You need a holiday. Yes, you really do. And it's on the highest authority (for a billion or so people, anyway), Pope Benedict XVI. His Holiness extolled the virtues of scampering away from the rat race in a recent sermon, writes Angela Long

"Holidays have become almost a necessity, to recover in body and spirit, especially for those who live in the city where the often frenetic conditions of life leave little space for silence and reflection," he said. The Pope was on holiday himself when he addressed a congregation in the Italian Alps, where he was on R&R in the Aosta Valley, so something of a busman's holiday.

Pope Benedict would like Lainey Ennis. Her very voice imposes tranquility. There is no rush. There is time to enunciate. No shouting, no whispering. She is a psychotherapist, yoga teacher and masseuse who runs holiday trips from Ireland to Cyprus and Spain, for total relaxation of body and mind. She calls them Aphrodite Soul Journeys - the clientele tends to be female - and the programme includes yoga, meditation, mountain walks and what is described as "divine swimming". Getting back to nature is a big part of it, though in a passive if appreciative way.

A holiday used to be a holiday, time off from the grind, a change of scene, and that alone would be enough to relax people. Now a sledgehammer is needed to crack the nut: deep tissue holidays, where the pursuit of tranquility is a full-time occupation.

Lainey Ennis approaches the challenge from her own experience of burn-out in the 1990s. A South African who had brought up her family in Australia before moving to Ireland, a series of events and a bout of pneumonia brought her to an eventual diagnosis of chronic fatigue. Lainey had just moved back to Queensland to be near a grown-up son, but despite the benign climate her health continued to deteriorate.

"Tiredness overwhelmed me. I had symptoms of depression and anxiety and felt very vulnerable," she says.

Her turning point came through a doctor who suggested Ayurvedic medicines and nutrition (from Sanskrit, "ayur" meaning life and "veda" meaning knowledge, this system is based on principles of balance). She adopted this regime, but also took time to know herself better and understand what life routine was do-able. "The concept grew out of my inability to really rest. That is something that I had to learn . . . I just wasn't taking enough care, and what I learnt too was that I have a rather sensitive constitution. It was about recognising my boundaries sufficiently. I didn't stop to fill up the tank . . . there were not enough pit-stops . . . I was on a roll . . ."

She put on the brakes, changed her diet, changed the pace of life, and today is a serene figure, impossible to put an age on, but with the lean supple figure of the yoga devotee. She says that her holidays are not the po-faced, serious exercises in finding inner peace which some people might fear.

"People often finish the holiday saying they have never laughed so much. We have plenty of fun."

But they have to adapt to simple living, and none of the usual modern stimulants. "There's no cappuccinos, no mobiles...where we go in Spain has very poor mobile coverage, so it's just a practical impossibility." She charges €775 (excluding flights), which covers all accommodation, meals, therapies and outings. In Spain, where the group stays in chalets near a house Lainey is building for herself in Andalucia, a top health-food chef is hired for the week.

Cyprus and Spain have both been destinations because of their climates, conducive to 8am yoga on hilltops, and frequent flights. But she does try to go when flights can be had cheaply. Later this year Lainey is planning an Aphrodite holiday in Wicklow, "the far end of Wicklow", she says, and this one will be mixed. "There are a lot of men who need this type of break. Perhaps women are more willing to recognise that, but it is changing."

What is the purpose of these holidays, in a sentence? "I hope at the end of it people will have taken a quantum step towards managing their lives - a step towards coping."

Contact Aphrodite Trails, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, tel 01-2803635. See website www.aphroditesouljourneys.com. E-mail is aphroditetrails@eircom.net.