LES DROGUES

Reducing your stress levels is good for your health. Stress is linked to top causes of death such as heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Here are several stress relief tips that can help you cope:

1.Being grateful is a great start. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the taxi driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner and thank the window cleaner.
2.Strong supportive relationships are essential for effective stress management. Accept people as they are, avoid constant arguments, and let go of of resentments.
3.Watching the news is stressful, so limit your exposure. Some people just can't start their day without their daily dose of current news. Most of the news we hear or read about is bad news. Starting the day with an overdose of bad news is not the most sensible thing to do.
4.A religious connection can also reduce stress. Belonging to a religious group with its familiar rituals, sacraments, chanting, prayers and meditations foster inner peace.
5.Time is valuable and too important to waste. Time management involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things-to-do and prioritizing. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can provide you with extra resources to manage stress.
6.Resuscitate your sense of humour. One of the best stress relief tips is to smile often and even laugh heartily everyday. Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family about it. As they say "Laughter is the best medicine".
7.Express your feelings, friendship and passion to people around you. Try not to pent up anger and frustration, it is bad for your health. Instead find ways of expressing yourself without causing injury or hurt to anyone.
8.Working hard and achieving your goals brings tremendous personal satisfaction. Recognition of our accomplishments by ourselves and other people is necessary for all of us.
9.Learning new skills can be an enjoyable exercise. Try and learn something new everyday. Learning allows us to expand and broaden our horizons.
10.Run, jog, walk...put your body through its paces. Get some fresh air. Breathe deeply. Eat healthily and avoid smoking and too much alcohol and caffeine.

Everyone needs to develop skills to manage the pressures and other demands that are made of them on a daily basis. If there is a significant impact on your personal well-being and/or work performance then it is time to reassess and improve your personal stress management strategy.

One of the easiest ways to arm yourself with up-to-date information and advice from stress management experts is to read books and articles about it. You will learn more about stress and its effects, how to identify and take control of it for yourself. You can then compile a list of stress relief tips that work for you.

You can also consult a stress relief expert in person or on the phone and these days you can even consult them online. If you are at all uncertain about your symptoms and suspect that your health may be suffering, see your doctor immediately.

At the end of the day it all depends on how well you understand yourself and how well you equip yourself to handle stressful situations.

Dr Margarethe de Clermont is the author of a popular e-book about easy and effective ways to deal with stress "Survive and Thrive!" and presents "Women who dare to dream" residential workshops in the south-west of France. Find out more at Supreme Self-esteem.

Article Source: Stress Relief Tips: Safeguard Your Health and Happiness