How To Manage Stress

Stress is related to many modern health concerns. Stress is what motivates us to spend ten to twelve hours a day in a cubicle away from the sunlight and fresh air. It also causes us to lash out and boil over emotionally in ways that may damage even our closest relationships. If stress is a constant problem in your life, consider these steps to help manage stress.

Sometimes stress and anxiety seem too immense for us to handle alone -- to break the anxiety thought loop and relieve stress, many people have successfully turned to a natural technique developed by PanicAway. It may be just what you need as well.

Here are steps to try on your own: 

1. Get up and move. If stress ties you to your desk, the first thing you have to do is get up. Stop working through lunch and break time. Take breaks even if for only five or ten minutes. Get away from your desk and step outside the building. Breathe in some outside air. If you have time, take a short stroll around the block. Just changing scene will help hold stress at bay and will help you focus when you return to your desk.
2. Exercise regularly. Exercise is not just for people seeking to lose weight or tone muscle. By moving our work indoors and into sitting positions, we have weakened our bodies. Our physical beings were made for movement. Adding exercise allows our bodies the movement they crave. It also helps remove the adrenaline and other chemicals that our bodies create while under stress.
3. Take a step away. At the end of the day, go home. Leave work at work and take time for your other priorities. If your home life is as stressful as your work life, get away from everything for a day or two. Consider a solo vacation or leave the kids with a relative and take your spouse out to get reacquainted.
4. Develop a routine for relaxation. You may not be able to remove stress completely from your life. Instead, accept that stress is part of your life and develop a plan for managing it. Whether you meditate, take a bath or go for a massage--it doesn’t really matter. Just find something that relaxes you and make it part of your life. Make the activity a routine. Set aside Sunday evening to relax in the tub or with a long swim. If you can, set aside time each day to relax and recharge.
5. Practice visualization. Visualization is a relaxation technique that many find beneficial for managing stress. Visualize either a calming place or situation. If the beach is where you relax, then try to sit alone for a few minutes to create the image in your mind. Remember the sounds, the smells and the textures you feel when there. Practice creating the mental image until you can feel the grit of the sand between your toes and the feel of the salt air on your skin.
6. Stretch before sleep. People who complain of stress often complain of insomnia. This inability to sleep or to stay asleep is a result of your body’s reaction to stress. Prepare for sleep through relaxation and stretching. Consider starting a yoga practice or just stretch on your own for ten minutes. Try to stretch and release all the muscles in your body. You should feel warmer and more able to sleep after only a few minutes of stretching.

Managing stress is about taking care of yourself. If your natural tendency is to take care of everyone else, then you will soon be too exhausted to care. Make a date to take care of yourself.