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Today's article comes from my favorite author Chris Green...

"5 Step to Reduce Stress Naturally"

Feeling as if you're trapped in a rut or that your life is going nowhere is another part of stressful illnesses and this feeling can trigger depression. Doing the same routines day in, day out isn't good for us and although we do need some security, too much can cause problems. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new. Start a course, a fitness program, try a new sport, learn a musical instrument, go on a activity holiday or take up a new hobby. New experiences add to the pleasure you get from life and keep your spark alive.

Avoid stress, anxiety and depression treatments that don't work, especially diets, nutritional supplements and antidepressant drugs. The food you eat or don't eat cannot cause nor cure stress, depression or anxiety. Drugs are used to treat chemical imbalances and as yet, there is no scientific evidence anywhere to prove that chemical imbalances cause stress, depression or anxiety. One of the main causes for all of them lies in flawed modes of thinking and these can be very effectively addressed and will bring more relief for you than food, supplements or drugs.

When you're suffering a stressful, depressive or anxious episode, a feeling that somehow, it's your fault can creep in. In blaming yourself this way, guilty feelings arise and you feel even worse. But you're not at fault in anyway, you didn't suddenly decide to suffer from stress, depression or anxiety and I know you'd ditch them right now if you could! Stress, depression and anxiety have specific causes that certainly aren't your fault. Never blame yourself and concentrate on treating the causes instead.

Burnout is an ever increasing problem in our society. As if a full working day isn't enough, many people return home and have to do even more work to run the family home, prepare meals, time for the children and a multitude of other activities and people all clamouring for attention. So make "me time" a priority. Have at least one 20 minute break away from your work station where you can relax in peace. At home, schedule periods each day so you can rest and relax. These times are so important to both mental and physical health and they'll help relieve stress, depression and anxiety.

It's been said many times: What you focus on becomes your reality. It's true and in life, little things can make a big difference. If you continually focus on problems, on little things that annoy you, on the irritating habits your loved ones have and on all of the inconveniences we all experience in daily living, your going to be unhappy. Instead, focus on the little things that make life worthwhile but that many of us take for granted: a sunrise, a smile, an act of kindness, a star filled sky, a hug from your children, a kiss from your lover or support from your friends and family. We all have many wonderful things we can focus on everyday instead of expecting them without regard and the more you focus on these little things, the happier you'll feel.

Each of the above techniques will help you reduce stress and improve your overall health as well. Use them every day and you'll quickly feel the stress melting away.

Put all 5 of these natural stress relief tips into practice and feel your mood levels soar!

Here's the 5 Easy 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. It's an excellent way to get stress relief 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!

Copyright 2006 Christopher Green

ABOUT CHRIS GREEN:
"...I'd hit rock bottom. I found your book and couldn't stop reading it. It gave hope I thought I'd lost. It's giving me direction and support. Thank you."- V.B. Ohio, United States

Chris Green conquered five years of anxiety-induced depression without taking antidepressants. He is the author of the globally acclaimed book “Conquering Stress”, and the just released “Six Steps To Happiness”, a new e-course to help people beat stress, depression and anxiety without taking drugs.

It can be downloaded from his website. Learn more...

To your health!