Winter can be glorious, on a sunny day! The crispness of the air, the silence all around, the delicate transparency of the sky. When the sun is hiding, though, those of us who suffer from SAD feel the effects of the darkness.

But what if you could travel, even just for five minutes, to a tropical paradise, and for free? Here’s how:

1. Take a deep breath in – as deep down as you can – and breathe out slowly. Keep breathing in this pattern, and imagine that you are allowing tiredness and tension to leave your body with each outbreath.
2. Imagine that you are walking down a path to a sandy beach, with the ocean glittering in the distance. Make sure everything is just as you want it: the sand could be white, for example, or a more rugged dark volcanic sand. Same with the sea – what do you want the water to look like?
3. As you start walking towards the sea, use all of your senses. Feel the give of the sand under your feet, the softness and warmth between your toes. Hear the waves lapping, the sea birds calling. Smell the saltness in the air; taste it on your lips.
4. Enter the sea and feel the coolness of the water on your feet and ankles. Walk as far out as you’d like to, with the awareness of that coolness and soft resistance moving up your skin to your calves, knees, thighs – if you’d like to, have a proper swim and experience the buoyancy of the water.
5. When you’re ready, make your way back to the beach. You can retrace your steps to the path straight away, or take some time to lie down on the beach, feeling the gentle warmth of the sun on your skin, the breeze, and the soft support from the sand.

Keep that lightness and relaxation with you for as long as you can. When you need to, just take yourself down to your beach again! All you need is five minutes to relax and de-stress. A perfect break for a winter workday.