How many times have you agreed to do something that you actually didn’t want to do? Was it a family member, a friend, a lover or even someone at work? You really wanted to say no, but it just never came out.  So you end up doing something that you later on resent. The result – stress!

Resentment is something to be avoided at all costs. The reason being that resentment eventually turns into bitterness. Bitterness is a toxic emotion that eats away at you from the inside turning everything it touches into decay.

Effective Stress Management Techniques for Resentment

The other thing to know about resentment is that it is really unexpressed anger. Whenever you say ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no’ there’s two kinds of anger taking place; The first is you  blame the other person for forcing you to do something you really don’t want to and the second is you get angry with yourself for compromising your personal integrity.

The second form of anger is much harder to recognize because most people get stuck on blaming others for trying to control them. The fact is that no-one can ever control you unless you allow them to so this excuse can be dropped immediately.

Once this has been dropped it becomes apparent that you are really only hurting yourself and your self respect when you give others the power to control you. There are anger management techniques that you can apply to transform anger into calmness but here's the fastest way to drop it.

The answer – stop doing it!

Yes, it may be challenging at first to say ‘no’ to others who are used to getting their own way around you because that means they have to accept that you are an individual with the right to make your own choices.

You have the right to say 'no' whenever you choose.

While you think that this is the way most people think about themselves the sad reality is that it is the exception rather than the norm. Why? Because we are condtioned from birth to 'do as we are told'  or risk being punished. Then to avoid the pain opf being judged or abused we learn that submission is the path of least resistance. The price  - the needs of others become more important than your own needs.

The bottom line is that you have spent most of your life training others how to treat you. If you don’t like the way you’re being treated then it’s time to re-train them. By saying 'yes' when you mean 'no' you’ve trained people to believe that you are a push-over and you are there to serve their needs.

Instant Stress Relief from years of giving your power away to others just from one word!

Just by changing one word that you speak the message you send out to those very same people is that your time and needs are important to you. This is so liberating, so energizing, healing and self-empowering that even after applying this just once you’ll experience an immediate rush of energy, confidence and power flowing through your body.

Do you always have to say 'no' to others? Of course not, only when you absolutely mean it. You’ll know if you don’t want to say 'yes' because the moment you say it you’ll feel annoyed. If that happens then have the courage to let the other person know that you mean 'no' immediately.

To your Great Life and Health,

Michael

Did you know that one of the biggest stressors in the world that I've come across during 15+ years of coaching individuals, groups and couples is the stress that happens in relationships.

From broken hearts and homes to not wanting to go to work just to avoid facing that person whom you'd rather choke than work things out with learning simple stress management skills is vital if you want to stay happy, healthy and productive.

Healthy relationships begin and end with you setting the ground rules for how others treat you. Here are some handy stress management tips to get you started: 

Set Boundaries.

Many people will walk all over you if you let them. Setting boundaries means deciding what’s ok and what’s not ok when it comes to how people treat you.One of the easiest ways to do this is to practice using the word ‘no’.  All too often we say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘no’. Just by letting others know that you have limitations on what’s ok or not ok will send them a powerful message that you are in control of your life. 

Take Back Your Power.

You are either in control of your life or you’re not, there is no in-between. This means that no-one has the power to make your life a misery unless you allow them to.  Start taking back your power today by affirming to yourself in the mirror each morning upon awakening and each night before retiring to bed, “I love and approve of myself”. Just this action alone will make a huge difference. More on Stress Management Techniques for Healthy Relationships

A Journal (or Stress Diary) is a great Stress Relaxation Technique that many people had amazing success with.  It is a set method to record the thoughts and situations that stress you and is a way of putting your stress into perspective. 

It is used to identify, record and resolve any parts of your life that you feel stress. 

More about that in a moment.

Here are a few reasons a journal is a great Relaxation Technique:

—> It helps you to put your thoughts into perspective

—> You may see the things that were worrying you aren’t as big as what you thought

—> It can be used in the future for you to look back on

—> It transfers the stress from your mind to another place for you to reflect on

—> You can use it as a way to identify solutions to your problems

—> It is major step to stop your stress controlling you.

As a big fan of Natural Stress Relief keeping a journal is designed for you to record the areas of your life that stress you and to establish a plan going forward. 

A few of the points you should record in your journal include: 

—> A list of situations where you feel stress in your life (eg. Moving home, person you work with, driving home in the afternoon, high demand in one area of your life, etc.).  Be as specific as possible.

—> List how you handle the stressful situation/s

—> Evaluate whether these responses are healthy, unhealthy, appropriate or inappropriate.

—> List plan of resolution.  You would normally find this by exploring different Stress Management Techniques or Relaxation Techniques.

Used in combination with a Stress Relief CD and other Stress Relief Techniques  can give great results.  For instance after you listen to the Stress Relief CD or learn a new Stress Relief Technique you can record your thoughts in your journal.  Remember, it’s your own personal space so keep it in a safe place.  Finally, be honest with yourself and it can become useful to overcoming the different areas of your life you experience stress.

Is your child stressed out? Some people think only adults experience stress, but it affects our children too. Helping your child to get through the tough times is easier when you have some targeted stress management tips to fall back on.

We often view our kids as happy-go-lucky beings without a care. But children can also experience stress with no idea of how to get immediate stress relief . Not only do they get anxious about things in their own young world– school, friends, peer pressure–but they also can be deeply affected by outside factors such as war, natural disasters and other unsettling world events.

In fact, the list of contributors to childhood stress can be quite long. Many stressors are the result of family problems, like divorce, a death or a parent's job loss but there are also less obvious triggers such as moving to a new city or the birth of a new sibling.

More on 5 Easy Stress Management Tips for Children

Don’t you hate those days where you feel like everything is totally out of control? You’ve over committed yourself and you’re wondering how you can squeeze everything into 24 hours.

It can feel really stressful especially if you flying by the seat of your pants. But you know, you don’t have to feel like you’re about to have an anxiety panic attack if you use a little effective time management.

Effective time management is a type of stress management technique that can help you to prioritize and schedule your day to get the most out of it. I would even go so far to say a lot of work related stress or stress at work could be totally avoided if you used time management to plan your day a little more effectively.

7 benefits of Effective Time Management:

—> You can prioritize your day

—> It will help you to remember what needs to get done

—> Reduce Frustration

—> Experience a sense of achievement

—> Get more quality time

—> Improve your focus

—> Stress Relief

But it does take discipline and you’ll find by using effective time management will assist in identifying the tasks you perform every day that aren’t really a priority. Overall, I would rate effective time management as one of the great Stress Relaxation Techniques where you can experience a more balanced day and achieve much, much more.

Easy Stress Management for Couples 

Imagine how your life might be if you knew how to finally stop the stress in relationships that saps your strength, drains your energy and ruins your productivity! 

Until you have released the need for judgment, you will always have it reflected back to you in your relationships. This is one of the main causes of stress. All too often we assume that we know what others mean by what they say or do without bothering to gain a clear understanding of what’s really going on. Inevitably this leads to a breakdown in communication and conflict.  

Stress management techniques for relationships 

The biggest secret to stress free relationships is to master the skill of being agreeable! If you think about it just for a moment this makes a lot of sense. How did you feel the last time someone disagreed with what you though, said or did?  

Did you thank them, give them a big hug and then ask for more disapproval? Probably not! The bottom line is that people don’t like being disagreed with. This is what leads to arguments and conflict.  

You have a choice every time you relate with another person. You can either be agreeable in nature or you can be disagreeable. The first choice will cause people to be more relaxed and enjoy your company. The second creates stress and frustration.  

It costs nothing to agree with someone else’s point of view even if you think it’s ridiculous. Who are we to judge how another person views their life and the world around them. Conflict always arises from disagreement’s which then leads to power struggles.  

This means that either one or all parties are trying to prove that they are right and someone else is wrong. This is a no win scenario because if one person is made wrong, then the outcome is tension and resentment.  

So what do you do if you disagree with what someone is saying? Ask if it’s ok to share your opinion. If the answer is no then to keep your relationships stress free keep your mouth shut. Changes topics if you need to or go do something fun together but let it go and move on.  

The next secret to effective stress management in relationships is to master the skill of understanding. 

The key here is to learn to be a good listener. Can you remember a time recently when you were talking with someone and they either interrupted you before you finished talking and started talking about themselves or completely ignored what you said and talked about something totally unrelated?  

I know that’s happened to me thousands of times. Well guess what, if you didn’t like it I can guarantee you that others won’t like it if you do it to them. 

By listening attentively to what others say and not interrupting you will prevent the possibility of causing stress and tension in your relationships because the people you are communicating with will feel seen and heard.  

This builds trust and respect which are two of the most important ingredients of a happy, healthy and productive relationship.  

Here are 4 stress management tips to master the skill of understanding: 

1.       Don’t interrupt unless you have something urgent to attend to. Then excuse yourself politely and make a time to meet with them that you can give your undivided attention. 

2.       Look them in the eye and keep your body language open 

3.       Only ask questions that are relevant to the topic. This lets the person who is talking know that you are really listening to them. 

4.       Never assume you know what someone means, always ask for clarity before sharing you’re opinion. Don’t be afraid to keep asking questions until you are 100% sure about what is being said.  

The best time to seek to be understood is only after you have taken the time to first understand them. Then they are more receptive to what you have to say.  

This skill is one of the most important in building good bonds between people that are stress free. There is nothing more powerful than letting others know that they matter.  

Happy, healthy and stress free relationships are no accident they are skillfully developed over time by people who care about people.  

These stress management tips will only work if you apply them. The more you apply them, the less stress you’ll have in relationships. I know this for a fact because they have been working for me for more than 15 years. 

To Your Great Life and Health,

There are many wives tails and few of them generally show a grain of truth.  So, is the wives tail true about an apple a day, and can an apple a day reduce stress? 

Well, an apple a day is an indirect stress relief technique.  A fresh apple actually contains phenolic phytochemicals which reduced the affects of stress in the body.  But realistically you need to do more than just eat an apple a day to experience true relaxation. A really good stress management technique is in your daily eating habits.  You see, when it comes to a healthy, happy stress free body, 5 serves of fruit or veg everyday is a right up there with exercise.

But what are the benefits?  When it comes to controlling your stress relief it’s important to have as many factors on your side as possible.  After all if you don’t feed your body the right way it can’t perform to its best.  Athletes are aware of this, and this is why diet plays such a big part in relaxation techniques for athletes.

If you are stressed and you’re thinking of the best relaxation techniques, maybe the first step should be to look at you’re eating.  Are you making it easy for your body to relax?  One of the greatest stress management skills I learned was to feed the right stuff into my body from the very beginning.  Feed yourself the right stuff, combined with effective stress management activities and will permanently eliminate your Stress Monster.

Finding the right Stress Management Technique it’s all in the mindset.  What do I mean when I say mindset?  Let me explain.  If you take on a new task you’ve never done before and you don’t really think it will work, how do you approach it?  Do you run in arms open expecting great things, or do you hold back a bit expecting it to fail.  The way you look at or approach a task is in your mindset.  If you expect something to fail usually you will be rewarded with … failure.  But of course you knew it would fail, Right? 

This is the same with Stress Management.  If your try Stress Management Activities and you think they suck even before you do them, then you’ll more than likely confirm they suck without really giving them a go. 

Keep an open mind.  You never know what Stress Management Tips could work.  It could be the difference to an excellent result where you feel complete Stress Relief, or feeling even more stressed and out of control.

Many people that experience stress everyday are really unsure how to handle it. One of the secrets to handling stress is through understanding what stress is and how you are experiencing it.

By reading Stress Management Articles you will begin to gain an insight on stress and may even discover a few Stress Management Activities. Quite a few Stress Management Techniques are readily available if you are prepared to put in the necessary work to understanding your own unique situation. In reality, Stress Management skills are learnt over time and once applied make a massive difference on your out look to life and relaxation. One of the key ways I began to understand Stress Management was by reading books, articles and trying what they suggested. The main Stress Management Technique I use is focussed breathing, where you focus on a point and control the speed and depth of your breathing. I am aware a lot of other people have also had success with this method. Overall, look for many different types of Stress Management Tips and find the one that works best for you.