hypnotic instructions from Botsford to encourage you to de-stress.

From "Red" magazine, August 2007.