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With a year-round mild climate, Ireland is the perfect place to embrace the great outdoors in all but extreme weather. The island’s magnificent landscapes and coastlines offer a host of opportunities for wellbeing, from therapy retreats in clear-air forest retreats in Northern Ireland’s Lakelands to a relaxing wellness experience seaweed bathing in warm water along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Whether it’s a short day in winter or the height of summer, seize the moment and unshackle your mind, body and spirit with any of these invigorating and unusual wellness experiences on the Wild Atlantic Way, near Dublin or Northern Ireland.

Forest bathing – known as Shinrin-Yoku in Japan, where it has been popular for decades – offers an antidote to the burnout of daily life in the company of nature. Instead of piped water, this eco-therapy is all about an immersion into the undiluted atmosphere of the land and a deep reconnection to forests, the spring of wellbeing for both humans and animals.

The backdrop of Killeavy Castle’s 350-acre estate, a rambling woodland at the foot of volcanic Slieve Gullion, is hard to match for a spiritual connection or mindfulness meditation retreat. The psychological and physical benefits can be felt for weeks afterwards, with people left feeling this retreat with a reduction in stress levels and a positive mood – so you’ll have the tools to combat whatever everyday obstacles life has in store for you back home.

From freeloading Buck Mulligan, a fictional character from James Joyce’s Ulysses to the Garvey girls in Apple TV’s Bad Sisters, wild swimming in Dublin’s 40 Foot has captured the imagination of Dublin locals from time immemorial. A dip into the chilly, choppy Irish Sea from a rocky outcrop close to pretty Glasthule Village is just 20 minutes by DART train from Dublin City Centre.

It’s not for the faint hearted, with many a well-intentioned plan unravelling from the moment the first toe reaches the water. A hasty retreat to the warm sanctuary of the car can follow – but locals swear by the 40 Foot’s restorative impact of well-being and for others, it’s an unmissable Christmas tradition. Stop by handsome red bricked Fitzgerald’s Pub afterwards, for warm sustenance as a reward for your act of bravery if you do manage to take the plunge.