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I had always been very sceptical about New Age or Spiritual Retreats. Images of 60's rejects in hand-made clothes, tasteless healthy food and hours spent in group hugs always flashed across my mind. As a result, I was unenthusiastic about the 4-5 days I was to spend at Newbold House in Forres, situated in the far north of Scotland, as part of my Shiatsu training.

On their website, Newbold House was advertised as a community-based, holistic education centre and guest house where their aim is to help create a more peaceful, compassionate and sustainable world through being a centre for awakening consciousness; providing transformative experiences for our visitors, guests and house members; whilst demonstrating joyful, loving and authentic community. None of that was able to calm my fears in any way.

Certainly, the scenery in the area of Forres was gorgeous and the weather was warm and sunny. At that point, I figured that even if the residential part of my course was a waste of time I could, at least, enjoy the sunshine.

I was met with the sight of a massive house and equally massive gardens as I drove up the driveway. The grounds appeared well-kept and I could see a greenhouse attached to the side of the building. That seemed fine although I was a little concerned with having to take my shoes off in the entrance hall of the house, itself.

As it turned out, that was as close as it got to my horrific visions.

We were exceedingly well catered for. The food may have been all vegetarian, but it was also fresh, grown on the premises, and very tasty. I have a lot of respect for the cook and his assistants who provided high-quality food for people with very picky tastes and eating restrictions.

Sure, we did see people in comfortable, knitted jumpers but everyone was nice and welcoming and didn't intrude with lectures on the benefits of eco-living.

The sleeping arrangements were closer to that of a hostel than a hotel. Each bedroom had, on average, 4 single beds. All the rooms were spacious, well-lit and clean. No TVs (of course) but they did have wireless internet access for those who couldn't live without it (i.e. me). There were enough bathrooms for everyone and they were similarly clean.

I think what struck me most about my time there was the quiet. It's amazing how we get used to the amount of noise in our lives. Whirring fans from computers and air conditioning systems. Aeroplanes flying overhead. Children running about. Music playing. Traffic driving by. And it's amazing how quiet it is without all these things.

The other advantage of a residential training course, I discovered, was that you get to concentrate on learning without the millions of demands we normally have on our time. There was no need to juggle studying with those necessary tasks about the house or dealing with the people who have claims on our time. When classes were over for the day we were able to relax and allow the knowledge of the day to sink in properly.

Of course, a lot of the benefits of this kind of break you can get with any holiday but there is more on offer here. The main difference seems to be that most of the courses offered by Retreats are specifically aimed at helping you understand yourself, and the world around you, better. Many of them offer you help and guidance with relaxation in beautiful and peaceful surroundings. The idea is that you feel better about your life by the time you leave.

For me, Valentines Day passed as a bit of a non-event. I suppose that that is the danger when you are married or in a secure relationship; you mutter something about over-commercialisation and presume that your partner already knows that you love them.

It seems that mid-February is frequently a time where people examine the romantic relationships in their lives... even if only to ask if it'll last until you get your chocolates. I'm curious if statistics would show a rise or fall in break-ups after Valentines Day...

Of course, thinking about love isn't only limited to Valentine's Day and I suspect that is why relationship tarot spreads are very popular with my clients.

Every reading I do is different in the same way that every person wants to know something different about their relationship but I've found the following card layout useful in analysing many situations.

The spread is laid out in a 3 by 3 grid. The left column (1,4,7) describes the person getting the reading, the right (3,6,9) describes their partner and the centre column (2,5,8) is for how they combine together. The relationship is analysed first on a mental/intellectual level via the top row (1,2,3), then on an emotional level using the second row (4,5,6) and lastly on a physical level via the bottom row (7,8,9).

It is a great card spread for the understanding the strengths in the partnership and where each half can support the other.

If required, the layout can be expanded to include the topics of trust, communication and (if you really want to know) the final outcome card.

The results I've seen with this have frequently been quite fun (or embarrassing when the Lovers card pops up in position 8). It is also popular with people who are just close friends and who are looking for a light-hearted reading.

It is common knowledge that the one of the first recommendations when dealing with insomnia or stress is to cut out the caffeine in your diet. This is because it affects the various chemicals in the body dealing with alertness. For example, caffeine mimics the effects of stress (higher heart rate, enhanced muscle performance) by increasing Cortisol levels. It also affects Dopamine levels in a similar way to amphetamines resulting in a temporary high.

Quitting caffeine is not a simple matter. As with anything the body can become dependant on, the doses should be reduced gradually. There is quite an extensive list of withdrawal symptoms:

• Headache and nausea (due to blood vessels in the head expanding)
• Fatigue and drowsiness
• Anxiety, irritability and inability to concentrate

Symptoms would start after about 12 hours if you stopped all at once and could last up to a week.

While the withdrawal process is unpleasant, you have to weigh up the advantages of a longer and better sleep combined with a reduction of the physical strain on your body.

By now, I suspect that a lot of people have already given up on their New Year's Resolutions. I sometimes wonder if we do ourselves more harm by setting unrealistic expectations which, of course, we fail to accomplish.

On the other-hand, I have a lot of respect for people who decide to improve their lives by committing to something like giving up smoking or chocolate. I feel that it is almost my responsibility to help and support them in their efforts.

So what can I, and complementary therapy in general, do to help people quit their addictions?

In fact, there are two ways that therapies can help with any kind of addiction - from nicotine to cocaine.

Firstly, treatments can be used to ease the withdrawal symptoms. The process of removing the body's chemical dependency from a particular substance is extremely stressful on the body. Massage and Reiki can be very effective at reducing sleep disorders, the cravings, shakes, digestive problems and any sort of pain, including headaches which accompany the withdrawal. In researching this topic, I noticed that many drug rehabilitation centres, those concerned with the most in-depth and complete care, offered Reiki and Acupuncture to their clients.

The second way that complementary therapies can help is providing a supporting one-on-one environment where the only demand is that the client allows themselves to relax in the secure knowledge that a professional is going to do their best to make them feel better. The value of this kind of care is frequently underestimated. Of course, you might feel that your favourite hairdresser can do the same... but a complementary therapist adds in the benefits of a healing treatment.

As a result of this approach, the client is empowered to deal with the underlying issues concerning why they got addicted in the first place. Reiki is one treatment that also works on an emotional level - gently shifting blocks and releasing pent-up stress and fear from both body and mind.

While there is more to freeing yourself from addiction than getting a treatment or two, it can be a very useful tool to support our efforts within ourselves!