“That edge sounds good. It sounds adaptive. It sounds like perception is enhanced and that it can keep you safe in the face of danger,” says Alexander Shackman, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

But it sounds like there’s also a catch, one that Shackman and his coauthors – including Richard Davidson, UW-Madison psychology and psychiatry professor – described in the Jan. 19 Journal of Neuroscience.

“It makes us more sensitive to our external surroundings as a way of learning where or what a threat may be, but interferes with our ability to do more complex thinking,” Davidson says.

Faced with the possibility of receiving an unpleasant electric shock, the study’s subjects showed enhanced activity in brain circuits responsible for taking in visual information, but a muted signal in circuitry responsible for evaluating that information. Remove the threat of shock (and thus the stress and anxiety) and the effect is reversed: less power for vigilance, more power for strategic decision-making.

The shift in electrical activity in the brain, captured by a dense mesh of sensors placed on the scalp, may be the first biological description of a paradox in experimental psychology.

It has long been known that imminent danger can enhance the ability to detect faint stimuli in the environment, such as the crackle of a leaf signaling the approach of a predator. But it is equally clear that the stress and anxiety aroused by a threat can profoundly disrupt the ability to think clearly and perform more complex “executive” tasks.

“In the last few years, theorists have hypothesized that this paradox might reflect several systems working in conjunction: one responsible for the rapid detection of external stimuli, the other responsible for the slower, more reflective evaluation of that incoming information,” Shackman says. “Stress upsets the balance of those systems.”

In fact, as the senses go into overdrive, they are probably confounding the rest of the brain all the more.

“Your ability to do more complex tasks is disrupted just as the amount of information you’re receiving through your eyes and ears is enhanced,” Shackman says. “You’re having trouble focusing on the information coming in, but your brain is taking in more and more potentially irrelevant information. You can have a viscous feedback loop, a sort of double-whammy effect.”

The resulting confusion favors quick, reflexive actions, the “survival instincts” often mentioned by trauma survivors – Noise? RUN! – in a way that was likely adaptive in the dangerous environments in which the ancestors to modern humans evolved.

“In our evolutionary past, the dangers we faced were really survival-threatening,” Davidson says. “That’s not so much the case now. Because of the nature of our brains, we can use our neural capacity to create our own internal danger. We can worry about the future and ruminate about the past.”

Either one is likely to present a real hurdle to effective decision-making under stress.

“This is part of a growing body of evidence showing that stress does have important consequences for the brain, not just something that arouses the body – tension in your muscles or butterflies in the stomach,” says Davidson, who studies the effects of meditation as director of UW-Madison’s Center for Investigating Healthy minds.

“One of the things we would expect is that if we use an antidote like systematic meditation training to learn to control stress it would not just calm the body, but improve our ability to engage in complex analytical activity,” he says.

Jeffrey S. Maxwell of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory joined Shackman as lead author of the study, which was funded by the Department of Defense, National Institutes for Health and National Science Foundation.

Source:
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Anxiety / Stress From Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/214065.php

Students can combat test anxiety and improve performance by writing about their worries immediately before the exam begins, according to a University of Chicago study published in the journal Science.

Researchers found that students who were prone to test anxiety improved their high-stakes test scores by nearly one grade point after they were given 10 minutes to write about what was causing them fear, according to the article, “Writing about Testing Boosts Exam Performance in the Classroom.” The article appears in the Jan. 14 issue of Science and is based on research supported by the National Science Foundation.

The writing exercise allowed students to unload their anxieties before taking the test and accordingly freed up brainpower needed to complete the test successfully brainpower that is normally occupied by testing worries, explained the study’s senior author, Sian Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University.

In other research, Beilock has shown that pressure-filled situations can deplete a part of the brain’s processing power known as working memory, which is critical to many everyday activities. Working memory is lodged in the prefrontal cortex and is a sort of mental scratch pad that allows people to “work” with information relevant to the task at hand. When worries creep up, the working memory people normally use to succeed becomes overburdened. People lose the brain power necessary to excel.

Beilock is one of the nation’s leading experts on “choking under pressure” a phenomenon in which talented people perform below their skill level when presented with a particularly challenging experience. Her recently published book, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, gives advice on how to avoid choking in situations ranging from high-stakes exams to important business presentations and athletic competitions.

“Despite the fact that people are often motivated to perform their best, the pressure-filled situations in which important tests, presentations and matches occur can cause people to perform below their ability level instead,” Beilock said.

Joining Beilock on the study was her graduate student Gerardo Ramirez, an Institute of Education Sciences predoctoral fellow at UChicago.

Other research has shown that expressive writing, in which people repeatedly write about a traumatic or emotional experience over several weeks or months, is an effective technique for decreasing worries in depressed individuals.

In the current research, the scholars wanted to determine if students could benefit from writing in the classroom, so they first tested college students to determine if writing about their anxieties improved their performance on a mathematics test.

“We reasoned that if worries lead to poor test performance, and writing helps regulate these worries, then giving students the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings about an impending examination would enhance test performance,” Beilock said.

Anxiety / Stress From Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/213690.php

We have little control over family deaths, emergencies or accidents, but we can see some of the circumstances under which our daily life. One of the biggest stress factors in our lives is often work. Since most of us can not afford to quit, some stress management can go a long way.

Stress management can help you control your emotions and the way you deal with the stress can not be avoided. It can help you relax and reduce the fear occurs to you. It can also help you stay healthy. Continued periods of extreme stress will eventually take its toll on your health. They develop a lower level of resistance against the disease make you vulnerable to almost every disease that comes along.

Tips on stress management

There are two very important aspects of life that really help you manage the daily stress. These are a lot of sleep and a lot of exercise. Getting enough sleep can refresh your body to regenerate and energy. The lack of stress can worsen sleep because your body does not produce enough energy to deal with it.

Exercise also plays an important role in stress management. Exercise may help you relax, which in turn will help you get the sleep you need. Being in good physical shape will help you with adverse situations much better. It relieves the tension in the muscles and raises your level of endorphins, which is a chemical substance that improves the mood. As in a good mood and a positive attitude are great opportunities to combat stress.

A balanced diet contributes to a healthy body and a healthy body deals with stress differently from a body that is sick. They should be healthy food and exercise for your energy, rather than to eat large amounts of sugar or drink large amounts of caffeine. Avoid alcohol, if possible. An occasional glass of wine for dinner is probably good, but too much alcohol interrupts good sleep and contributes to depression.

Stress management requires that you take some time to be able to. Even if it’s only fifteen minutes on the day, give yourself some time to reflect and relax. Maybe it’s nothing more than a long bubble bath, but it is important to do something. Try what you some small treat each day. Lock your bedroom door and read or some light candles and some deep breathing. Everything you can do to your mind will help you with effective stress management.

For more information on stress depression and where you can go to get help, please visit my website at http://www.liveer.com

Living with high levels of stress, can put your entire health at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional stability, as well as your physical health. It tapers with your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life.

Causes of Stress
Stress may be because of any physical, chemical, or emotional factors that cause bodily or mental unrest and that may even cause physical sickness. Stress also has effects on the immune system. Chronic (long-term) stress has the effect of “wearing down” the immune system, leading to an increased susceptibility to colds and other infections.

Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress include trauma, infections, toxins, illnesses, and injuries of any sort. Emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied.

How to Manage Stress
Stress is a daily part of our life; it would be absolutely foolish to think that we can eliminate it from our lives completely. What we can do is to manage it and not let it cripple us.

Learn to say “no” : This is the most important step, know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept extra responsibilities that you know will cause you distress.

Avoid people who stress you out : If someone constantly causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.

Take control of your environment : Avoid environments that stress you, if traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If shopping is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online or ask someone to help out.

Avoid heated topics : If you get upset over religion or politics, avoid talking about them. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people you are bound to be stressed.

Know your limits: evaluate your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom or eliminate them entirely.

Express instead of bottling up- If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and polite way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build creating unnecessary stress.

Compromise- When you ask someone to change their actions, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend a little, you’ll find a middle ground.

Be more assertive- If you need something ask for it. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them.

Manage your time better- Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead, you can avoid these stress-inducing pitfalls.

Don’t try to control the uncontrollable- Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control.

Look for the Brightside- When facing major challenges; try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth.

Share your feelings- Talk to a trusted friend or a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very therapeutic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.

Learn to forgive- Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.

Include relaxation time-Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.

Create a Support system- A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life

Exercise regularly. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.

Eat a healthy diet- Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.

Reduce caffeine and sugar- The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.

Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs- alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Later the stress simply piles on plus your health starts to suffer.

Get enough sleep-Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

Stress management among students in universities is a hit-or-miss matter. Some universities schedule optional stress management classes, but students often lack the time to attend. If they have the time, they lack interest.

Stress Management Keys

Specific keys will open the door to better stress management among students in universities. Some of those keys are being used, but others are lost or neglected. Without them, stress management is limited for the students. We will not attempt to list here every key, or to put them in any given order. Rather, we would like to suggest stress management keys that may be lost in the rubble of today’s society.

1. Clear definitions: Effective stress management among students requires clear definitions of words such as “stressor,” “stress,” “eustress,” and “distress.”

Students who do not understand clearly what stress is cannot be expected to succeed at stress management. They may be trying to manage stressors, thinking they are managing stress. The outcome may very well be increased stress rather than stress management.

Stress management among students in universities can begin only after they understand that the extra demands made upon them are stressors, not stress. They then must understand that their response to those demands constitutes stress. Finally, if they are to get a grasp on practical stress management, they will need to know that there are two kinds of stress. One, eustress, is beneficial. The other, distress, is detrimental.

Students who understand these concepts, and embrace them, have unlocked the first door leading to stress management.

2. Action Plan: With a firm understanding of the definitions, students are ready to formulate a stress management action plan. They are ready for the proverbial locking of the barn door to prevent the horse’s escape.

Armed with the knowledge that stress is the response to stressors, students can learn to control that response. They can determine to take specific, proactive steps to prepare for stressors. They can, in a sense, ambush the stressors as a step of stress management.

3. Stressor Identification: An important part of the stress management ambush is to learn to identify the enemy. A focused tertiary student will see stressors and know them for what they are. Every university student has stressors. All of us have unusual demands made on us. The key to stress management is to identify those demands as stressors.

In universities and colleges, stressors take the form of unaccustomed activities. Sharing a room with a stranger makes demands on a student. A new form of study is demanding. Financial resources and potentially new dating standards can be stressors.

Whether students are in Italy or Iowa, they are free of the constraints of home, and that freedom is a stressor. Freedom makes unusual demands on one who has not had it in fullness.

All of these and about 2000 more are stressors that a student must identify in order to engage in stress management.

4. Turning Distress into Eustress: Another key that helps unlock the doors to stress management is that of turning distress into eustress. Students often act as victims of their stressors. They believe they can do nothing but suffer. Stress management requires that they learn to turn a potentially negative response to stressors into a positive response.

Eustress, the beneficial stress, is what carries an excited, happy couple through the whirlwind of preparation for a large wedding. From the moment of the proposal, the couple may be surrounded by stressors. Extra demands, unusual demands are being made on them. Yet they are not depressed. The demands do not weigh heavily on them. They embrace them, and respond with smiles. They accept the challenge of getting everything done well and on time because they choose to accept it that way.

The same type of response can be enlisted on other occasions that call for stress management. Much of what students view as negative stress can be turned around, energizing them to excel.

Is this a false, rosy-tinted view of stress management? Not at all. Does this negate principles such as deep breathing, exercise, healthy diet, and regular sleep? No. As we said, this is not an attempt to provide every key to stress management. It is an effort to look at keys that are being neglected.

Stress management among students in universities can be stripped of many programs, drugs, and therapies if these keys are used well.

If you experience any of these symptoms on a regular basis, chances are you have significant stress levels in your life. All of these symptoms have the potential to harm your health and emotional well-being. If you don’t implement a stress management program to reduce or relieve the stress in your life, eventually your health will certainly suffer. Can these signs of stress make you sick? Definitely.

Some common features of stress management programs are meditation, yoga, exercise, special breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, aromatherapy, light therapy, massages, crying, bubble baths and salt baths to name a few. Of course if you think that your stress is rooted in deeper issues like depression or psychological trauma, you should definitely get professional help. It will do you no good to begin a stress management program that treats the symptoms and not the cause of your stress issues.

One very helpful way to eliminate or reduce stress in foreseeable stressful situations, such as presentations, performances, or a particularly busy schedule, is to add a plan of action to your stress management program. This is a pre-prepared plan that helps you to effectively overcome any problems or distractions that may occur to accomplish your goals.

To prepare your plan of action, begin by making a list all of the steps you need to take from preparing for any task through to its conclusion. Start far enough in advance to sort out any possible equipment, transportation, or clothing problems etc.

Next, work through each of these steps. Think through everything that could reasonably go wrong at each step, and identify any distractions and negative thinking that could undermine your confidence or inhibit you from accomplishing your goals.

Work through all of the things that could go wrong. Look at the likelihood of the problem occurring. Many of the things you have listed may be extremely unlikely. Strike these out and ignore them from your planning.

Look at each of the remaining contingencies. These usually fall into three categories:

1. Things you can eliminate by appropriate preparation, including making back-up arrangements and acquiring appropriate additional or spare equipment;
2. Things you can manage by avoiding unnecessary risk; and
3. Things you can manage with appropriate planning, preparation, or a stress management technique.

Write your plan down on paper in an easy to read format. Keep it with you as you prepare for and implement your stress management plan of action. Refer to it whenever you need it in the time leading up to the event, and during it. Although not all complications in any plan are foreseeable, having a plan will eliminate most complications and give you a feeling of being organized and in control.

Properly using stress management techniques lifts your mood and enhances your overall quality of life, while benefiting your emotional and physical health. Find what works for you, and watch yourself transform into the happy, confident and under control person you’ve always wanted to be.

In the world people live in, it is very hard not to be stressed. This is because almost all of the things work, family, society, and relationships can be stressors for an individual. Because of these conditions, stress has become an inevitable part of people’s daily living.

For some people, stress can be good because it gives them adrenaline rush. A sudden surge of stress can help them do things in their own accord, finish tasks ahead of time and achieve their goals within the given deadline. At times, stress even helps them to perform better and have a competitive but positive outlook in life.

But, not all people can turn stress into a positive energy. In fact, most people who get stressed suffer from a wide range of health and emotional problems as times go by. People especially those who getting so much stress on the workplace suffer from minor health problems such as insomnia or sleep disturbances, headaches and upset stomach. These eventually lead to difficulties in concentration in things, mood swings and irritability, low self-esteem and moral, and poor socialization with immediate family and friends.

This type of stress, if not managed properly, can lead to chronic health problems and conditions such as various cardiovascular diseases, several musculoskeletal conditions, and different levels of psychological disorders. So to avoid these, problems people should be thinking of ways to manage stress and live a healthy life.

Stress management through regular exercise
For some people, there is no better way to manage stress than getting regular exercise. This is because exercise can reduce physical stress fast and can help people to feel good about themselves. Aside from reducing stress by relaxing tense muscles during stressful situations, exercise can offer a lot more benefits than people could ever imagine. More than being a good stress buster, exercise can help you to:

1. Improve the blood flow. Blood flow to the brain is very important for a person to think clearly. When you are doing exercise, additional sugars and oxygen are being brought to your brain, causing you to think effectively.
2. Release endorphins. The chemical called endorphins are responsible for giving a person a feeling of happiness and positive outlook in life. Despite all the stress brought by your surroundings, you can manage it as long as you have enough release of endorphins.
3. Have a fit body. Looking good and feeling good about one’s physical self help many people manage stress. This is because if a person feels he or she is beautiful, that person can take on anything thinking that no matter what happens.
4. Strengthens one of the most important of the body, the heart. If a person gets stressed, the major organ that is affected is the heart. So, to save the heart from any diseases and conditions brought by stress, exercise is a must to ensure that you will maintain a heart that has greater elasticity to pump out enough blood and oxygen to the body.

Indeed, exercise is a very effective technique in stress management. But before engaging into it, make sure that you are physically fit to endure strenuous physical activities. You can ensure that you are in good shape if you visit your doctor and have a general check up.

The doctor can tell you what will be your limitations and can even recommend an exercise program suitable for your needs.

Effectiveness of massage therapy in managing stress
Massage therapy has become a significant part of general health care for many people living in todays stressful world. Many professionals and even traditional healthcare systems all throughout the world recognize that traditional means of managing stress such as in massage therapy could be effective in treating chronic ailments caused by stress and could can and contribute to a higher sense of general well-being.

To many, stress management through massage therapy is considered as the modern antidote for stress because it helps combat stress by trying to reduce the tension build up in the muscles. Aside from boosting the bodys immune system, massage therapy also prevents the decrease in circulation and nutrient delivery to tissues which many people who are stressed often are prone with.

Popular as an ultimate stress reducers, many healthcare professionals make recommendation to their patients people, especially those who live by the rule of stress to undergo massage therapy in their health care treatment plans and stress management strategies.

Benefiting from massage therapy
Statistics show that the most common cause of todays health problems is stress. Aside from improper diet and unhealthy life style, prolonged periods of stress subconsciously affect many systems of the human body.

Aside from being an effective means of managing stress, massage therapy poses a lot of benefits to people. Primarily, it can develop, maintain, rehabilitate, or augment physical function. Among the extensive benefits of massage therapy, most people consider the therapeutic affect of the treatment on their bodies. Since massage therapy causes diverse physiological effects due to the therapists hands moving over the body, its therapeutic effect is proven to improve health by acting directly on the muscular, nervous, circulatory and immune systems.

It also helps relieve or prevent physical dysfunction and pain. And since it targets body parts, which are prone to stress, massage therapy also relaxes tight and tense muscles while improve circulation, recovery time, and immune system function, which reduce overall stress.

Concentrating in creating different movements that can physically stretch muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia, massage therapy also encourages the circulation through the tissue, inhibit muscular spasms, and be either sedating or stimulating to the nervous system. And with the continuing research on the beneficial effects of massage therapy, its effectiveness was also discovered in controlling chronic or acute pain.

With the array benefits massage therapy offers to people specially in stress reduction and in creating a sense of relaxation and well-being, it is no wonder that a wide patronage of it will increase energy and will improve peoples outlook on life.

When using massage therapy as a stress management option, it is very important to understand that elementary knowledge of it is not enough for ordinary individuals to practice it and benefit from it.
Being a regulated health profession, massage therapy requires professionals who have completed hours of education at accredited schools and have extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology, assessment, bodywork techniques, and pathology to know when massage therapy is or is not suitable.

A lot of people associate “stress” with mental or psychological stress; however, physicians and scientists use the term “stress” to indicate any force that damages the balance and stability of the body’s functions.
People have to understand though, that even if stress disrupts the function and balance of the body, not all stress is bad. A mild level of tension and stress may sometimes even be beneficial; as in the case of feeling slightly stressed with work projects, which can compel an individual to focus better, work energetically, and perform a good job.

The same goes with exercise it produces temporary stress on a few bodily functions, yet has indisputable benefits to health. It is only during overwhelming stress, or poorly managed stress, that the effects become negative. In these cases, a vital goal would be appropriate stress management techniques.

Generally, stress is connected to both internal and external factors. Internal for the way the body responds to and deals with external-inducing factors job, physical environment, relationships, home, and situations. Stress management therefore, can involve doing some changes in external factors that confront a person, or internal factors that strengthen the ability to deal with things that come their way. Here are some effective stress management techniques:

Exercise
This stress management technique promotes one’s overall fitness, at the same time as helping manage tension and emotional stress it temporarily diverts one from a stressful situation, and being healthy and fit increases one’s ability to handle stress.

Relaxation and Meditation
There are so many ways of relaxation and meditation; some can be learned in class, while others on one’s own. This stress management technique helps improve one’s mental and physical well-being and control stress.

Time Management
Having a good time schedule is an effective technique to take off critical stress especially with doing the tasks one needs to get done in a day. Making sure that one does away with over scheduling helps a lot in not being “stressed out” with unmet commitments.
Organizational skills

A well-organized physical surrounding eliminates being confronted with stressful situations of misplaced objects.

Support Systems
Developing and cultivating a strong social support network -such as friends, loved ones, neighbors, business associates, and even pets- is healthy for the mind and body.

Stress is a fact of life for a lot of people, it may come in different ways or forms, but the importance of not letting it get the better of you, can be a life saver. Effective stress management techniques will help one to efficiently cope with stress; remember that early management of stress, means eliminating the potentials of health problems.

Stress management relaxation programs include meditation, progressive relaxation, autogenic training, and biofeedback. Several other techniques exist, but, for this article’s purpose, we will tackle only the cited four briefly. There are several ways to cope with stress. Relaxation is one technique which generally refers to the calming of the mind, the body and the sense, to help a you regain your ‘center’, even in the middle of a highly stressful activity.

Before we begin with any of the four techniques, we must first acknowledge that they are merely part of a bigger and much more comprehensive stress management program and that each will work to its best extent when combined with other techniques. Two very important points should be considered before taking on any stress management relaxation technique.

First, since a relaxation technique results in physiological changes, anybody under medication that affects any physiological parameter might be exploiting that parameter too hard, and;

Secondly, that people with medical conditions, like hypertension, heart problems, etc. should first seek medical permission, to be on the safe side.

Once you have gotten these out of the way, you may want to try out each stress management technique first before you determine which one to use regularly.

While there is no scientific and medical way to accurately decide which one will work best for you, you will be able to determine which is a most comfortable fit.

Here are the Top Four Stress Management Techniques:

Stress management technique 1: Meditation
Meditation is a mental exercise aimed at getting control over your attention, in order for you to choose what to focus on, instead of being subject to the unpredictable turn of environmental events. This is best done in a silent place and involves set breathing methods.

Stress management technique 2: Progressive Relaxation
This technique stimulates nerve-muscle relaxation. It requires the contraction and release of a muscle group, then slowly moving to other parts of the body. Progressive relaxation is usually used to treat migraines, tension headaches, and other illness.

Stress management technique 3: Autogenic Training
This technique utilizes a series of exercises aimed at bringing body warmth and heaviness in the body and the limbs. It can be done lying down or in a sitting down. Relaxing images are also used to nurture mind relaxation.

Stress management technique 4: Biofeedback
Biofeedback uses certain machines and instruments to observe body movements and occurrences, which will then be used to study ways to control them. It is often used in combination with another relaxation technique.

Practice your chosen technique as recommended, with the right environment, attitude, time and frequency. Keep a consistent routine and you will be harvesting their benefits in no time. Just always keep in mind that the above four stress management techniques are simply instruments to a greater and more comprehensive method. You may choose to do them individually or adopt a combination of two or four. However which way you decide, make sure that it is done at comfortable pace. Otherwise, you will be creating more stress than what you get rid of.