Peace of mind in Somerset

Iam lying wrapped in a cashmere blanket on a wide, comfy sofa, my head and feet raised on deep pillows. Dotted around me on other sofas are four fellow guests, eyes closed and ears tuned to the gentle Irish lilt of our retreat leader's voice as she sits in the half light and attempts to chill us out.

"Know that as you close your eyes, as surely as night follows day, sleep follows rest and relaxation," she says in melodious, measured tones. "When you do wake ... you will wake feeling calm ... all parts of you now aligned."

Juls Abernethy - the wellness coach who co-founded the Body Retreat - is taking us through our final session of Sleep Hypno, a meditative technique she's designed to help us get the most out of our sleep on this four-night destress retreat. It's certainly been working on me - I've slept soundly each night, the kind of deep sleep I often crave when I'm juggling the demands of being a working mother to a five-year-old daughter. That a chest infection has emerged during the course of my retreat is very telling - I'm knackered, and my body is shouting at me to stop. Which is easy here - an attractive, clapboard house in a deliciously silent piece of the Somerset countryside, with calmingly spare ensuite bedrooms, under-floor heating, white waffledressing gowns, complimentary Mio skincare products and Pukka teas on tap. Perfect, in short, for the kind of woman this retreat attracts - mainly professionals from 35 to 65 with one thing in common - we all feel a bit (or very) stressed.

This Stress Re-Set retreat, like all those run by the Body Retreat, is only for women. According to Juls, this is because "men and women are different biologically and psychologically". "By tailoring our retreats specifically to deal with women's bodies and how they deal with sleep, stress and nutrition, we can make them more effective," she explains. I rather like having men around in general - but I do find it a bonus here to be able to strip off in the sauna or slob about on the sofa without worrying about decency or looks.

Juls is no stranger to stress, having suffered burnout during a career in HR, but she's also trained in various aspects of women's health. The retreat's cofounder, Julie Brealy, who co-ordinates the sessions and runs all the fitness activities, is as quiet as Juls is talkative, and the pair form a nicely contrasting, approachable and supportive presence.

The retreat is planned to help us slow down, relax, cleanse our bodies, clear our minds, get rid of our "stress fat" (one of the side effects of near-constant tension, apparently) and understand how to deal with things better when we're back in the real world.

We have daily body brushing, hot lemon-water drinks and saunas; sessions with the nutritionist Kate Delmar-Morgan to help us understand what we should be eating; treatments with Pippa whose massage and reflexology really gets to grips with my computer-taught neck muscles; and a colourful mix of daily exercise, from weight workouts to pilates. I especially love the morning countryside walks and qigong - a Chinese system that uses breathing and movement to help develop a strong chi, or energy.

Between sessions I dip in and out of the indoor pool, soak in the outdoor hot tub, and sip chamomile tea while page-turning my way through an Elena Ferrante novel. I didn't feel I needed to lose weight, but by the end of the four days I've lost two inches off my waist - without really doing very much at all.

I especially enjoy the focus on mindfulness - or "learning to be alive to every moment". The concept is popular at the moment, but the team here has really grasped how to teach it well without the aid of Buddhist meditation. A former GP-turned-mindfulness teacher, Dr Miranda Bevis, visits the house for two sessions to tell us all about how the mind works and to encour-age us at various points to focus on a vase of lilies, our bodies and a raisin in the palm of our hands. Meanwhile, Juls encourages "mindful eating" at every meal - eating carefully and slowly, smelling our food before we start, putting our forks down between mouthfuls (surprisingly hard) and leaving a morsel on our plates at the end of each meal (immensely challenging). She is keen for us to separate physical hunger from emotional and psychological need, and get us to see that the body (which has a stomach no larger than a closed fist) needs a lot less than we usually feed it.

Our small, cleansing meals, all cooked by Juls, are simple but clever (at first I mistake the warmed shredded cauliflower served with our butternut curry for rice) and range from tasty carrot burgers and an amazing immune-boosting chicken, lemon and tarragon soup to "green eggs" (scrambled with seaweed, parsley, kale, spinach and an avocado salsa) and celery sandwiches with cashew nut butter.

I know we've relaxed when we sit in companionable silence during our last evening meal together, enjoying the peace and our pestocrusted salmon with garlic greens. My cough means I can barely talk, I'm wearing a pair of old PJs and my hair is sticking out at odd angles - but everyone else is in a similar state of dishevelment, and I'm certain none of us minds. I suspect that the tensions in my life require a lot more than a four-night retreat to sort them out, but I do feel infi-nitely more rested, and on the right track to relaxation, at least.

Travel Essentials STAYING THERE The Body Retreat (020 3701 1603; thebodyretreat.co.uk) hosts the next Stress Re-Set retreat from 19-26 February. Prices from £1,850pp based on shared accommodation, or £2,350 for a single room.