By Ivy Preston

Stress can be very harmful, causing discomfort and often dis-ease. Before stress gets out of hand, incorporate our top five stress relief techniques to nip stress in the bud.

1. Get some fresh air: Even a few minutes will do you good. While you’re getting this fresh air, take a minute to look around your environment with some new appreciation. Can you do this if you’re at work? Most of the time, yes! Most jobs have scheduled breaks, so try to take your break then, if you can. And outside of regular breaks? It depends on the job and on the people in it. The reality is that most people will understand the need for it. If you can, go for regular walks and this will help you cope better with stress during your day.

2. Laugh: Laughter is a powerful mood changer so this is an especially good stress relief technique. Carry something around with you that will make you laugh, especially anything that will bring out a full belly laugh. It can be a cartoon, a photo, a saying, even a funny card that someone gave you or that you picked out yourself for yourself. If you’re at home, indulge in a funny movie. Our favourites are Charlie Chaplin movies, but anything that you consider funny will work.

3. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe: The easiest stress relief technique of all, yet most of us don’t breathe correctly. Short, sharp breaths don’t help us deal with stress, if anything they keep us in an agitated state. Most of us breath from our chest when we should be breathing from our bellies. Here, we can learn a lot from our pets since they breathe correctly. Breath is life, so take your time, and breath deeply, enjoying it. If you do this properly, you will feel the weight of the world leave you. You will also feel wonderfully refreshed.

4. Meditate: Meditating is a stress relief technique that should be practiced daily, for several minutes or longer. What if that’s not feasible? Even a little bit of meditation can be a good thing, so improvise to get at least a few benefits. Just find a quiet place. If you can’t, then find the quiet within you. Be still, and still your mind even in the most chaotic of places, such as a busy office, a bus, etc. You can become that quiet place within the chaos, at least for a few minutes.

5. Forgive: Yourself. Others. And then forget. Don’t hold onto whatever was causing you the stress, or the feeling of the stress itself. Move on. We’re not suggesting that you start being a sucker–that is, don’t allow yourself to be continually mistreated but do your best to forgive and let go of anger. Don’t get stuck in an angry rut; it’s not good for anyone, especially you.

Implement at least one of these techniques and welcome the ease that starts coming into your life as a result.

Ivy and Amanda are certified high school teachers with experience in promoting self esteem, and offer creative and insightful self improvement tips, worksheets, quotes and articles designed to help you with your journey towards greater fulfillment which can all be found at their website: http://www.self-improvement-starting-now.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ivy_Preston

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