Over the years of my very stressful life, I have had to learn stress management skills and exercises to reduce stress in the stressful situation itself. At the end you will find I have shared with you, some great books that have quick and easy exercises in them, for fast and easy references. Often we don’t have much time that includes reading a long book on stress and relaxation, ironically if we need it. These include some quotes from the authors and at the end take a look at what some of the stars do in their stressful lives which don’t always include glamour.

The Definition of Stress According to Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine: “Whether caveman or corporate executive, when the fight-or-flight response kicks in, a three-stage process begins. Stage one is the alarm stage in which the body releases hormones and prepares for extreme physical action. Resistance is stage two in which the body attempts to resist yet adapt to the stress and to repair any damage done. The final stage, exhaustion, occurs if the stress remains constant. It is especially dangerous since stage one's physical response may begin all over again.”

The biggest key to reduce stress is to unwind. The best way to find out how to unwind is to find out the best way that works for you to calm down. Such as, taking a hot bath, running or jogging on the treadmill till your are tired out, killing things on a video game or just sitting there and zoning out. Do this after your big day is over at home for an hour then, try some of the stress reduction exercises below.

Breathing: First things first, do the breathing exercises mentioned on number one and breathing.
Only replace the word mode for breathing in all of the stress you have had in the day and holding it in until you cant hold it any longer and let it go by saying in your mind breathing out all stress
Once you feel like you are in a tranquil state and all of your stress has vanished then move on to these different breathing exercises.

The Balloon:
1. Lie flat on your back and put your hands on your stomach and inhale. Feel yourself filling up with air like a balloon. Keep the intake of the breath for 5 seconds.
2. Then let your breath out slowly, feeling yourself letting all of your air out and going flat like as in an original balloon state.
3. Repeat this until you feel extremely relaxed.

The Clothespin Pinch
1. While either sitting up or lying down, breathe in all your tension. Pinch your nose with your index finger and thumb as if you were pinching it with a clothes pin and hold it in.
2. Let go of holding your nose slowly, letting the air go out slowly while saying, “letting go of all tension”, until you are done with holding your nose and all of the oxygen is out of your system.
3. Repeat until you’re feeling serene and peaceful.

Compartment: The biggest thing is to compartmentize your life. An example might look like this: school compartment, work compartment, social compartment, and family compartment and so on. The first trick to learning how to compartmentize your life is to not let the other compartments get in the way of each other. For instance when you’re at work helping a customer, typing up something on the computer or whatever you do and your mind starts wondering off on the essay that you have to write or the math test you have that will determine your final grade, then you start to stress. That perhaps you didn’t study long enough, and then you are unfocused on your job and appear to be lazy in a bad way. This could start getting the boss’s notice which then makes you feel overwhelmed. Don’t think of school at work or vice versa and don’t think of either when you are being lazy in a good way and taking some rest time with your friends in the social compartment. How do we do this? Honestly it just takes practice. But here are some keys I have learned over the years.

1. Breathe. Example; lets say that you are going to work from school. Sitting quietly whether you are at home or in the car and free your mind of all active thought and take the time to do this. Then say out loud going into work mode and start thinking solely of work, and while you are doing this breathe in all the stress you have of work and then breathe it out and let it go, while you are letting out your breath say out loud letting go of the stress of work.
2. Prepare. Continue to prepare your mind of work and visualize yourself sitting at work, being productive and successful at whatever you do. See your self communicating well with your coworkers and boss and having a good day. Then say ‘I will have a successful and productive day’.
3. Letting go. When your mind lets in a thought about some other compartment, breathe it in and then let it go by doing the breathing exercise above.
And that’s that!

Relaxing: When it is my day off I refuse to do most of my errands. I do them before work or when I have a break between work and school. The reason being is because your days off are meant to be lazy and social and see family and not let school and work and life in general get into the way of these compartments. These are the days to unwind and let live. You are probably thinking, “Ok how do I do that’ while raising your eyebrows.”

1. Time Manage and Prioritize. First write down your whole schedule on your day(s) off to see where you have the in between time to do the errands and straighten up the house. Then you can organize your week like this when you go back to school and work the following week. Believe me, this cuts so much stress you will not believe it. Here is a website link that might help on time management and prioritize your life, http://www.gmu.edu/gmu/personal/time.html

Original Meditation
1. Sitting Indian style with your back up against a wall to support your back put your hands on your knees and touch your thumb to your middle finger.
2. Clear your mind of all active thought - the best way to do this is to focus on one word, such as love.
3. If your mind starts to wander gently bring yourself back to focusing on the word of choice. If a thought pops into your head think inhale and say inhaling whatever the thought is then exhale and say exhaling the thought.
4. Once your mind is clear of all active thought then you can start to chant or say a peaceful expression. Example; love flowing in and breath in then say love flowing out. Repeat the chant until you feel so tranquil and light.

The Glow
1. Sit as stated above with your back against a wall or couch or love seat.
2. Take a candle that you love and light it.
3. Then do step 2 and 3 stated above. If your couch or chair is far away from the table that your lighted candle is on you will need to sit no more than 3 feet away from your candle.
4. Instead of chanting, start to focus on the glow of the candle for about 3-5 minutes or until you are so focused you can easily fall into step 5.
5. Now close your eyes and start to see your self as the radiant glow of the candle see your whole self glowing vividly with the glow of the candle. Go into a day dream state of mind. Continue doing this until you feel ready to come back to your full presence
6. Bring yourself slowly back to reality by counting 1-5 remind yourself that on the count of 5 you will be fully alert and relaxed then start slowly counting to yourself.
7. Now bring your palms against one another such as in a prayer pose and bring them above your head in the center of your self then slowly bring your hands down. Once they are at your heart say to yourself I am one and fully balanced.
Note: You can alternate step five and chant, if you wish, “I am one and balanced” and follow out with the rest of the steps.

Aromatherapy
According to the Smart Guide to Relieving Stress, and Cheryl Hoard (national association for holistic aromatherapy, quoted by the fitness link website), the best oils to use are “Chamomile, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Marjoram, Rose, and Ylang Ylang”. You can rub these oils on your skin before your day to help keep your stress at bay. Or your can rub then on candles or the candle you use in the glow procedure as an extra prop to help your stress. According to AIA (Atlantic Institute for Aromatherapy), oils send “electrical messages directly into the limbic system, essential oils can have effects on emotions and mental states.”

Other Forms of Reduction of Stress

1. Yoga: According to the yoga institute, “Yoga has experienced an incredible growth in popularity over the last few years with devotees including Madonna, Sting and many Hollywood Celebrities. In our stressed out world yoga connects you to a feeling of inner well-being and connects body and mind.”
2. Exercise: We all know that the best thing in the world is for us to exercise but if you are in a bad stressful state, you will need to work on the stress reduction program above for two weeks before starting an intense aerobic exercise program.

Quotes:
“I love doing normal things - movies, shopping, going out with friends, writing, reading, taking hot bubble baths - that's a big one for relaxation. I also love to go to art and history museums." - Christina Aguilera

"My ideal relaxation is working on upholstery. I spend hours in junk shops buying furniture. I do all the upholstery work myself, and it's like therapy." - Pamela Anderson

“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.” - John F. Kennedy

Books - Fast References
1. Smart Guide to Relieving Stress: Carole Bodger
2. The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook: Martha Davis, Mathew McKay, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman
3. Relax-You May Have Only a Few Minutes Left: Using the Power of Humor to Overcome Stress in Your Life and Work: Loretta Laroche
4. The Stress Cure: A Simple Plan to Balance Mood, Improve Memory, and Restore Energy: Vern Cherewatenko, Paul Perry
Parapsychology and Alternative Techniques
1. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body & Mind to Face Stress Pain and Illness: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Foreword by Joan Borysenko, Preface by Thich Nhat Hanh
2. Aura Energy for Health and Balance: Joe Slate
3. Psychic Empowerment for Health and Fitness: Joe Slate
4. Energy Focused Meditation body mind and spirit: Genevieve Lewis Paulson
5. The Beginners Guide to Self-Hypnosis or Self Hypnosis for a Better Life: William W Hewitt

Comment to us, the editors. Simply email service@enliv.com.