Modern tool of torture or the latest trend in getting a good night's sleep? Introducing the yantra mat...

One million Swedes bought a yantra mat last year and we're snapping up them up just as fast in the UK after it arrived here for the first time a few months back.

So why all the fuss about an odd-looking mat? Because it helps you relax naturally in a jiffy.

Based on the bed of nails - an ancient spiritual relaxation aid - the yantra mat is a handy DIY acupressure tool to release physical and mental blockages of the meridian lines to heal the body, boost energy levels, and help you sleep better.

It's particularly good when you need to relax quickly, say at the end of the long day when you want to sleep but your head's still buzzing.

All you need to do is lie down and let the mat work its magic.

Doesn't it hurt?
The initial pinching pain soon dissolves into a warm glow of relief, relaxation and - surprisingly - comfort.

Our tester didn't want to get up after five minutes - the recommended amount of time you use it for the first few times. The idea is to 'build up' your relationship with the mat, maxing at 20 minutes.

Another tester who lay down with a head full of thoughts about the housework she was meant to be doing within a few minutes found her mind suddenly quiet, her breathing deeper and her body softening.

What's it good for?
Use the yantra mat for about 20 minutes each day and you can expect to benefit from:

• better sleep
• less stress, more calm
• more energy
• relief from general aches and pains

Following a sell-out weekend in 2009, the international I Can Do It! spiritual event returns to the UK for a second time, this autumn.

Running from 24 September to 26 September in central London, I Can Do it! lets you meet and work live with some of the world's leading inspirational authors and speakers. As well as relax, make friends and learn new ways of deepening your spirituality.

Highly respected spiritual leader and author Louise L. Hay, founder of Hay House Publishers, established the first I Can Do It! event in the US five years ago as a way for kindred spirits to meet and heal themselves and each other.

Why go? Who'll be there?
The weekend will be introduced by Louise L. Hay herself, with potentially life-changing keynote lectures by:

Neale Donald Walsch
Neale is author of hit series Conversations with God. The first book - Book 1, (£8.99, Mobius) has sold 7.5 million copies worldwide in 37 languages and occupied the New York Times Bestseller list for over two and half years. This will be his last ever appearance in Europe.

Cheryl Richardson and Robert Holden
The team leader for Oprah's Lifestyle Makeover Series will closing the conference with the creator of The Happiness Project - the most famously-tested course on happiness - by speaking about

• how to build a stronger, more loving relationship with yourself, and
• how to deepen your commitment to your life's purpose.

Work on yourself in world-class workshops
In between, there are 12 workshops to chose from, covering all sorts of fascinating topics such as

• how to energetically connect with your Higher Self by Jude Currivan
• unlocking the power of your dreams with Davina McKail
• how to develop your skills as a medium with TV's Gordon Smith, said do be the UK's most accurate medium.

Angel Readings led by the lovely Doreen Virtue PhD - queen of all things angelic, and brilliant at passing on messages from your angels to you - is, unsurprisingly, already sold out.

For the full list of workshop leaders and book visit www.hayhouse.co.uk. Tickets costs £299.

Worried about all the worrying you do? Start changing the record today with these practical tips for a more peaceful mind.

A certain amount of worry and anxiety is useful and healthy. It helps us focus on what matters. And tells where we're not seeing the whole picture.

But if you worry about things unnecessarily, feel you can't stop fretting. Or that your negative thinking is getting out of control and starting to affect your daily life, then perhaps it's time to begin putting an end to the stressful thought processes.

Take control
"As soon as you realise you're worrying, ask yourself: 'Can I do anything to change the situation that I am worried about?"" suggests Caroline Carr, hypnotherapist and author of How Not to Worry (£9.99, White Ladder Press).

"If the answer is 'yes', decide what do about the issue - it can be as simple as looking at the situation from a different, healthier , perspective - and how, seeking help and advice, if that feels right

"If the answer is 'No, the situation is beyond my control', then that's that. The actual process of worrying will not change or help the situation, so it's completely wasted time and energy."

Of course, letting go of irrational thoughts and fears is easier said than done. But it can be achieved with practice and perseverance.

En-list help
Caroline advises outing together a compilation of positive thoughts and objects that please you, and things you're grateful for in your life. These might include positive statements or quotes; music that makes you feel good, pictures that you love or memories that bring you a sense of happiness.

Be really clear about why you like these, so that you can bring them to mind instantly when worry starts to take over. "Take a deep breath and as you breathe out tell yourself inwardly 'I am letting go of this thought right now. I do NOT need this'. Then immediately substitute something from your positive selection" says Caroline.

"For example, you might choose to replace a worried thought with a statement such as 'Everything is sorting itself out' and turn your attention to something that pleases, inspires or soothes you instead."

The more time you spend thinking in detail about the things you like, the more skilled you will become at letting go of unnecessary worry.

Take time out, and also...
It's important to take some time out for yourself, to relax properly, each day. This will enable you to practice letting your mind and body get used to the state of rest and calm. If you find sitting still and silent doesn't always help, try listening to a guided meditation. There are lots of free ones available to download on the web, including several short ones at www.carolinecarr.com.

... time for worrying
Another trick is to set a specific 'Worry Time' each day. Some people find saving all your worrying up and then cramming it all into a specially allotted 15 minute slot works for them. "You have to be very disciplined to do this, though, and it doesn't work for everyone" says Caroline.

Stress keeping you awake at night?
If you worry at night, churning things over in your mind when you 're meant to be sleeping, get up for a while and do something else to change your focus.

"Make a drink or read. Try writing - stream of consciousness can be particularly beneficial - with the hand you don't usually use. This helps your mind to balance and adjust, so that when you go back to bed you're more likely to sleep this time round" says Caroline.

Anxiety can be transformed and healed with a simple mindfulness practice.

According to anxiety disorders charity Anxiety UK, one in six adults in the UK have experienced a 'neurotic health problem', the most common being anxiety and depressive disorders like seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

We all know what it's like to worry intensely about the future, money, work and all sorts of situations that seem out of our control and cause a lot of emotional suffering.

What not all of us are aware of is that we can directly reduce our anxiety directly ourselves - with the conscious mind.

Anxiety is not random
"It is important to understand that anxiety, like most emotional reactions, has a structure" explains Dr Peter Strong, a specialist in mindfulness-based psychotherapy who offers online therapy at www.mindfulnessmeditationtherapy.com.

"It is not a random process but produced by the combination of two components: thought structures and associated emotions and physical feelings.

Clearly, the path to controlling anxiety must involve changing these internal negative thought loops and beliefs. However, most people find this very hard to do.

Why worry is so hard to stop
"They know at a conceptual level that the worry is irrational and not helpful, but no amount of self-talk seems to change the anxiety. This is because there is another component that's actually much more important than the content of the negative thoughts and beliefs, what I call Emotional Feeling Energy" says Peter.

This is what gives meaning and power to our thoughts, and in anxiety formations, large concentrations of emotional energy become attached to the words or beliefs.

The healing power of freeing emotion
"With this understanding, we see that if we can find a way to release this trapped energy, then the thoughts and beliefs will lose their power and compulsive domination of our thinking and will tend to be replaced by more appropriate thoughts. The negative thought may still arise out of habit, but without the emotional investment, it has nowhere to go and in time will fade away" says Peter.

Focusing on releasing the trapped emotional energy that has become attached to habitual thinking is one of the primary focuses of mindfulness-based therapies.

Awareness is the key
The first step is to become aware of our patterns. First we train ourselves to identify these negative thought reactions. This is most important, because we can't change what we can't see.

So, we must make our reactions visible by paying very close attention to catch them as and when they arise.

"But after mastering this, we shift our attention away from the content or story that forms the cognitive structure of the anxiety reaction to the emotional feeling quality that gives it power. This is called 'sitting with the emotion'" explains Peter.

"We learn to sit with our anxiety, without getting caught up in further reactivity and thinking, or in trying to attack the negative thoughts. We are, in fact, learning to turn our attention towards the reaction, and this changes everything."

Doing the downward dog lifts your spirits more than taking your pet for 'walkies', according to a new scientific study.

Yogis probably already know it, but researchers from Boston University School of Medicine say they can show a link between doing yoga and increased GABA levels - a way of measuring a person's frame of mind.

GABA - or gamma-aminobutyric - levels in the brain are linked with mood. Low levels are found in people with depression and anxiety disorders, for example.

A calming chemical, sometimes called the 'peacemaker' or 'the brain's in-built valium', GABA encourages relaxation while reducing stress and anxiety.

The study used magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging to compare GABA levels in the brains of those who practiced yoga for an hour three times a week with those who walked during those times instead.

During the 12 weeks of research, participants who practised yoga recorded rising GABA levels. They also, at several points, reported that their anxiety was reducing and that their good mood was improving.

Lead study author, associate professor of psychiatry and neurology, Dr. Chris Streeter said the research is promising and warrants further study. Yoga could be considered potential therapy for certain mental disorders, he said.

The full findings are published online in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

What makes you feel good the most? Sun salutations or stretching the legs in the great outdoors of a morning?

Fed up of spending a small fortune on face creams that claim to make you look radiant? Try yoga. It involves more effort but the results are real and last longer.

Beyond fitness and enviable flexibility, one of the many potential 'added bonuses' of yoga is colour in your cheeks and the kind of twinkle in your eye that no cosmetics can fake.

Inverted poses like the downward dog, head stand and the plough all directly help blood flow to the brain and boost circulation around the cheeks and eyes, improving the vitality of the skin there.

"These asanas clear the skin and makes it look healthy. Between seven to 10 days of practicing these and you can see the difference clearly" says Uma Gautam of Bharat Thakur's Artistic Yoga, India's top yoga company, speaking in The Times of India.

Of course, yoga - like any regular exercise - also works on your wider wellbeing. Studies show that going to a regular yoga class reduces stress and anxiety - both of which can cause visible ageing and will almost always take their toll on the skin.

Meditation, relaxation methods combined with breathing techniques, on the other hand, can help you be calmer and at the same time more alive. Yoga devotees talk of a peaceful inner glow that radiates into their daily life and their frown-free faces.

"Even when it's not so visible to the naked eye, I can feel that it's there" says Lara Chandler, co-founder of children's yoga company www.yogabrats.co.uk.

What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a powerful form of (self)awareness that is central to the path of personal transformation, first described by the Buddha over 2600 years ago.

Today, it has not only become integral to many schools of psychotherapy and personal development, including the widely respected Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction developed by Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn. But is practiced by a growing number of everyday people wanting a non-prescriptive, non-religious way of helping themselves feel more in tune with themselves and life.

Mindfulness can only be fully understood in practice (skip to the practical exercise at the end of this post, if you like). But we can begin by looking at how the mind functions most of the time, for most of us.

How the mind functions
Have you been in an argument and felt the compulsion to say something you know you'll regret later? Do you get caught up in patterns of negative thinking? Do you feel a victim of your inner critic?

"Most of the time we are unmindful and compelled to become whatever arises in the mind. If an angry thought arises, we become angry. If an anxiety reaction arises, we start worrying" explains by UK-born Dr Peter Strong, founder of Mindfulness Meditation Therapy.

The normal state of mind for most of us is reactive. We assume we're thinking and acting out of choice when in fact we're compelled to replay the same old unconscious thoughts, behaviours and emotions again and again.

"In a very real sense, we are blind to this process of habitual reactivity, and as long as we remain blind, we are dominated by our habits and condemned to suffer over and over again" says Dr Strong.

Honesty vs habit
How can people honestly communicate with one another if all they can do is react? "There is no openness, no spontaneity or intuitiveness. Most of all, there is very little opportunity for our innate intelligence to shine through the mechanical deadness of the reactive mind."

Mindfulness helps us rediscover our essential self, which is always there, still and steady, beneath our reactions.

In his book The Path of Mindfulness Meditation, Dr Strong defines mindfulness as engaged-presence. That is, choosing to be present with and accept whatever you notice about yourself in the moment - thoughts, memories, emotions, beliefs, perceptions, bodily sensations...

Creating healing space between you and your thoughts
For example, when a mindful person notices they're beginning to feel angry, they don't metaphorically jump on the feeling and express that anger. Instead, they create a distance between themselves and the feeling simply by objectively noticing it, keeping their neutral attention on the thought-emotion without trying to change it.

It's amazing what can happen when you let go of reacting and learn to listen instead. 'Sit' with any thought or feeling - however strong – and it always changes, revealing layer after layer of your reality to you.

"Keep reacting to your inner suffering and all is lost; sit mindfully with your pain and healing will unfold quite naturally" says Dr Strong, who offers the following guide to practicing mindfulness.

Basic guide to mindfulness meditation

1) Sit comfortably in a relatively quiet area.

2) Close your eyes and allow your attention to become more refined. Notice sounds, bodily sensations and the in-and-out movements associated with breathing.

This is establishing mindfulness of physical sensations. Normally, we experience so little of what happens at the level of body. Do this for 10 minutes, until you feel more relaxed and centered.

3) Now - for another ten minutes or so - focus your mindfulness on the quality of inner stillness that arises quite naturally as you sit, observing yourself. It is like a still pool of water that lies at the center of your awareness.

This is pure consciousness - not reactive, not thinking, not doing. It just is. This is the true you.

Life should and can be fun. But sometimes the flow goes up and down and we wonder what life is all about. Things go brilliantly one day and then boom! we get a knock back. But, hey, that is life - perfect balance. Day/night. Male/female. Happy/sad.

"We feel different emotions and experiences joy and sorrow, success and disappointment. Confidence and fear. But how would we know the good from the bad if we didn't have these sorts of experiences?" says Sheila Steptoe, a British life coach and author of Master Your Own Destiny (£12.49, Authorhouse)

"Each of us is on our own special journey through life which is unique and personal to you - and only you. Friends, family, colleagues and even people you meet in the street can play a huge part in your life. But they're also living their own journey, so we need to really appreciate the gifts they bring.

There is a beautiful poem which says 'friends come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime'. That's so true.

"Everyone will teach you something - just as you are teaching them, too. Each experience teaches you something if you learn from it and move on.

Many people never come out of their self-imposed prison because they wallow in sadness or pain without looking for the life lesson in what's happening to them.

"Life is special and precious and can be a blissful experience of pure love. But you may need to learn to allow that to happen."

Don't look back on the past because it can't be changed, is Sheila's advice. Focusing too much on the future isn't the answer either - it hasn't happened yet. "So, just live in the now. Live each moment, take each day as it comes and appreciate all that you have."

In December 2008, trading manager turned life coach Elizabeth Villani lay on a bed in a Lincolnshire beauty salon for a massage that would change her life. Forever.

As she lay there, she was shown the truth about life in a cinematic vision - a profound mystical experience she describes in her forthcoming book, Awakening (£7.99, O Books), published 27 August.

Many of us, if we haven't had one already, are curious about seemingly implausable experiences like this. While others reject them, there's no denying that they happen. And more often than we're perhaps led to believe.

While it may appear random who has divine experiences, there are ways of increasing your chances of directly connecting with something much bigger and more beautiful.

"Looking back there was a method to opening up myself to a deep connection with the divine" says Elizabeth. "I believe that the following steps will increase your chances of connection with source, God, angels and spirit guides."

1. Surrender
Stop controlling everything in your life. This doesn't mean doing nothing and putting all responsibility for what happens to you onto something 'out there'. But consciously accepting that what's happening in your life right is exactly what you need experience to grow and ultimately be happy.

It means not fretting if nothing obvious is happening or if things don't seem to be going the way you want them to. Let go and let god, as they say. Ask the universe what it wants you to do today, right now, this minute, and act on the answer. Trust your hunches.

2. Ask
Ask to receive help and direction. In your heart tell source/god/the universe or whatever term you prefer, that you are ready to be a channel for peace. Know that you are being heard and start a conversation going with your guides and source. Another way of putting this would be - pray.

And look out for the answers - they can come in unexpected ways, such as a 'random' meeting with a stranger who suggests a book that leads you to a healer that helps you release a long-held trauma. Or suddenly finding yourself reading inspirational words on a poster you pass every day but haven't noticed before.

3. Don't push
Let go of the future. Listen to your own inner voice and the words and circumstances around you, and get on with enjoying your life right now. The door to happiness is always here, in this moment.

4. Be happy
Take steps to follow your joy. Do what your heart wants, not what your head says you should or must do. And, yes, this often demands courage, determination, patience and a lot of soul searching.

New research has discovered that cats, just like humans, relax more when listening to yoga meditation music.

Student veterinary nurse Sian Barr found that playing relaxing music to cats being admitted to a vet's practice in Powys, Wales helped the animals calm down.

She said: "Stress in small doses can be a good thing, such as if a cat is under stress to eat, then it can perform better.

"But otherwise, it will have a negative effect, such as in a veterinary practice.

"This is because a cat is in a cage and isn't able to do what it would like to do, so stress levels will increase and it will become wound up and angry.

"This is bad for not only its behaviour, becoming difficult for staff to handle, but also for its immune system and ability to heal."

Sian, who graduated with first class honours as a result of her research, got "dramatic" results from the study in which she recorded the eye and ear activity and respiration levels of cats as they were admitted to the vet's.

She then split the pets into two groups and played a yoga meditation CD to one, but nothing to the other.

"I then repeated the test after 40 minutes and was able to assign each cat a cat stress score" she said.

"By comparing the scores, I found the music had a dramatic effect on respiration rates, with those exposed to the music decreasing to a relaxed rate much quicker than those not."