Stress Relief Tips

If you're feeling like everything is getting on top of you, or you're finding
it difficult to cope and function as you normally do or perhaps you're
feeling down in the dumps, then try these 5 easy stress relief tips.

1. My favourite stress relief tip of all. Take a relaxing bath. Add music,
candles and a glass of your favourite drink: beer, tea, hot chocolate, wine
or even champagne. Close the door and forget about everything else for
an hour or so. This helps to increase levels of calmness and the calmer we
feel, the less likely we are to get stressed out or depressed. A luxurious way
to find stress relief.

2. Comedy night: get in your favourite nibbles: chips, tortillas, salsa, crackers,
cheese, pizza, chocolate, cookies, ice cream etc. Crack open a bottle of wine or
pour yourself a beer or two and spend a full evening watching your favourite
funny films or comedians. Finding stress relief through laughter will raise your
spirits and is a great antidote to the pressures of modern life.

3. Need stress relief quickly but feel overwhelmed? Get out of the firing line.
Just scoot off for some peace and quiet for a day or better still a weekend or a
week. Take a journal, relax and gather your thoughts. When you're under
pressure or struggling to cope with a major situation or event in life,
seeing solutions to problems can be really difficult. Distance from problems can
bring clarity. I love going to the coast when I feel like this and it always,
without fail, helps me to quickly find stress relief and the calmer I am, the
easier I discover solutions. I don't know why, but being near the ocean helps
me find stress relief almost instantly. Being near water, come to think of it.

4. Find stress relief and feel great by indulging in massage. Share a massage
with your partner - create a relaxing atmosphere by softening the lights and
have oils and towels to hand. Lavender oil is particularly relaxing. Or, treat
yourself to a massage from a professional masseur or masseuse. For a really
invigorating massage, visit a Turkish baths if you're fortunate enough to have
one nearby. Massage is very relaxing and increases intimacy between lovers
and it is one of the best stress relief tips of all but be warned, it's addictive! Not a
bad thing to be addicted to though, and it will do you the world of good.

5. Spend a week without watching any television. Television can fill your mind
with negativity, bombard you with image manipulation via commercials and
give you a distorted view of reality by showing you everything that's bad about
the world. Famines, disasters, murders, violence, war - the list is endless - and
news programmes and soap operas are full of such events. Continually watching
such things will cause you no end of stress! Find some much needed stress relief
by giving your mind a break from this assault on your senses. Abandon the
television for a week and do something more rewarding instead: Read a book,
listen to music, socialize, workout, go for a walk or try your hand at something
new. If you need to hear the news, listen to a radio news bulletin once a day. But
try and avoid them for one week, replace them with something more life
enhancing. Out of all the stress relief tips, this is perhaps one of the easiest. Try
it, see stress levels drop.

The above stress relief tips are very easy to implement but they are also very
effective in helping to relieve stress, depression and anxiety. Give them a try and
watch your mood levels rise!