So, now that you realize how destructive stress can be in your life, what are you going to do about it? Here are some helpful stress busters:

1. Laugh. It may sound silly, but laughter not only supplies oxygen to your body, it creates movement. I am personally addicted to episodes of “Absolutely Fabulous” but I have been known to slip an occasional “Fawlty Towers” cassette into my player and roll on the floor in hysterics.

2. Sing. The benefits of singing are numerous, especially if you learn to sing from your diaphragm (the part beneath your rib cage... not the one in your drawer!!) I especially recommend doing it in a foreign language so as to eliminate the embarrassment of not remembering the words.

3. Dance. There is nothing more stress relieving than an attack of “Happy Feet.” It doesn’t matter what style you choose, just move and breathe and feel the rhythm of the music.

4. Walk. Take 15 minutes a day to soak in the sunshine. Not only will you improve your mood but it can help you lose weight by adjusting your melatonin cycle and making you more responsive to insulin.219

5. Pose. Just making yourself be still can help blow off steam. Yoga or meditation are ways to lower the stress hormones. For others, running helps them meditate in motion. If you’re feeling stressed, assume the balance pose or T posture. Begin by standing comfortably, arms at your sides, and slowly fold forward from the hips. Extend your arms past your ears and bring your torso parallel to the ground. Simultaneously extend your left leg straight behind you. Breathe deeply and aim for stillness. Gently come back to your standing position and switch sides.

6. Primp. Pamper yourself. Remember, you’re a goddess and worth every cent you earn or spend. Take a bubble bath, a steam shower or soak in a hot tub filled with flower petals.

7. Sleep. Get to bed by 9:00 PM. Melatonin levels start to rise around 9:30 so pay attention to how much light you are exposed to in a 24 hour period. At least 9 hours of sleep are required by your body to reset your biological clock and improve your insulin sensitivity.

8. Inhale. Pay attention to aromas. Cleopatra soaked the sails of her ship in fragrant oils to announce her approach to Rome. Try relaxing oils of ylang ylang, bergamot, tuberose, motia or orange soaked on a cotton ball. Inhaling a fragrance can stir pleasing memories which cause endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers, to be released. Burn a candle or put a diffuser in your room. Just a few whiffs of lavender oil can lull you to sleep.

9. Pray. Prayer-walking, also known as “walking meditation” provides an easy way to be active and relieve stress. It can be a meandering saunter down a garden path or a brisk march around a track. The point is to walk with prayerful intentions realizing that your journey is an interior one.

Source: http://www.grandtimes.com/Why_Stress_Can_Make_You_Fat.html

Cheers!

what are some good stress busters 4 when u are stressed out. i have to much on my mind lately, friends, family, personal relationships, and other silly things.
what actaully works

To avoid stress you should do to exercise regularly. Exercise dissipates the adrenaline that builds up in stressful situations and leaves us feeling with a sense of achievement and control. Learn to think clearly and set yourself realistic goals and objectives. Work through one problem at a time in a logical way.

Obviously there are a range of ways to treat stress, but I agree that the best immediate response is to exercise. Other than regular exercise, effective stress coping methods include eating the right foods, meditation, reading, and as mentioned by StayHealthy, an obvious one is spending time with family/friends...laughing, dancing, talking, enjoying life....

Go for a run!
Obviously regular exercise is essential to generally staying healthy and on top of your game, but it's also the best immediate stress relief. Going for a run, for example, at the end of a stressful day not only releases endorphins associated with exercise, it also gives you a chance to get some vitamin D, clear your head and appreciate nature, listen to some music or chat with a friend. Running (or any exercise really) has the therapeutic ability to put stress and problems in perspective, allows you to unwind and clear your mind, and leaves you fresh and energised, and in a better position to tackle whatever was causing stress in the first place.

Food.... put the right fuel in your body
Stress and poor diet go hand in hand. If you're stressed, you're probably busy, so takeaways or comfort-food are a logical option. Remember that food is your fuel! Without the right petrol your car won't run smoothly. Likewise, without the right food, you're body (and mind) can't cope with stress. Think about what you're putting in your body. Load up on some fruit and vege's, make (or buy) a smoothie - I guarantee that you will have more energy and a clearer mind. Banana's, oranges and pineapple are good for energy, mango's are really good for depression and anxiety. TRY IT!

Meditation
Meditation is a word that often gets an instant dismissal response, but it needn't. Meditation doesn't have to be ritualistic, with candles, and specific poses. Meditation can be as simple as taking 5 minutes in the morning to breath deeply, get some oxygen into your body and prepare for the day ahead. Stress goes hand in hand with poor sleep; Meditation can be as simple as lying down in bed, and instead of getting nowhere and staying awake going over the problems of the day, simply focus on your breathing, think about how your legs feel, how your torso feels, how your head feels (put on some relaxing music if you like.... Enya is really good). In no time you will drift off to sleep, and you'll have a much deeper, revitalizing rest.

Read a book
Reading is another good way to clear your mind of stressful thoughts and let your imagination run wild. Depending on what kind of reader you are, reading can also be a great way to get to sleep (poor sleep is a major result of and cause of stress).

I hope my thoughts help. Stress can be a real killer, and something that too many of us (including myself) often ignore for far too long.

Hi Smoothieguy,
You have me curious, since when has New Zealand had the same time zone as Seattle, you should be ahead of Australia by about 2 hours not behind by 19 hours.

I like what you have been writing I think it makes a lot of sense although I prefer something with less calories than smoothies, I owned a cafe for 19 years and never drank one of them, or a thick shake.

Cheers

Hi John,

Good to meet you. I'm not sure what's up with the time diff thing, maybe I have to adjust some setting.

Glad you enjoy my posts thus far. By 'smoothies' I'm not talking about smoothies with ice cream etc in them..... the smoothies I eat are basically all fruit and veges (I'm guessing they don't have alot of calories?). This morning I blended together beetroot, lemon, mint, and pineapple.... it was pretty awesome.

I'm not a nutritionist or anything so I don't really know alot about calories etc. I just find smoothies are a cool way to experiment with different combination's and eat healthily. Plus I walk, run, swim, play tennis quite a bit so I guess I use up any calories/sugar in there.

SmoothieGuy.... Greg

Hi SmoothieGuy (Greg),

You are a Kiwi then. If you look at the top of the page on either forum you will see a locked post by Ian telling you how to adjust your zone time, the Southern Hemisphere is probably all out of kilter, mine was as well and when I asked Ian how to fix it he had to talk me through it, (no-one had had the problem before, or made him aware of it) while I fixed it, that is why the post is there to make it easy for people.

Your smoothies sound great I'll try one over christmas, here is a calorie counter for you so you won't need to become a nutritionist...

http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/

I think this one will cover most of your needs.

Cheers

Stress is the way our bodies and minds react to something which upsets our normal balance in life. If the stress you are feeling now is coming mostly from your work, you have to do something about. It is not like you can easily take a vacation leave and be free from the problems at work.

Watch for the next instance in which you find yourself becoming annoyed or angry at something trivial or unimportant. Then practice letting go, making a conscious choice not to become angry or upset. Do not allow yourself to waste thought and energy where it isn't deserved. Effective anger management is a tried-and-true stress reducer.
Breathe slowly and deeply. Before reacting to the next stressful occurrence, take three deep breaths and release them slowly. If you have a few minutes, try out a relaxation technique such as meditation or guided imagery.

Hi Shane,

I have attended many stress management seminars and felt most of them were pretty useless, they seemed to be run by people that just didn't really understand stress, sure they all had qualifications that suggested they had graduated in the field, but I always came away thinking I had wasted my time. Most of these talks address the simplest forms of stress, I am reluctant to even consider it stress after looking at chronic sufferers, such as people that had suffered from panic attacks for ten years, and expert after expert had failed to alleviate their problems.

Slight manifestations of stress are easy, go for a run, a bit of meditation etc, but often people appear to have hyper sensitised stress settings and just the day to day micro adjustments seem to out of control and the funny thing is when you talk to them they can't see anything wrong because it has become normal for them.

I think this is one of the main causes of essential hypertension.

Cheers

Stress is the way our bodies and minds react to something which upsets our normal balance in life. An example of stress is the response we feel when we are frightened.During stressful events, our adrenal glands release adrenaline, a hormone which activates our body's defense mechanisms causing our hearts to pound, blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense, and the pupils of our eyes to dilate.

Hi Micky,
So what do you say to someone suffering from diagnosed anxiety disorder and essential hypertension who is not feeling any obvious stress symptoms?

Cheers

me personally
i workout, everyday before work, i hit the gym, if i didn't i'd probably be in jail. lol
seriously, the movement relaxes me, you can tell the difference in me, if you knew me...if i've gone to the gym or not
stress...is a major cause of weight gain
i should know

Stress is the way our bodies and minds react to something which upsets our normal balance in life.When you are stressed-out,the first course of action is to reduce your tension and stress.Otherwise you’ll say and do things you later regret.Or at the very least, you won’t operate at peak performance.

Stress is the way our bodies and minds react to something which upsets our normal balance in life. If the stress you are feeling now is coming mostly from your work, you have to do something about. It is not like you can easily take a vacation leave and be free from the problems at work. You sure must have considered looking for another job, but you should know that these days.

Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events.It is the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus,strength,stamina and heightened alertness.Stress becomes dangerous when it interferes with your ability to live a normal life over an extended period.

Stress is defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures.Stress in humans results from interactions between persons and their environment that are perceived as straining or exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening their well-being.

Reading a good book, gets your mind out of things, if it is a good book, will help you to learn a new skill and is also an inexpensive way to be entertained. Books + Learning = less stress

Stress is the way our bodies and minds react to something which upsets our normal balance in life. An example of stress is the response we feel when we are frightened or threatened. During stressful events, our adrenal glands release adrenaline, a hormone which activates our body's defense mechanisms causing our hearts to pound, blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense, and the pupils of our eyes to dilate.

A principal indication of increased stress is an escalation in your pulse rate; however, a normal pulse rate doesn't necessarily mean you aren't stressed. Constant aches and pains, palpitations, anxiety, chronic fatigue, crying, over or under-eating, frequent infections, and a decrease in your sexual desire are signs you may notice which indicate you may be under stress.

Of course, every time we are under stress, we do not react to such an extreme and we are not always under such great duress or fear every time we are confronted with a stressful situation. Anything which overwhelms us can cause us to experience stress -- the illness or death of a family member, the loss of a job, and difficulties in relationships, are examples of situations, stressful enough to cause physical or psychological symptoms.

Some people are more susceptible than others to stress; for some, even ordinary daily decisions seem insurmountable. Deciding what to have for dinner or what to buy at the store, is a seemingly, monumental dilemma, and there are those who seem to thrive under stress by becoming highly productive being driven by the force of pressure.

Research shows women with children have higher levels of stress related hormones in their blood than women without children. Does this mean women without children don't experience stress? Absolutely not! It means that women without children may not experience stress as often or to the same degree which women with children do. This means for women with children, it's particularly important to schedule time for yourself; you will be in a better frame of mind to help your children and meet the daily challenge of being a parent, once your stress level is reduced.