Natural Stress Relievers

Close your eyes, take three long breaths, and picture yourself in a relaxing scene (hiking in a forest, lying on a deserted beach, walking through town after a fresh snowfall). Focus on the details-the sights, the sounds (or lack thereof), the smells for a great natural stress reliever.

Yoga Eye Relaxation Techniques

Try this yoga eye relaxation technique: Rub your hands together vigorously until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes for five seconds while you breathe deeply.

Stress Reduction Tools

Before you do or say something you´ll regret, silently count to 10. Use this time to take a few deep breaths, stretch, or recite an affirmation.

Reducting Stress with Sex

If sex has been on the bottom of your to-do list for too long, move it to the top. Sex increases levels of endorphins, those mood-boosting chemicals in the brain, and it´s one of the best total-body relaxers around and best for natural stress relief.

Homeopathy and Stress

A study at Duke University in Durham, N.C., found homeopathy effective in quelling anxiety disorders. Look for stress formulas such as Nerve Tonic (from Hyland) or Sedalia (from Boiron) in your health food store.

Warm Milk Helps You Sleep

It´s a scientific fact that warm milk really does help you sleep which helps you relieve stress. Make sure you drink it approximately one hour before you plan to retire. Cocoa doesn´t count because chocolate is a stimulant.

Pets Relieve Stress

Researchers have found that those who owned a pet had lower blood pressure than those who didn´t because pets relieve stress. If you don´t have a pet, visit a friend´s because petting an animal for just a couple of minutes helps relieve stress.

Evaluate Your Stress

As a stress reduction tool, using a scale of one to 10 (one being equivalent to a minor hassle and 10 being a true catastrophe), assign a number to whatever is making you tense. Most problems rank pretty low and are not worth your worry.

Coffee and Stress Reduction

Too much coffee only makes stress worse, so try to cut back as much as possible. To avoid caffeine withdrawal, try adding a little decaf to your morning mug, increasing the proportion of decaf to regular over the next couple of weeks. And, watch out for caffeinated soft drinks.

Stress Relief Activities

One stress relieving activity is to tend a garden, which helps people to escape their worries. If you haven´t got a garden, try a houseplant. It works!

Stress Reduction Exercise

Heighten your awareness of the moment by focusing intently on an object. Notice a pencil´s shape, color, weight and feel. Or slowly savor a raisin or a piece of chocolate. Mindfulness leads to relaxation.

Alleviating Heachaches with Sleep

Sleep can often alleviate a headache, but don´t sleep in an awkward position or on your stomach because it may tighten your neck muscles and trigger a headache. Try sleeping on your back.

Stress Reduction Exercises

Shake your hands and arms vigorously for 10 seconds while breathing deeply for stress reduction exercises. It may seem a little silly at first, but it´s surprisingly relaxing.

Sleep and Stress

Get the sleep you need (about eight hours is optimal for most people). But don´t sleep to escape your worries. That will only make you groggier.

Stress Reduction Tools to Use

Before you blow up at your boss, take a trot around the block to clear your head. If you haven´t got time, walk to the bathroom or water cooler. Anything counts.

Great Natural Stress Reliever

A great stress reliever is a body massage with lotion containing peppermint, spearmint or menthol. The scent as well as the massage have a relaxing effect.

Snack a Little for Natural Stress Relievers

Foods that are high in carbohydrates stimulate the release of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. Crackers, pretzels, or a bagel can give you a boost on stressful days.

Herbal Stress Relievers

A warm bath is relaxing, but adding some well-chosen herbs to the water could make your soak even more effective. Place dried herbs -- a single herb or a mixture of your favorites -- in a cloth or net bag, then toss the bag into the tub or hang it from the faucet as the tub fills. For a refreshing, stimulating bath, try lovage, mint, rosemary, sage, orange, pine, or thyme. To calm down at the end of a busy day, chamomile, sandalwood, lavender, marjoram, marigold, or mint are good choices for natural herbal stress relievers.

Herbal Stress Relief

Have you had a bad day? Brew a pot of chamomile tea. It´s natures tranquilizer. Drink at least 2 cups for effective herbal stress relief.

Relaxing Music Helps Natural Stress Relief

What soothes the senses also eases jangled holiday
nerves. Relax to music with a tempo just slightly slower than your heart rate. Some good classical offerings: Bach´s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, 2nd movement, and Orchestral Suite No. 2 and Ravel´s Mother Goose Suite, 1st movement.

Yet More Stress Reduction Tools to Smile About

Smiling is a two-way mechanism. We do it when we´re happy and relaxed, but doing it can also make us feel that way. So go ahead and grin. Don´t you feel better?

More About Music and Stress Reduction

A number of studies have shown that music can do everything from slow heart rate to increase endorphins. Good bets: "Air for G-String" by Bach, "Pastoral" by Beethoven, "Nocturne in G" by Chopin, "Water Music" by Handel, or "Autumn" or "December" by pianist George Winston for examples of stress reduction tools.

Grinding Teeth

Stress tends to settle in certain parts of our bodies, the jaw being one of them. When things get hectic, open your mouth wide, and just say "ahhh" rather than grinding your teeth.

More Stress Reduction Tools

Trying to do everything is a one-way ticket to serious stress. Be clear about your limits, and stop trying to please everyone all the time.

Stress Reducing Exercises

For a great stress reducing exercise, try breathing deeply. It oxygenates the blood, helping to relieve stress. So put your hand on your abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat several times.

Headaches and Exercises

If you have a mild tension headache, exercise will probably relieve it. If your headache is more severe, don´t exercise. The pain will worsen.

More Herbal Stress Relievers

Place a few pieces of rock salt in a small vial, then add a couple of drops of aromatherapy oil (made from anise, basil, bay, chamomile, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, rose, or thyme). Open the vial and inhale the perfumed air for a little breather. Oils and rock salt are often sold in health food stores.

Herbal Stress Relief

Both Siberian and Panax ginseng, which bolster the adrenal glands, may also be effective in coping with stress. These stress-fighting herbs are sometimes called "adaptogens" (because they help the body "adapt" to challenges) or "tonics" (because they "tone" the body, making it more resilient). All can be safely taken together.

Other herbs and nutritional supplements, used singly or together or combined with the supplements above, may be of value in special circumstances. For stress-induced anxiety, try kava, which is best reserved for high-stress periods lasting up to three months. Take melatonin if worry is keeping you up at night, and St. John's wort if stress is accompanied by mild depression.

Acupressure and Stress

Acupressure relieves stress naturally like acupuncture, but with fingers instead of needles. Try applying light pressure with your index fingers to one of these three points: between the eyebrows, the back of the neck slightly below the base of the skull, and about half an inch to the left or right of the spine.

More Stress Reduction Tools

After a hard day of work, treat yourself to downtime with some relaxing melodies. Change into comfy clothes, find a quiet spot where you won´t be disturbed, light a few aromatherapy candles, breathe deeply and let your mind and soul be massaged by the music.

Laugh Stress Away as a Natural Stress Relief

To reduce the hormones associated with stress, have a good laugh once or twice a day for another good natural stress reliever.

Herbal Stress Remedies

Chamomile tea promotes relaxation and can relieve anxiety as a great herbal stress remedy. Buy it in ready-to-use tea bags or steep two teaspoons of the dried flowers in one cup of water for five minutes. Drink three cups a day for optimum effect.

Repeat a Mantra for Natural Stress Relief

Devise an affirmation, or a short, clear, empowering statement. For example: "I feel calm. I can handle this." Then, the next time you feel as if your life is one disaster after another, take a deep breath and repeat it 10 times.

Avoid Common Headache Triggers

Avoid the following common headache triggers:
strong perfume, noisy environment, bright light, caffeine, chewing gum, high sodium intake, skipping meals, hot dogs or any cured meats containing nitrates, monosodium glutamate (MSG), chocolate, nuts, liquor and aged cheeses. (The tyramine in chocolate, nuts, liquor and cheeses is the culprit.)

Stress Reduction Tools

One mental health tip is that sharing your troubles can give you perspective, help you feel cared for, and relieve your burden. So pick up the phone or walk next store and catch up with a friend.

Music and Stress Reduction Tools

Research shows that the sounds of nature have a relaxing effect and reduces stress. Pop in a CD of surf sounds the next time you want to mellow out.

Stress and Vitamin B

The B vitamins can help your body cope with stress. They can also boost the immune system and counteract fatigue. Look for a B complex pill with 400 mcg of folic acid and 50 mcg of all other B vitamins.