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Stress is something that we as human beings all have to deal with in life. Some stress in life can be good to get us motivated into completing tasks or meeting our deadlines. However, it can also cause us physical, mental, or even emotional tension in our day to day lives, and may sometimes paralyze us to the point that our normal routines become disrupted.

I was always a very stressful person. For many years, I would allow it to rule my body, mind, and spirit because I didn't know how or when to release it. My stress had become so bad that I was in pain all over my body. It radiated through every joint. I decided to see a doctor when I couldn't ignore the pain anymore. His diagnoses was Fibromyalgia. This condition can be brought on by many things like trauma due to whiplash, pregnancy, and even stress. The symptoms are vast, but the most common is wide-spread muscle pain. Most doctors, including mine, start a patient on pain relieving medication and suggest some form of a pain management program. Many of these programs suggest to reduce stress through meditation and exercise from the books and research I had come across.

My determination grew the more I read. I wanted my body and life back so I started to write down how I felt each time I started to feel stress. This helped me to decide what method of stress reduction to use given how I was feeling at the time.

A big factor of stress for me is a big factor for most of us, it was my job. I managed about thirty people while working in a customer service atmosphere. It was hard to even have time to breath at times, but I knew I had to make a conscious effort because my health was in jeopardy now. Deep breathing, I found, was a great stress reducer. It calmed me because I was able to focus on my breath to free my head enough to think clearer and relax in the given situation until I could get home to unwind in a deeper state.

Once I was home, I became plagued with the wandering mind that wouldn't let me sleep. I used to lay in bed going over my grocery list because I just couldn't sleep. Meditation, I thought, might be the way to go once my insomnia became habitual for three nights. Now, since I was a very stressful person, focusing on one thing, like a flower for instance, was unnerving when my mind began to race. It was too difficult to use my brain at that point since it was over active, so I decided to use my other senses instead. I would light a candle or burn incense on some nights and look at the flame or smoke to relax. On other nights, I'd go to my violet plants and smell them to relax. Sometimes I'd just pet my cat if I was too tired to do anything else. These simple activities became part of my routine before bed and gave me enough down time to be able to fall asleep and forget my stresses of the day.

I also tried to find some forms of exercise to help me relieve tension and stress in my body. I found that yoga and basic stretching allowed my muscles and joints to relax and release pain from the day. Five to fifteen minutes a day was all I needed to feel renewed and relieved once I learned the practice of yoga, and maintained it in my day to day life. Walking is also another great form of exercise to relieve stress because it serves two purposes. One, it is a physical activity to help your muscles, and two, it can be a mental activity since you are removing yourself from the stressful situation.

Lastly, I believe that friends and family can help relieve stress. I've always loved good food and conversation, and my family and friends can provide both in a visit.

These are the stress relievers I chose to use in my life because they don't require much time, which is scarce nowadays.

Learn more about this author, Kimberley Linstruth-Beckom.
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