Yoga is an excellent way to relax

If nothing seems to chill you out these days, here are some deeply effective therapies specifically designed to help you relax.

Hot stone massage therapy

What's involved?
Hot stone massage involves heated volcanic basalt stones being placed along pressure points known as 'charkas', on your body. Once in place, the therapist then massages your body using stroking movements.

What are the benefits?
"The hot stones penetrate muscles more easily, allowing the therapist to give a deeper massage," says Vladanka Manceva-Atkins, manager at London's luxurious K Spa. "Hot stone therapy feels very comforting, soothing and grounding, both mentally and physically. One stroke with the stones equals 5-10 strokes of effleurage movements with the hands."

Yoga

What's involved?
Yoga involves moving your body into a series of different poses, and can be practised on a physical, mental and spiritual level, often incorporating breathing and meditation techniques.

What are the benefits?
"The twisting and bending involved with yoga poses reaches deep into the body, strengthening, massaging and cleansing different organs, the circulatory system and the nervous system," says Dean Hodgkin, health and fitness consultant at Ragdale Hall Health Spa, Leicestershire. "This directly translates into a healthier body and a healthier mind."

For more information on yoga, and where to locate classes, visit the British Wheel of Yoga.

Reflexology

What's involved?
This treatment uses massage and pressure on specific reflex points on your feet. You remain clothed during the treatment, only removing your socks and shoes.

What are the benefits?
"Relaxation works through the common mechanism of stimulating the 'parasympathetic' nervous system," says Mandy Duncan Smith, reflexologist and member of the Association of Reflexologists. "This part of the nervous system generates the 'rest and renew' response. Your heart rate slows and breathing deepens, allowing tissues to be nourished. It calms the mind, so you are less likely to over-react; and energy goes into stimulating the digestion and the immune response to help combat the bodily manifestation of stress. Clients often feel a sense of mental and physical well-being after a treatment."

Floatation therapy

What's involved?
You lie back in an enclosed tank or 'pod', which has been filled with approximately 10 inches of a saturated salt solution. Heated to skin temperature, the water mimics the effects of the Dead Sea, so you float on the surface effortlessly.

What are the benefits?
"The effects have been proven to be a shortcut to reaching deep relaxation levels that are normally only achieved through long periods of training and practice of meditation techniques", says Mario Venturi, manager of therapists at Floatworks in London. "Because the solution is heated to skin temperature, it means that once you are settled in the tank, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between parts of the body that are in contact with the water, and those that aren't - in effect 'fooling' the brain into believing that the person is floating in mid-air."

For more information, visit Floatworks.

Meditation

What's involved?
In simple terms, meditation is the art of learning to focus your mind, cleansing it of daily clutter. There are many different approaches to meditation, with techniques such as a one-hour yoga nidra session equalling the effects of fours' sleep.

What are the benefits?
"Yoga nidra is a way of inducing complete physical, emotional and mental relaxation," says Dean Hodgkin. "It uniquely unwinds the nervous system, which is the foundation of the body's well-being."