Post-party Hangover Plan: The Solution

Natural therapies and exercises can help to ease your body after a heavy night of drinking and can also kick-start it into healing itself.

Aromatherapy

Let's start with something that will revive you enough to think about tackling the main part of the programme. When scientists recently looked at the power of lavender oil on the body they found it took just 10 minutes to lower blood pressure; using anti-hangover oils on your body will have a similarly rapid effect. The best hangover blend is two drops of fennel oil and two drops of juniper used as an inhalation. Or try some rose oil. The Romans used this oil to fight hangovers because it balances the body, and it doesn't have a diuretic action so won't lead to further dehydration.

Add two drops to a carrier oil and massage your hands with the oil, paying particular attention to the fleshy area between your thumb and forefinger. This acupressure point is good at stopping headaches (but don't use in pregnancy).

Yoga

The aromatherapy should have reduced some of your physical symptoms, so it's time to start the body healing itself. A lot of people really swear by exercise to kill a hangover. It works mainly because it releases endorphins that heal the headache, but it also dehydrates you; so, while it can initially help, it can make you feel worse soon afterwards.

The same goes for saunas: sweating may eliminate toxins from your system, but they are not good cures for a hangover. Instead, you should try the toxin-releasing effects of yoga. If you only have a mild hangover, try the Simple Yoga Regime; however, if you're truly suffering, that's not such a good idea. If you could get through it, it could send too much of the leftover alcohol rushing round your system and only make you feel worse. Instead, just use the following simple posture, called 'Pose of a Child' (see box below), to help gently boost the circulation in your body and promote slow, steady alcohol elimination.

Pose of a child

  • Sit up on your knees so that your bottom rests on your feet. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply.
  • Bend slowly forward from your waist so that your face touches the floor (if you can't reach, put a pillow where your head will land). Turn your face to the left. Relax with your hands hanging alongside your body.
  • Keep breathing deeply - this will promote your organs to start detoxing.
  • Stay in this position for as long as you feel comfortable.
  • Slowly return to your starting position.