Ten Quick Ways to Culminate a Stress Free Day

Stress can interfere with so much in our lives. With the holidays around the corner, I think it is high time we sat back, relaxed and took a few big, deep breaths while reading a stress-busting hub. Here are ten fantastic ways to keep stress at bay:

1. Get enough sleep. Healthy adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night, but if you've been under the weather try to get eight to nine hours of sleep a night. Your body will thank you! Sleep is when our bodies not only recharge their batteries, we also heal while sleeping. If you've been feeling a little woozy with all the flus and colds running around, now is the time to get a little extra sleep, before the holidays hit full blast and your brought down by the bug.

2. Drink eight to ten eight ounce glasses of water a day. Dehydration will eventually cause a rise in heart rate as the body tries to keep the same amount of blood flowing without the essential fluids it needs, making the heart work harder. Did you know that mid-day sluggishness can be cured by keeping hydrated? It's true! A lot of times when people get the urge to nap during the afternoon it is actually your body's wake-up call that you are dehydrated!

3. Exercise. A brisk twenty minute, (or longer,) walk a day will do wonders for your outlook on life. Try picking a different route every day; not only will it overcome boredom, but you'll also see parts of your neighborhood in a new light!

4. Remember to breathe. Just like being dehydrated can lead to sluggishness improper breathing can also keep you off the top of your game. When we get stressed out we forget to breathe deeply and evenly. Which in turn can cause us to become short of breath and even more stressed out. Anytime you start feeling stressed out, take in a deep breath, count until comfortable and let your breath out slowly. Repeat 6-8 times and you'll begin to feel more in control of yourself and the situation.

5. Don't rely on chemicals to remain stress free. Caffeine may wake you up in the morning, but leave you tense by afternoon. Alcohol and other drugs may mask stress, but will cause more stress later on in life if you use them as a coping mechanism.

6. Wake up twenty minutes earlier and spend that time you would normally be sleeping on meditating. Neuroscientists hypothesize that regular meditation actually can actually change the way the brain is wired. More research needs to be done, of course, but I've personally found that 15 minutes a day of mediation and 15 minutes a day of stretching / yoga in the morning really put me on the right frame of mind to deal with the stresses of my daily grind. Seems a lot more helpful than that extra thirty minutes of sleep to me, anyways!

7. Remember to let the things you cannot control in life to slide off your back. Forget about it! Thinking about things which are out of our control is counter-productive. If there isn't anything you can do to change the outcome of a situation, forget about it! Maybe it's a co-worker who doesn't treat us as well as they should, perhaps it's a problem someone else has that's tugging at your heart... if there's nothing you can do about it, just let it go.

8. Make lists. Having a list to guide you through your day can be a life saver. Lists help you focus on what really needs to get done and are an important part of time management. There's no better feeling than seeing all the check marks at the end of the day, marking off the tasks you've completed. Don't you feel accomplished? Remember, any tasks you didn't get done today can go right onto tomorrow's list. Relax and bask in the glow of a job well done.

9. Break down tasks into smaller, easier to complete tasks on your list. Nothing stresses me out more than a huge project that needs to be done. But if you break it down into bits and pieces on your list the funniest thing happens. It no longer seems insurmountable and isn't the huge stress it was.

10. Take a time out every day to experience something beautiful. Maybe it's spending some extra time with the kids, looking at some ancient art, listening to a piece of music that makes your heart soar or taking that twenty minute walk a little earlier so you can catch the sunrise. Whatever it is, make sure it's time for you... that is what's truly beautiful about it!