January Love Letter

I can’t help but feeling that January’s underlying theme in this city is redemption: The frenetic dash of bargain-hunting in the sales, and the impulse buys that ensue, seem to be the perfect antidote to all that spending on other people before Christmas. New Year’s resolution-fueled diets and training programs are quite the flipside of the festivities’ over-indulgence.

The renewed alacrity with which I return to my local gym isn’t all about Christmas pudding, though. Somehow exercise manages to abbreviate the cold, dark, long haul that is the wait until Spring in this country. Most gyms in London offer a daily rate for visitors, but if you’re after something a little more stimulating, perhaps you could try a yoga lesson at the excellent Triyoga (triyoga.co.uk) or even a half-day trapeze and acrobatics course at The Circus Space (thecircusspace.co.uk). If sweating’s something you only enjoy in a bathrobe, though, you might find that the steamy environs and luxurious treatments of the Elemis Day Spa (elemis.com) melt away the winter blues best of all.

Colin Mitchell