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YOU SIT UP a little straighter after a conversation with yoga teacher Sinead O'Connor, and you also find yourself feeling a little more composed. As a former contemporary dancer, O'Connor's aim is to help people discover their balance, and some serenity, too.

And if just chatting over a cup of tea has such a good effect, a week spent in her company in a glorious modernist villa on the island of Ibiza sounds like the best tonic you could possibly have. O'Connor's take on the idea of the Yoga Retreat Holiday is refreshing. "It's not boot camp," she says. "Not all brown rice and rustic self-denial?" I ask. "Not at all," she says with a laugh.