16 stress-busters

Find your inner calm with these tips
1 Throw your head back
Now shout loudly. "Shout and screaming is a great way to let go of all that pent-up tension that causes stress," says Neil Shah, from The Stress Management Society www.stress.org.uk.

"Rather than risk being carted off to the asylum by shouting in the streets, let off some steam cheering on your local football team, or heading to a sports bar. The added social contact will help you unwind even quicker," he adds.

2 Take a tip from the ladies..
And take a nice, hot bubble bath. Ok, you might feel a bit stupid, but who's going to know? The warmth of the water will relax tense limbs and a nice, long soak will help clear your mind. And if you add a splash of Radox Sleep Easy Herbal Bath (£1.69 from chemists), which contains lavender, you'll relax even further.

3 Smile
Nat King Cole had it right when he sang: "Smile though your heart is aching."
"The brain cannot easily hold contrary emotional states simultaneously - so if you want to feel more smiley, then smile more," says Dr Phillip Hodson, a psychotherapist from The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (www.bacp.co.uk).

"But if smiling is good, laughing is even better," says Andrea Sangster from the Stress Management Society (www.stress.org.uk). "A good belly laugh exercises your abdominal muscles and gets fresh air into your lungs. Think of it an internal workout."

4 Play with your balls
Stress balls that is. The act of squeezing a stress ball or a hand exerciser tenses the muscles in both your hand and your arm. Holding the ball for a second or two and then releasing it relaxes the muscle, causing the tension to leave your arm and hand, thereby relieving stress.

5 Have more sex
Scottish scientists have discovered yet another reason why you should be slipping under the sheets. According to their research, sex is an excellent way to relieve stress, with the benefits from one session keeping you stress-free for up to a week.

6 And... breathe...
Where would we be without breathing? Probably blue, gasping for air and convulsing in the corner truth be told; but breathing does more than just keep you alive. "When you're stressed you tend to take shallow breaths which doesn't get enough oxygen to your brain and body. However if you try deep breathing exercises, they help reduce your stress and relax," says Sangster.

Next time you are feeling stressed, try holding your breath and counting to five. Breathe out slowly through your mouth, and in again through your nose.

7 Walk away
Or try to distance yourself from what is making you stressed. Counting to 10 will help you to move away from the situation mentally as well as giving you 10 valuable seconds to re-think the screaming-fit you were about to unleash on your unsuspecting co-workers.

"Going for a short walk around the block is also a good way to physically distance yourself from a stressful situation," says Shah. Chirping birds, children laughing in the playground and nature in bloom will soon remind you of the good in the world and the act of walking will help release some of those fight-or-flight endorphins that stress has left careering around your body.

8 Be realistic
"Much of stress is self-induced from setting yourself ridiculously tight deadlines or by procrastinating," says Shah.

That work report will always take you twice as long as you had time-budgeted for once you factor in proof-reading, tea breaks, and the other ‘little things' like eating and sleeping.
Take one thing at a time. Learn to prioritise urgent tasks and allot yourself enough time to complete your tasks, therefore reducing stress before it even starts.

9 Leave your work at work
While we all want to appear the model employee, there is more chance of appearing so if you are not a sleep-deprived wreck, muttering in the corner.

Aim to create a calm atmosphere at home by leaving your work worries behind, and try not to bring home any extra work, even if that means having to get to the office a bit earlier the next morning.

10 Brush it off
"Paint your home calming colours such as soft blue," says Brewer. "Research shows that exposure to shades of blue can lower blood pressure, improve sleep and reduce pain perception. In contrast, exposure to red light has the opposite effect, raising blood pressure and feelings of stress as it triggers release of adrenalin."

11 Get organised
You got up late and now have five minutes to leave the house. One of your shoes is in a tangle of bedclothes, the other in the cupboard under the stairs, and your brief case is no-where to be seen. Sound like you?
Being organised will cut morning stress in half. Get into the habit of leaving your shoes, jacket and brief case by the front door and picking out what you want to wear the night before.

"Make a list of everything you need to remember in the morning and set your alarm five minutes earlier, even if this means you just spend those five minutes in bed contemplating the day ahead," says Brewer.

12 Break it down
When faced with mammoth tasks, avoid stress by breaking them down into smaller chunks. "It's far less stressful to aim to write three paragraphs before lunch than it is to complete a whole report by the end of the day," says Shah.

Make ‘To Do' lists and tick of your accomplishments. This will make you feel less stressed as you will see how much you have already achieved and make you realise that no task is insurmountable.

13 Eat Nemo
Australian researchers have discovered that eating oily fish such as salmon and sardines can help lower stress levels. This is because oily fish are jam-packed full of omega-3 fatty acids which help your nervous system to function properly and reduce the affects of hostility and aggression.

Most fish are also filled with stress-fighting vitamin B12 which plays a role in the production of serotonin; nature's Prozac.

14 Diet and exercise
Surprise, surprise! But the fact is; a healthy body is better equipped to dealing with, and fighting stress. "Exercise not only burns of the excess adrenaline cause by stress, but it will help release serotonin which will make you feel happier and calmer," says Shah.
Vitamin C is an excellent stress buster. According to Psychology Today (www.psychologytoday.com), people who have high levels of vitamin C not only get less stressed; they bounce back from stressful situations faster than people with low levels of vitamin C in their blood.

Words by Nicky Williams