Blaise Tapp: Meditation’s what you need, if you really want a stress-free life

So far, I have managed to resist getting a tattoo or buying a flash car largely due to the fact that I am too squeamish for the former and far too careful with money to indulge in the latter. Anyway, mid-life crisises appear to be a thing of the past with those of my vintage these days opting for a change of lifestyle instead.

Blokes I know who previously looked like they had a residency at the local chippy are now pounding the pavements in running shoes that cost more than a fortnight's food shopping while some even go to yoga classes or meditate every morning before most of us have had the first of our many cups of coffee.

While I wouldn't know one end of a yoga mat from another, I am beginning to wonder whether the idea of me taking up such a healthy activity would be as daft as it sounds.

Last week I sat in a presentation about how to manage stress at work and my main conclusion from it all was that I haven't been managing it all well for the past 30 years. It dawned on me during the brief session that rather than carefully managing stressful situations in the workplace, I've been diving headfirst into them. Apparently, that isn't the thing to do and it turns out I would be much better off throwing myself into nature than working into my evenings at the kitchen table.

The point that was made to me last week is that we all need to switch off sometimes and although I am currently on a week away from the office, the stark reality is that, if you have school age children, there's no such thing as a stress free break, meaning the need for me to clear my mind completely has never been greater.

The trouble is, on the one occasion I tried meditation, I wasn't in the zone for long before I started worrying whether I had taken the mince for that night's tea out of the freezer. I'm told this meant I wasn't doing it right, meaning I really ought to try it again soon.

We live in age where pretty much anything goes, which includes balding middle aged men like me adopting the lotus position while blocking out all the noise of life.