by Penny S. Vincent

Created on: March 06, 2008   Last Updated: September 12, 2009

Stress is a natural part of life, and has been around for just as long as humankind has been. After all, stress is defined as being something that causes strain, or a strain felt by somebody (Encarta dictionary). However, if not coped with in a good way, stress can literally kill a person. The top fifteen causes of death in the United States are from chronic stress-related illnesses (American Heart Association, 2006).

Moreover, over ninety per cent of all backaches and body pain is derived from emotional stress rather than any physical cause (Wellness Skills, INC. Student Manual, 1993). Therefore, coping with stress becomes an absolute necessity. Although everyone deals with stress, not everyone does it in a constructive way. However, minimizing stress can be easy to do.

Nevertheless, before a person can minimize stress, he or she must be aware of what causes it. People are mostly conscious of tensions caused by arguments, exhaustion, financial burdens, personal relationships, business relationships, and problems at work, or school, or home. Most people are highly aware of how negative situations cause them stress.

However, most are not aware of the stressful effect happier events have, such as weddings, birthdays, vacations, and holiday celebrations. Additionally, the majority of today's population are ignorant when it comes to the stress levels caused by lighting, specific sounds, other people's energy fields, air pollution, and noise pollution.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways to reduce each and every stress factor. No one needs to turn to drinking, drugs, suicide, or any other harmful behavior as a way of diminishing the affects of stress. Everywhere you search, you will find someone sharing information on the topic. Abundant information exists in every visual and audio form imaginable, both online and off-line.

People might suggest such things as taking a walk, exercising, writing in a journal, or getting a massage. Others might suggest soaking in a warm bath, using aromatherapy, listening to music, drawing a picture, or participating in some type of sport or other physical activity. Still others may suggest more unorthodox methods, such as using visualization, meditation, stones, feathers, and drumming. These are all excellent methods of stress release.

Over a hundred inexpensive techniques for stress release exist. However, each being is unique and not every method works for every person. Therefore, what works well depends on the individual. Any

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