6. Being saner

Being in a better state emotionally within a few seconds is a tall order, and the more our need for this relief, the harder it can be to achieve it. Our best bets are: letting off steam, getting supportive understanding and possibly gaining a different perspective by talking to a good friend about what's stressing you meditation or yoga the equivalent of meditation or yoga for those of us who can't quite get it together to do anything as calming as that. Listening to music, spacing out for a few minutes, immersing ourselves in an escapist book or TV programme can help create temporary stress relief.

The self-explanatorily titled book 6o Ways to Relieve Stress in 60 Seconds has some (well, 60 to be precise) portable, discreet, free (of money and calories) ideas, such as:

  • walk around the office while remembering in detail all the ingredients of one of your favourite meals
  • drink a glass of water in exactly 30 sips
  • balance something on top of your head
  • crumple a piece of paper into a ball and play 'basketball' using your wastebasket or other receptacle

You could also spend a relaxing further 60 seconds thinking of other words for 'receptacle'.

For information about stress management, the mental health charity Mind is a good place to start:

People might want to stereotype the central organisation for yoga as being worthy and dowdy and having a correspondingly dour website. The British Wheel of Yoga's website is, it turns out, rather gloomy. But don't let that put you off!

More stylish, and more mainstream, is Paul Wilson's website. Wilson is the author of the very fabulous Instant Calm and the website has lots of calming tips and techniques.

For more specific mental health problems, such as depression, severe anxiety, phobias etc, the BBC website is an excellent source of advice and contacts.