As I've mentioned before, stress management often takes a multi-pronged approach. While using one approach to stress management--such as breathing exercises, meditation, or skill development--can help to reduce overall stress, any one technique is not as effective as a combination of approaches. For example, breathing exercises can help you reverse your body's stress response wherever you happen to be, but breathing doesn't significantly alter your resilience to future stressors. Meditation can help you feel less stressed in the moment, and increase your overall resilience to stress, but it doesn't change factors in your life that cause stress. Developing skills that enable you to better manage stressful situations--communication skills, for example, or the ability to delegate--can help you to manage the stressors you experience in your life, but only help with specific stressors. Each strategy brings its own strengths and weaknesses, and adds another strength to the overall stress management plan.

One important piece of an effective plan for stress management involves minimizing stressors. When we're surrounded by small, nagging sources of stress, we may feel a chronic sense of low-grade stress that adds a stressful dimension to whatever else we are experiencing. Put another way, while some stressors are unavoidable, cutting out the stressors that we are able to cut out can help us to have the patience and stamina to deal with the stressors we can't avoid.

Some of the best sources of stress to cut out are what life coaches call "tolerations." They are those parts of our lives that we put up with but would prefer not to--parts of our schedule we don't enjoy, people who stress us, cluttered areas of the house that drain our energy. Becoming aware of our tolerations is the first step in eliminating them. Having a system to tackle tolerations is another important step.

The following plan is life coach-recommended for cutting out these nagging stressors from life, so you can reserve your energy for what really matters:
Ways To Reduce Stress

Additional Resources:

• 5-Minute Stress Relief Strategies

• How To Simplify Life

• Top 5 Highly Effective Stress Reducer Strategies

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Meditation is a powerful tool for stress relief and inner wellness. Far from being a fad, meditation has been shown to bring a host of unique benefits, which have made it not only a mainstream stress relief technique, but one that is prescribed by doctors with growing frequency.

Meditation is particularly helpful because it helps to relive stress in a few different ways. Meditation can bring short-term stress relief, reversing the body's stress response and thereby limiting the damage from a constantly-triggered stress response that comes with chronic stress. Regular meditation can also bring long-term stress relief in the form of mental and physical changes that bring greater resilience to stress.

With all these benefits, meditation is by no means a one-size-fits-all activity. Meditation is a more attractive stress relief tool for some than for others. However, because there are several different forms of meditation, everyone can have their own favorite meditation technique. This means that if you've tried meditation in the past and it didn't quite "click" with you, or if the thought of sitting in the lotus position and repeating "om" leaves you less than thrilled, there are new options for you to try, that may be right up your alley.

This resource brings several strategies for those who want to learn how to meditate in ways that work for them. I recommend it for beginners as well as those experienced in meditation because there is a variety of techniques here that can appeal to newcomers, or can bring some welcome variety to regular practitioners of meditation. Try a new technique and see what appeals to you!

Recommended Reading

• Benefits of Meditation
• Research on Loving Kindness Meditation
• Study: Meditation Relieves Stress in People Like You!
• Walking Meditation
• Mantra Meditation
• Loving Kindness Meditation
• Meditation For Perfectionists
• Meditation For Busy People
• "I Can't Meditate--Help!"

Find Stress Relief On Facebook
For more ongoing stress reduction resources delivered right to your wall, visit and "like" this page--About Stress Management. You'll find inspirational quotes with articles that address the same concepts, with some great comments from other stress-relief fans. You can also follow me on Twitter for the same great stuff!

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They say that laughter is the best medicine, and research is actually backing that up. Well, okay, I'm not saying we should replace pharmacists with stand-up comedians, but there are some real health benefits in a good laugh. Learn more about the many ways that laughter (and even smiling) can be good for you, and make a plan today to get more laughter in your life this week--and from now on. It's one of the most enjoyable things you can do for your health!

Please feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section, sign up for the free stress management newsletter for ongoing updates, and have a wonderful week!

• Overall Health Benefits of Laughter
  Laughter can help you live longer, and enjoy other benefits as well! Learn more about how laughter can benefit you, and get inspired to get more laughs into your day!
  • Study: Laughter and Immunity
  • Laughter Can Lower Your Blood Pressure
  • Laughter Instead of Medicine For Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia?

• Laughter For Stress Relief
  Laughing can help you relieve stress in several ways, which can also enhance your overall health and wellness. Learn more about laughter as a stress relief tool, and see how you can relax with a good laugh more often.

• How Smiling Helps, Too
  Is a full-blown bout of laughter too tall an order? Smiling is easier, and you can work your way up from grins to giggles. Read about the health benefits of smiles, and put one on right now!
  • Health Benefits of Smiling
  • What's A Smile?

• How To Have More Fun
• Try Laughter Yoga
• How To Maintain A Sense of Humor

What's A Smile?

Find Stress Relief On Facebook
For more ongoing stress reduction resources delivered right to your wall, visit and "like" this page--About Stress Management. You'll find inspirational quotes with articles that address the same concepts, with some great comments from other stress-relief fans. You can also follow me on Twitter for the same great stuff!

Another option for stress relief: Subscribe To The Free Weekly Newsletter!

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They say it takes a village to raise a child, and, as a parent, I've often found that to be true. Recently, I was on a camping trip and, being a very inexperienced camper, ran into a few bumps in the road. Fortunately, having gone with a group of friends who were both experienced campers and experienced mothers, I had a nice "village" of people there to help me with anything I needed, be it resources, advice, or support. One friend loaned us a hat when my very fair-skinned son needed one; another mom I'd just met gave us pain reliever when we needed it; a third family watched our kids for us so we could go check email at a local wifi spot and churn out a quick blog. Advice was freely shared on topics ranging from sunburns to staying warm to relationship issues. It was wonderful fun, and I found myself feeling grateful for the support of my friends and fellow campers.

This also reminded me of the fact that social support has been found to be very helpful for stress relief, and is linked with greater health and longevity, as well as greater resilience toward stress. Whether support is offered in the form of concrete resources, emotional support, sound advice from someone who's been there, or just the right question to help us find our own perfect solutions for what we face, the support we find from our friends and family can make the difference between a stressful experience or an enriching one.

We also get a boost from altruism--helping others can bring tangible benefits to health, happiness, and self-esteem. It can also strengthen bonds and increase the likelihood that those we help will pay back the favor when we need it. Sometimes we're able to give more to others, and sometimes we're more in need of support, but helping others when we're in a position to, and giving what we're able to give is always a good thing.

Today, I urge you to get in touch with good friends, offer support to someone who needs it, and accept support if you need it and it's offered, in whatever form you find it. Creating strong relationships (and weeding out or better managing the stressful ones) can leave you surrounded by a wonderful "village" that enriches your life, and lightens your burdens.

Recommended Reading:

• The Hows and Whys of Cultivating a Circle of Friends

• How Do Different Types of Social Support Work?

• Quiz: Is Your Social Life An Asset or a Liability?

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