I have just spent a fantastic 5 days in Italy on a Pilates Retreat. We flew to Perugia with Ryanair (no frills, but fine) where Sarah (http://www.sarahpilates.com/) had hired a van to take us to La Preghiera, a beautiful renovated monastery in the Umbrian countryside (http://www.lapreghiera.com/). The staff were attentive and helpful and the setting was beautiful. Our morning class was held in the chapel and the evening class on the sunny terrace. We were sustained with a wonderful brunch each day and spent free time relaxing by the swimming pool in the gentle sunshine.

On Saturday 5 of us had a cookery lesson and in the evening were able to enjoy the fruits of our toils - a 5 course meal accompanied by local wine. I think life may be a little too short to make fresh pasta on a regular basis, but it was interesting to see how it's done and I have tried out some of the other recipes with great success since my return.

Now I feel completely relaxed and ready to face my ever increasing client load. Certainly the economic downturn seems to have put many people under pressure as more and more clients present with work based stress, anxiety and panic attacks, bullying by managers and colleagues, sleeping problems and depression.