And others, like freelance writer Nupur Sharma, even combine meditation and relaxation with something light like playing games on the computer or writing poetry. "It helps," says Sharma. There is even a children's meditation series.

There are various levels of help for relaxation available on the Internet. For instance, there is www.learningmeditation.com/relax.htm. This provides a short piece on meditation from which you can move on to the meditation room to choose from the various forms of meditation on offer - work break, chakra, soothing session and many more. To listen to these meditations, you need a speaker hooked up to your computer and the Real Player application downloaded. But even if these are not available you can still meditate by putting on some relaxing, soothing music and using the text versions of the meditations.

For those who specifically want to practice yoga, there is website available too - www.ivillage.com/fitness/tools/yoga/ lets you practise yoga in the comfort of your own home or office. The site's resident yogi guides you through basic yoga postures and self-massage techniques that can be practised without leaving the keyboard.

"Changing your breathing is one of the quickest and most effective ways of changing how you feel," states http://www.pe2000.com/anx-breathe.htm. This Website provides tips on breathing for calmness. The right breathing techniques can also be checked out at Breath.org or Authentic-Breathing.Com

The self-massage page of www.coolnurse.com/massage2.htm is a quick, enjoyable read for anyone intent on self-indulgence and forgetting one's tensions for a while. The site provides instructions on how to knead and rub the whole body. Another site, www.holisticonline.com/massage/mas_selfmassage.htm, also offers straightforward - and occasionally amusing - techniques and even points out 'total-relaxation' acupressure points at the base of the skull on what's called the occipital ridge.

And if you think this is all, it is not. A portal, www.hypnosis.com, provides a taste for or even learning the science of hypnosis.

You can even read a lot of inspirational articles like 'Give Yourself the Gift of Lifelong Happiness', '10 essentials of personal peace', 'Practising the fine art of relaxation' on various Websites.

Psychologists, however, are sceptical. Dr Sanjay Chugh, a Delhi-based psychologist, feels that the best advice is the hands-on one from a trained therapist. "Online relaxation is like trying to treat depression by reading a book. The best way to learn relaxation techniques is directly from a trained person. Otherwise it doesn't work. Particularly if there is an underlying problem." However, he concedes, "These resources might work as a pleasant break from a monotonous chore, as a self-help tool."

Dr O.C. Kashyap, psychologist at VIMHANS, New Delhi, feels there are both pluses and minuses in this approach. The first negative of the online relaxation procedure, he feels, is the lack of a personal approach. He also feels that "a troubled mind seeks these diversions and it is very easy for a vulnerable person to get preoccupied by the seemingly apparent peace that these devices offer and get addicted".

This in turn, Kashyap believes, "only compounds the problem in the long run". According to him, so long as this is not taken as an escape route from the process of life it is fine, because these self-help relaxation techniques are only a tool. They should be used to take a break once in a while and only then can they be effective or even helpful.

Eventually, however, how much benefit can be derived from these Websites varies from person to person and there is no harm in trying yourself. — (WFS)