Stress hits us all in life, and while a little stress is good — it keeps us focused and motivated — too much of it and it can grind our lives to a complete halt. When you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed-out, you may become paralyzed and unable to do much of anything. Just as bad are unhealthy coping methods to deal with stress. Turning to food, alcohol or drugs often just turns one set of problems into another that can balloon out of control. It’s better to avoid those unhealthy coping mechanisms from the start, and find good ways to keep your stress under control. There are many ways to tame your stress and keep it at bay. Here are 20 tips to tame your stress today, and keep the stress monsters at bay. 1. Perform diaphragmatic or “deep breathing” exercises. 2. Lie face down on the floor and begin breathing deeply and slowly, with your hands resting under your face. Do this for five minutes. 3. Sit in a reclining chair. Put a hand on your abdomen and a hand on your chest. As you breathe, make sure the hand on your abdomen is moving up and down rather than one on your chest. If the hand on your abdomen is moving you are breathing deeply and slowly. 4. Try progressive muscle relaxation or “deep muscle” relaxation. Progressively tense and relax each muscle group in your body. Learn the difference between muscle tension and relaxation. 5. Meditate. Use visualization or guided imagery to help you learn to be one with your thoughts. Sit quietly with your eyes closed, imagining the sights, sounds and smells of your favorite place, such as a beach or mountain retreat. 6. Exercise regularly or take up yoga. 7. Consult a psychologist about the use of biofeedback. 8. Make time for music, art or other hobbies that help relax and distract you. 9. Learn to identify and monitor stressors. Come up with an organized plan for handling stressful situations. Be careful not to overgeneralize negative reactions to things. 10. Make a list of the important things you need to handle each day. Try to follow the list so you feel organized and on top of things. Put together a coping plan step by step so you have a sense of mastery. 11. Keep an eye on things that might suggest you’re not coping well. For example, are you smoking or drinking more, or sleeping less? 12. Keep a list of the large and little hassles in your day versus the major stressful events in your life. This helps you focus on the fact that you’re keeping track of and managing those as well as you can. 13. Set aside a time every day to work on relaxation. 14. Avoid using caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, junk food, binge eating and other drugs as your primary means for coping with stress. While they can be helpful once in awhile, using them as your only or usual method will result in longer-term problems, such as weight problems or alcoholism. 15. Learn to just say, “No” occasionally. It won’t hurt other people’s feelings as much as you think and is simply a method to be more assertive in your own life, to better help you meet your own needs. 16. Get the right amount of sleep. For most people, this is seven to nine hours a night. 17. Cultivate a sense of humor; laugh. 18. Research has shown that having a close, confiding relationship protects you from many stresses. 19. Don’t run from your problems! This only makes them worse. 20. Talk to your family and friends. See if they can help. If these tips don’t help, or you’ve tried a lot of them with little luck in better taming the stress in your life, it may be time to consider taking it up a notch. A mental health professional — such as a psychologist — can help teach you more effective methods for handling stress in a healthy way in your life. Such psychotherapy is short-term and time-limited, with a focus on helping you better deal with stress. Remember — we do have control over the stress and choices we make in our lives. It sometimes takes a little practice and effort to put some of these techniques into play in your life. But once you do so, you may be pleasantly surprised at the positive benefits you’ll receive. Source: http://psychcentral.com/lib/20-tips-to-tame-your-stress/
My Wife has discovered the book "The Tapping Solution" by Nick Ortner. "Tapping or EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is said to be a combination of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology". As I understand it, your tapping various points on your upper body, serves to "reset" the fight or flight response, that shows itself in the form of modern day stress. Using it has lowered her stress levels. It is a non-invasive technique that you can do anytime, anywhere, that does not use needles. The eight points are: Eyebrow, Side of eye, Under eye, Under nose, Chin, Collarbone, Under arm, and Top of head.
I Tap every morning and not for stress necessarily but to wake up the body and get it moving better after a long sleep. I forget to tap during the day and I just did as I was feeling droopy and it's only 7pm here and so I tapped my chest and some ofther areas and got the blood WOKE up and I'm feeling more Awake and Energized. Our body needs to be awakened.....
For me the best remedy for stress is to go out walking in the fresh air. I always feel more relaxed after a good walk and the chemical released in the brain by exercise is known as nature's anti-depressant. It works more effectively when walking briskly and being mindful of your surroundings.
Same to me! While all the above tips sounds great in theory, for my are kind of unpractical because they need a systematic step by step procedure that might stress me even more. However as soon as I step out my home, I begin a natural stress relief process which progress with every step away, but while I start going briskly, my steps slow down at the same pace of my stress, what truly contribute to enjoy the surroundings. Walking at a fast pace doesn't really allow me to be mindful.