10 Ways To Manage Stress

If we can't come up with top 10 ways to manage stress, then our priorities in the area of
self improvement need readjusting.
As somebody who happens to be around a lot of personal development adherents,
I hear enough of this (in varied versions): "There is no such thing as stress". "Stress is
a phantom of our own creation." I try not to dismiss them as personal development snobs.
Because the fact is I agree with the metaphysical meaning of those statements.

The reality of today's
life however is that people ARE looking for ways to manage stress. If everything were perfect, then
we would surely not manufacture stress because we would be perfect at living the Truth that
"we create our own reality". And who would be stupid enough to create stress? But the truth is, people DO
create stress; Whether knowingly or mindlessly, is a different discussion.

Manage

Even if stress serves its own dysfunctional purpose, most people are smart enough
to realize they do not want to be stressed for too long, as
they start to value other things more than the stress they've created. So once you've decided that your stress
needs to be calmed down, what do you turn to? I've outlined what I have discovered, through my own personal used-to-be
chaotic life, and by observing other very proactive stress managers.

10 Ways To Manage Stress

My top 10 Ways to Manage Stress

In no particular order:

1. Planning or time management

As the top Personal development teacher Jim Rohn likes to say, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail".
Very few things happen to us by surprise. Most things that end up stressing us could have been
avoided if we'd carefully planned our time well in advance. On paper. Maintaining a daily/weekly planner
sounds unattractive and mundane, but is the best thing you could do to avoid becoming overwhelmed with
workloads. And, this leads us to the next best invention since sliced bread.

2. Outsource, outsource, outsource.

The 4-hour Work Week author Timothy Ferris puts it best, "what is it costing you
financially, emotionally and physically to postpone action? Don't only evaluate the potential
downside of action. It is equally as important to measure the atrocious cost of inaction". I dislike cleaning and organizing my house.
I used to procrastinate doing it, and felt "badly" every time I remembered I was procrastinating that area of my life.
So now I have a friend come over and do it for me. I forgo eating
out at expensive restaurants so I can afford to pay her.
So, what frivolous things are you spending money on (including those shoes
and that jewelry and those boytoys you keep buying) that you could give up in order to pay somebody to do what you hate doing?
Why fill yourself with self-hatred every time you see your unorganized house, your lawn that needed mowing 2 weeks ago, your
bookkeeping that hasn't been touch in 9 months?

3. Eat right

Another of what I use as my top 10 ways to manage stress is feeding my body right: right food, rightly. I'm one
of those hypoglycemic people, so if I allow myself to get too hungry, I'll definitely be too angry. As well, eating the wrong
foods, such as too much refined foods, irritates not only my GI tract, but also my moods.

4. Exercise eg. yoga, running

I aim to do at least an hour a day, 5-6 days a week, in the gym. When I fall off my exercise regimen, especially if I don't
exercise at all for a week or more straight, I feel my stress levels rising. Scientific backing has it that exercising
produces endorphins -- brain chemicals that produce overall feelings of euphoria. Exercises such as yoga also help in
causing one to calm the mind, focus internally and become centered.

5. Relaxing music

Instead of blasting the TV with incredibly negative news that skew my view of the world and cause me
even more irritation, I like to sometimes just put on calming relaxing music and let it play in the background.

6. Laughter

Every night I tape a comedy show that I know I can watch whenever I need a dose of laughter.
Laughter is our body's built in stress-buster. Laughter has even been documented to
lower blood pressure. In his book, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious,
Sigmund Freud describes laughter
as the body's way of safely releasing anxiety, aggression, fear, and anger. Researchers tell
us that laughing decreases stress hormones including adrenaline, cortisol, epinephrine,
dopac, and the growth hormone allowing them to return to normal levels. These stress
hormones constrict blood vessels causing high blood pressure and heart problems.

7. Massage

Most people do not realize that when we stress out, the stress localizes in certain areas of our body.
Next time you feel yourself getting angry, agitated or frustrated, take the time to observe what area of your
body is experiencing the sensation. For most of us, its the neck, shoulder, back etc. Physical stress
will also cause certain areas of our bodies to tense up. An outstanding, professional massage therapist
will easily identify what areas of your body feel tense and tight. They will then be able
to work their magic fingers to help relieve tension in those areas. A good one hour professional massage is a gift I give
myself every couple of weeks.

8.Unwind drive/bike away

Another of my favorite top 10 ways to manage stress is to just get away from it all.
Many people I know will get in the car and just take a drive down the highway, take a bike ride, or even take a weekend country-drive
as a way to de-stress.

9. Meditate

Of the most useful top 10 ways to manage stress, meditation is hands down the most effective I've used. Whatever it is
that meditation does to the body, only people who meditate regularly know. Regular meditation, at least 15 minutes twice
a day not only helps me feel extremely happy most of the time, it helps my creative juices flow with ease. I feel incredibly
spiritually nourished.

10.Time out/Nap/Sleep

And the last of my top 10 ways to manage stress...........Go to bed!
I once read from a self improvement teacher that, you want to always rest before you get tired. Well, most of us
don't do it, or feel that we can't afford to do it. But what's worse is that most people won't even rest WHEN they are
stressed out and tired. They just keep on going. But over time they'll get overwhelmed, burned out and perhaps crush and burn.

Taking a time out can be invaluable; whether that is by taking a nap or a long bath, or reading an enjoyable novel, or just giving oneself a
long night of sleep for once. Of course, taking a real vacation is one of the best ways to
get rid of our grouchiness.

10 Ways To Manage Stress

For more information on how to manage stress for self improvement, please visit author's free informational website at [http://www.self-improvement-to-personal-development.com/manage-stress.html]

Definition of Stress Management

Understanding the core factors in producing stress takes you closer to eliminating it. But since the most common conception of stress takes into account something we all know, then the definition of stress management should be obvious - except that it isn't.

We define it as our conscious knowledge of things that effect stress and the methods to divest stress harmlessly out of our body system. It is also a set of techniques that professionals do to help us in coping with various kinds of stress. Furthermore, we can also say that it is an equipping of knowledge, a conditioning, or a change of a lifestyle that allows only the most minimum instances where stress can actually set in.

Management

Before we start, what is stress? Stress is a nervous system reaction of your body towards certain stimulus. This nervous system reaction could be easily viewed as an unconscious preparation of the body for a certain activity, like for instance releasing adrenaline chemicals onto your muscles whenever you feel alarmed, for example triggering auto response duck and adrenaline rush quickness on the muscles as you hear and process a gunfire shot; or else shutting down some of your pain receptors while you're in a fight.

Definition of Stress Management

The problem with stress response is that it also triggers psychologically. Anxiety of approaching deadlines, nervousness over the outcome of a completing project, surmounting unpaid bills, or the nervous anticipation of any event, any situation that's going to happen in the near future may trigger stress response. Over time, these repeated stress experiences can severely deplete energy which could be used for other health functions like digesting meals, functioning body defense system, and such.

Returning on track, the definition of stress management is a system that is aimed to reduce stress and/or facilitate the person to cope with these instances. Because stress falls into a complex assortment of emotions and sources of them are even more profuse, the definition of stress management has become so broad, but all of them are aimed to relieve stress and divert these energies elsewhere harmless, and sometimes, even productive. All in all, the definition of stress management falls into three categories: action oriented stress management, emotionally oriented stress management, and acceptance oriented stress management.

Definition of Stress Management

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Stress Management and runs a highly popular and comprehensive Stress Management [http://stress.need-to-know.net/] web site. For more articles and resources on Stress Management related topics, stress relief, stress tests, stress symptoms, stress reduction and much more visit his site at:

=>[http://stress.need-to-know.net/]

How Well Do You Cope With Stress?

No one is immune to stress. And although it is something we might wish to avoid, it is part of life and it can be very unhealthy. Since there does not seem to be a lot we can do to make it go away, it might be well for us to learn how best to cope with it and minimize the destructive effects it may have on us.

One of the obvious first steps might be to avoid as much as possible those things which seem to cause the most stress and frustration. Some of the contributing factors to stress are permanent fixtures in our lives, but other things we have some degree of control over and we should try to eliminate (or at least reduce) them as much as we can. For instance, if you find that being surrounded by a lot of noise (perhaps even the radio or the t.v.) makes you jumpy and jittery, avoid turning it on. Allow some quiet in to your mind and feel the stress level subside. If certain people tend you set you on edge, try to avoid spending much time with these individuals, who hopefully are not family members or co-workers. Attempt to control as much of your environment as possible. Learn what you can do to either reduce the amount of frustration and pressure you feel, or ways to combat the effects they have on you.

Management

Keep in mind that everyone is different and while some methods of de-stressing might work for some, perhaps they are not the right choice for you. Be aware of your body and your moods. Pay attention to the way you are dealing with the circumstances in your life. Are you someone who appears to remain calm and collected on the outside while the pressures build up on the inside causing you to erupt at some particular point even at something that might be considered very minor? Another manifestation of this type of personality is breaking out in hives or being afflicted with mysterious aches and pains when you "reach the breaking point". Many people who are wired this way find that yoga is a great outlet for their stress. Others keep a log of their feelings which allows them to better understand when they are becoming overwhelmed and be proactive in getting things under control.

If you happen to be one of those people who feel stress almost continually and just cannot seem to be able to relax, you might consider stepping up your physical activity. Whether running or kick-boxing or participating in high energy dancing, the benefits you can derive from such activity will be enormous. You may even want to include physical activity intermittently throughout the day if that helps to keep you from pressure overload.

Try a variety of different things and include those that work best for you in your daily activities. While you cannot remove stress completely from your life, you can learn to manage it so that it does not take such a huge toll on your well being.

How Well Do You Cope With Stress?

Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in Warm Up Jackets and Basketball Jerseys.

Related : The Global Marketing Motivational Techniques Management Concept Style