Stress Relief Techniques
 Stress is a fact of modern life. Some might go so far as to say that
stress and life practically go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.
Life is stressful: Few of us escape that basic fact.
Yet knowing how to manage and/or relieve stress can mean the difference between a life marked by chronic illness
and exhaustion, or a life filled with energizing personal challenges and vibrant good health.
The following stress relief techniques have helped many people enjoy life to the fullest while still maintaining
a sense of equilibrium and personal control:
• Set your own priorities. It doesn’t hurt to actually write them down. Which components of your life are most
important to you? List your personal priorities in descending order of importance. If your list goes something
like, 1) Family, 2) Time for creative work, and 3) Job responsibilities, then it’s easier to say “No thank you,”
when your boss pressures you for unwanted overtime or asks for extra favors off the clock.
Click here to Richard Mackenzie
direct program!
• Learn to say no without explanation. Many people have a hard time saying no, especially if someone they love is
making a request that will generate undue stress. Making excuses conveys the message that other people do have a
right to set your agenda, but they do not. All you have to say is, “I won’t be able to help you with that.” The
end.
• Thought stopping. Many people who are stressed have obsessive negative thoughts racing through their heads almost
all the time. You can take charge of this stress-inducing habit by paying attention to your internal dialogue. When
you notice negative thoughts, stop immediately and replace them with positive ones. So, if you notice yourself
obsessively thinking, “I’ll never get this done!” STOP, and immediately say to yourself, “I finish tasks easily. I
have plenty of time.”
• Breathe slowly and deeply. Deep slow breathing is physiologically incompatible with stress. You can’t feel
anxious while breathing slowly and deeply from your belly. Your belly should puff out on the in breath and suck in
on the out breath. Shallow chest breathing (the way most people breathe) can actually trigger panic through simple
lack of oxygen.
Click here to Richard Mackenzie
direct program!
• Exercise. Many people claim to have no time for exercise, but even 30 minutes a day walking briskly can make a
huge dent in your stress level; plus, it’s good for your heart and your weight. Exercise causes your body to
release natural tranquilizers called endorphins. Endorphins calm you down and make stress and anxiety vanish.
• Develop a support system. People who can call friends or who have positive and mutually beneficial relationships
with relatives have lower rates of heart disease, addiction, and mental illness, even when their lives are full of
challenges.
• Ask for help if you need it. If you are truly overwhelmed, don’t try to go it alone. Reach out to mental health
professionals, your pastor, a friend, or a family physician and get an outside perspective on your situation.
Sometimes all it takes is a fresh point of view to get you back on the right track again. We’ve all been a bad
place at one time or another. Ask for help and then accept the help people offer you. Someday you can pass the
favor on to someone else.
Learning to manage stress is an ongoing project. No one masters stress just by reading a few self-help articles
or taking a single piece of advice. Stress relief techniques are like tools in a box: Not every tool is right for
every problem, but none of them can fix anything if you don’t take them out and use them.
| 