Stress is a response produced by your body when you are subjected to various types of demand, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. Contrary to what most people believe, stress is not associated with the negative only since excessive positive emotions can result in stress as well. 

On the positive side, these chemicals can be utilized to produce more energy or added strength. This is helpful when the cause of your stress is something physical. But when you are dealing with emotional stress, it can cause a negative effect on your body since there is no outlet for releasing that extra boost of energy and strength. 

Therefore, stress results in various types of emotional or physical responses because each individual’s body responds differently to the stimulus. 

Types and Causes of Stress

Whether you admit it or not, stress is a part of everyday life. Whether you are at school, at the office, or just about anywhere you are forced to deal with people and the environment. Hence, the type of stress is closely associated with its cause. 

And because your physical body is closely connected to your emotional and mental state, you will notice some connection to their effects when you begin to experience stress. This is also the reason why it is important to combat the cause of stress since it affects several vital aspects of your body in order to function. 

Here are some of the most common sources of stress that must be dealt with on an everyday basis.

Internal Stress

There are times when you constantly worry about certain events without having enough control to determine its outcome. Internal stress is also one of those kinds of stress that needs to be addressed quickly. Most of the source of stress is rooted in the person’s mind, which makes it difficult to manage and would entail more work to get rid of. 

Oftentimes, people suffering from internal stress subconsciously put themselves in stressful situations or feel stressed out about things that aren’t stressful to begin with. 

Survival Stress

This type of stress deals with the danger, mostly physical, that an individual is subjected to. It can be prompted by an attack made by either human or animal that could potentially hurt you in the process. Therefore, your body releases this burst of energy that you need to utilize to respond quickly about the situation at hand whether to confront it or escape from it. 

Environmental Stress

This type of stress is your body’s way of responding to changes or activities in your environment that could produce stress, such as extreme levels of noise or pressure from work. As compared to the other types of stress already mentioned above, this one is a lot easier to deal with. The best way to get started combating this stress type is to determine the source. Once you have identified the source of environmental stress, find a way to avoid them. 

Stress Due To Work and Fatigue

Another common type of stress and probably the most prevalent. This one though does not happen in an instant, but rather builds up over time. When you are spending too much time working or forced to deal with excessive amounts of work, then it can take its toll on your body. 

To deal with work stress, you need to make sure you have enough rest and relaxation in between so your body can recover from the tremendous amount of work. 

I used to be all about the hustle. Working long hours and making sure that I was on top
of everything.

Then I was all about seminars, workshops and retreats. Always doing something to keep myself busy and growing.

And yes, I got results. Then, I started to meditate and something I never expected happened.

I found the missing piece to the puzzle of my life and it was called inner peace and happiness. Not from what I was doing but from what I was being.

I see this a lot in the people. They may have an awesome work ethic and be highly productive in their work and lives and yet internally they are filled with tension.

I saw this in my parents and the tension ended up destroying my father. I saw this in my mother and she had a nervous breakdown.

It wasn’t until I found the opposite of this in myself that life started to make sense. It wasn’t all about the hustle. It wasn’t all about the work, money or things.

It was about balance or as it’s also known these days – alignment.

To give we must first be open to receive whether that’s love, time, energy, or anything at all.

And receiving is an art all on it’s own as that is not what we are taught in school or even at home.

Meditation has taught me to be open to receive. It has also taught me to relax and to have a place inside me where not even my thoughts or emotions could follow.

It opened the door for me to receive my purpose and experience happiness as a way of life.

Unresolved tension in our bodies is the biggest killer on our planet right now. It destroys your health. It destroys your energy. It destroys your flow. It destroys your wealth and it destroys your love.

Yes, we will all eventually leave this planet but until that time wouldn’t it make sense that we make it a priority to enjoy the journey of life as much as we can? 

For others,it may be that they do their best to push it aside, hoping or praying that by some miracle that their life will one day be easier. Whatever the case is for you I want to assure you that there are some very fast and easy ways to get rid of stress.

Different Ways To Ease Stress

Do you believe that anyone in their right mind would want to live a stressful life? Obviously, for any intelligent human being the answer would of course be no. However, after years of teaching, counselling and coaching people to change their lives for the better I noticed a common trait.

The trait is that many people, despite what they tell themselves, are addicted to stress. So what do I mean by that? Being addicted to stress means that they get a benefit from it in some way, even if the benefit is not necessarily good for them.

These benefits can range from they need a certain amount of stress to stay motivated and get things done to giving them something to complain about to anyone and everyone that’ll listen. Of course, these are just a couple to examples out of hundreds, but you get the picture.

When you are looking to find ways to ways to reduce stress in your life you might firstly ask yourself this question, “Am I ready to have less stress and more calm in my life?” Then, before you answer the question, take a moment to write down what benefits you are currently getting from stress in your life.

Once you’ve answered the question and you have made the decision to have less stress in your life, and you’re ready to take immediate action to make it happen, then check out the video below for the top four ways to ease stress in just minutes a day.

Top  4 Natural Ways To Overcome Stress Video

Well, how did you do? Did the video help you find an effective strategy that you can start to use today to reduce the levels of stress in your personal or business life? Stress really can take a strangle-hold of your life if you leave it unattended, which is why I made sure to give you the very best ways to have less stress in your life.

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Michael Atma’s Blog
Skype: michaelatma
Email: Michael@MichaelAtma.com

“I Teach You how to live a Happier, Healthier and More Fulfilling Life in Just 5 Minutes a Day!”

PS: If You Want To Unleash Your True Potential For Health, Happiness and Fulfillment (in just 5 minutes a day), This is the Book you Should Get – Master Your Mindspace

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That’s when I decided that it was time to start decluttering my life and it would begin with my office. Rather than try and do it all at once, which would have been a huge job, I chose to do 1 area of my office per day for a week.

I started with my office desk and draws on day one. I had about 200 business cards shoved in a draw, bit’s of paper, receipts and all sorts of odds and ends that did nothing but take up space and make it impossible to find anything when I went looking for it. Not to mention the top of my desk looked like a tornado had hit it.

By the end of the day, my drawers were mostly empty, the business cards were filed away, the receipts were put into a tax folder and the only items left on or in my desk were ones I use on a daily basis. Just clearing out doing this part of my office already made me feel like I could breathe easier.

The next part of my office I decided to tackled was my filing cabinet. It took a few hours but by the time I had finished I cleared out  what seemed like a truck load of old documents that were no longer needed. This was starting to get to be fun.

From there I went through my bookcase which was overflowing with all sorts of books and folders. When I was done with it there were about one hundred less books on the shelves and I threw out about half of the folders that i no longer used or needed.

I also have a cupboard in my office that was packed with odds and ends. This mainly comprised of electrical gadgets and things I’d thrown in there for storage. This took ages to clean out but by the time I had finished, it was neat, tidy and 50% emptier.

Lastly I got rid of anything that was sitting on or under any of my office coffee table, or sitting or standing on the carpet on the floor.

The Opposite Of Clutter Is Space

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because decluttering any area of your life is always a great idea. It literally gives you more room to breathe, not to mention the space to think, move and plan more freely.

The best example of this is when you are feeling pressured and you feel like you have no space in your head to even think, let alone deal with any feelings of overwhelm. By getting rid of physical clutter it helps you create more physical space around you and consequently you will feel more relaxed on the inside.

Think about the amount of time that can be wasted looking for things you can’t find because of your desk, cupboards, office, or home being a mess. Or the stress that happens when you can’t even think straight because your head is cluttered with unresolved issues or things you are worried about.

These things are all connected. When you declutter one part of your life it has a positive impact on the rest. Don’t just take my word for it, try it yourself. Pick one part of your life, or one area of your home to get rid of clutter and then get started on it immediately. I guarantee you’ll be able to breathe much easier and relax much deeper once you have made more space in your head or life.

In another study, researchers found that more than 50 percent of employees would be willing to take a day off work without pay in an effort to feel less stressed and have more time with their families.

Further studies have found that the majority of stress that people experience at work is directly related to work issues such as time management, deadlines, and dealing with difficult co-workers. Fortunately, there are action steps that you can take on a daily basis to eliminate these stresses.

8 Tips For Relieving Work Related Stress.

Here are some of the fastest and easiest ways to get rid of excess stress and tension in the workplace.

1. Watch what You Eat.

Avoid eating unhealthy snacks. Eating healthy food can increase your energy. Reduce Your Caffeine Intake.  Drinking lots of coffee and sodas can increase your stress levels. If you can’t cut out caffeine beverages completely, try to alternate your caffeine intake with healthier beverages or snacks.

2. Exercise Regularly.

Exercise is a great way to relieve stress, so try to take a brisk 10-minute walk during the day, even if it means a walk around the office or building. Walking will help to get your blood moving and give you a mental break from your tasks.

3. Stretch Your Body.

Stretching helps to relieve stiff muscles, which can hold tension and make you feel more stressed.

4. Plan Ahead.

Getting up 15 minutes earlier, and packing lunches or laying out clothes the night before, can help create a routine and get you organized.

5. Breathe Deeply.

When we are stressed, we have a tendency to take shallow breaths, which can result in feeling more tension. Start by inhaling deeply through the nose for a count of 4, and then exhaling slowly for a count of 8. This helps to release toxins through your breath. Concentrate on your counting and breath.

6. Get a Good Nights Sleep.

Be sure you are getting enough sleep at night. Not feeling rested can add to your stress level and make you feel more overwhelmed. If you have been experiencing recurring sleepless nights, consult your physician for guidance.

7. Do Things You Enjoy.

Try to do something you love every day to give yourself something to look forward to. Most stress arises due to feelings of life being out of control. By taking time to get yourself organized, and taking care of yourself, you can begin to gain control and ensure that your workday is as relaxed as possible.

8. Eliminate Time-Wasters.

Make a list of all the things that currently waste your time and reduce your productivity. These can include things like checking your emails, interruptions at your desk, talking too long on the phone, attending meetings, or on a personal level watching TV, getting up late and not prioritizing your day. Then next to each time-waster write down what you can do to change that. Then put your plan into action today!

By following these 8 simple ways to reduce or eliminate stress from your life you will rapidly discover you have more time, energy and calmness to focus on those things that matter most in your life.

While there are many stress management techniques that claim to reduce the stress of the frustrating pressures you face at work or in life, most only touch the surface. The secret is to not only treat the symptoms of stress but to eliminate the cause.

There are some great stress management skills that are easy to learn and simple to use that will help you to get rid of what causes stress in your life.

A Question of Stress Management

Here’s a good question for you: How do you know if you’re really happy? Is happiness something that you choose or is it a destination you’re waiting to arrive at? If it is something that can only happen when you achieve a particular goal then you’re making your life harder than it needs to be.

While setting goals are essential to improving the quality of your life, they have nothing to do with happiness. You see, happiness is a way of life. It is an emotional state that you have the power to choose anytime and anywhere you like no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.

Granted there are going to be times when ever part of your mind and body is screaming at you that you’ll never find happiness, peace or joy in your life again. I know because I’ve been in that place many times in the past. During these times it often feels like no amount of stress management is ever going to work.

The great news is that if a hard headed self-confessed workaholic like me can learn stress management skills that helped me to choose more happiness, health and calmness in my life, I’m pretty sure you can too!

While I’ve spent years studying stress management techniques, reading stress management articles and undertaking stress management activities to learn how to eliminate the causes of stress it really boils down to a two step process that anyone can follow.

Step 1 – The ABC of Stress Management 

Before you can eliminate the cause of stress you must first of all manage your daily stressors. Your body and feelings are the first place to check-in with to achieve this. The moment any excess pressure happens in your life your body will almost tense up, your breathing will be shallower and you become more emotionally reactive.

3 simple secrets to counteract these symptoms and gain strong stress management skills.

A – Acknowledge what you ARE feeling!

By recognizing what you are feeling and allowing it to be there without judgment is the first step to letting it go. If you’re feeling frustrated, upset, angry or hurt then just say to yourself, “I’m OK, I’m just feeling frustrated, etc”.

B- Breathe!

Take several slow, deep breaths right down into your belly if you can, the slower the better. This helps to clear your mind and relax your body. Imagine with each breath out that you are releasing tension from your body. Often times just doing this is enough to feel calmer and more in control.

C- Choose your response.

Stressful situations often cause us to say or do things we later regret. By doing part A&B you’ll have more control over what you say and how you act no matter what circumstance you are in. If it is another person that is pushing your buttons it is even more important to be in control of your responses. You can either respond to the world around you with power or react and give your power away. There is not other choice.

Step  2 – How to Eliminate the Causes of Stress

This is all about changing habits. You may have heard the saying you can change your life by changing your habits. Well, guess what? It’s absolutely true.

All the stress management tips in the world are useless if you don’t apply them. The fact is that everyone has stressful events happen in their life which they don’t have control over. What then makes the difference between 2 people who have the same stressful situations happening but only 1 of them stay calm and shakes it off.

The difference is in how you handle it. That’s why it’s important to find at least 1 stress management technique that works for you and then use it constantly. The really good ones will help you build new habits that promote increased calmness, happiness and peace of mind.

There are many stress management techniques you can learn that will do this for you. The one that I have shared above is one of the best. All it takes is practice. The more you use it, the easier it gets until eventually you will find that you will attract less and less into your life to get stressed out about.

Why? Because that’s the way life works. What you put out -always comes back.

It takes 21 days to break old habits that keep stress hanging around and make new habits that attract more happiness and peace of mind. If you start using a stress management technique today in just think in three weeks you can have a whole new life.

Make no mistake, stress is a killer. It’s a killer of time, productivity, energy, health, relationships, motivation, happiness and just about everything we love and cherish about our lives.

For many people stress creeps up on them like a burglar in the night only to discover all too late that they have been robbed. Whereas others feel like their are constantly drowning in it, with no end in site. And for many the only relief they get from it is when they pass out of a night from the exhaustion of the day’s struggles.

What is the main cause of stress?

I had to learn about stress because at one point it was ruling my life. I lost my job, ran out of money and lived in a state of anxiety daily not knowing how I would eat the next day, or where I would be sleeping. This lasted for a very long 6 months during which time I lost all my self confidence and happy-go-lucky nature.

I share this with you so you get an idea that I have first hand insight into the workings of stress. Since that time I have come to understand it a lot better, and more importantly what I can do to manage it more effectively.

What I discovered is that the main cause of stress is clutter. This may sound a little strange but let me explain.  Every single thing that puts a demand on your time, energy, or clutters your environment takes up space either mentally, emotionally or physically. In other words they take up space either within us or around us. This is what I call clutter.

When your mind is cluttered with too many tasks on your to-do list, that’s when you start to feel mentally stressed out. It gets harder to focus and be productive, let alone having clarity about what needs to get done. This can then result in feeling overwhelmed, which of course affects your energy levels and emotions in a negative way.

The same applies to if you have too many emails sitting in your inbox, or your work desk is cluttered, or your home, garage, car, or wallet is filled with stuff you don’t want, need or care about. It all piles up energetically to give you less space to move or breathe freely in your life.

When we allow clutter to build up within and around us, then it’s next to impossible to have peace of mind or calmness.

How to get rid of clutter.

The first thing to accept is that you are the only one that can clear out clutter from your life. And whether you like it or not, you are also the main cause of most of the anxiety, pressure and hurriedness you experience every day.

Yes, there are circumstances that make things harder for us, but even so we have total control over how we handle stress and whether it continues to pile up or we deal with it.

For me, this was the pivotal point where the penny dropped and I had my ‘aha’ moment. Once I really got that I was responsible for both the level of stress in my life and how I dealt with it, then it made it start taking back control.

Mind you, I had to learn a few things about how my my mind and body worked before I began to handle stress better. This turned out to be one of the best investments in time and money I ever made.

The strategy’s and skills I learned became ingrained in every thought and action that I took. So much so that I was able to then pass on my success to others so they could also get the same benefits I experienced form a virtually stress free and uncluttered life.

Ask yourself this question, aren’t you dealt enough stress in life without having to heap more of it on yourself?  What if many of your  daily frenzied activities, deadlines and crises really were unnecessary, avoidable or could be handled in a way that didn’t create undue stress for you?

It’s time to stop the insanity and take back control of your life. Starting today. Starting now.

How to take back control of your life

Holding onto things that you no longer love or care about just takes up space and gathers dust. One of the simplest ways to breathe easier and feel like you’ve got more room to relax in is to give away, or throw out everything that you no longer value.

Here’s a good rule of thumb.  Anything that you haven’t used in the last 12 months needs to go. Clothes, shoes, books, furniture, stored items, knick knacks, jewelry, old food packets or anything at all that you no longer use or need.

Places to look include your home and in all the rooms.  The cupboards, the garage, old boxes, your car, office, shed, wallet, purse, handbag, just to name a few.

Put aside a weekend to go through your entire house and sort out what you do and don’t need. You’ll feel enormously relieved for months and years to follow. By clearing out clutter from all your physical spaces you will create space inside you as well.

Clearing out clutter from your living and working spaces will give you a renewed sense of space and freedom. This in turn will help you to feel more relaxed on the inside and better equipped to handle the challenges of daily life.

Financial pressure is one of the biggest killers for your health, happiness, relationships and peace of mind. So just what can you do to avoid this in your life or change it if it’s happening to you right now?

Anyone that has ever experienced money stress knows that worry and anxiety can quickly overrun your life if it isn’t dealt with quickly and effectively.

When finances become strained it puts tremendous strain on your health, happiness relationship and peace of mind. In fact, it’s one of the biggest reasons that couples get divorced today.

Taking Control Of Your Financial Destiny

Here are some handy tips to keep your cash flow high, keep your life in balance and enjoy long-term stress relief from financial pressure.

Spend Less Money Than You Make

If you make $1000 per week then learn to live off $700 (70%) and save the rest. When you have saved enough then invest your savings in something that will help you build long term wealth (i.e. property).

Get Out of Debt

Do everything you can to not get into consumer debt. If you can’t afford to pay cash for something you want, then save up for it until you can buy it outright. You’d be amazed how little money you can get by with if you stay out of debt.

Stick to a Budget

Do up a budget so that you know exactly how much money you need each week to get by on and then stick to it like glue. If you must treat yourself to items that you really don’t need then make sure you pay cash for them. Otherwise forget about it until you can afford to buy it. This includes treats and luxury items.

See a Financial Adviser

If you don’t have a financial plan for the future then you’re doing yourself and your family a great disservice. Wealth rarely happens overnight. Without a plan your finances are left to the fate of the Gods and your spending habits. Who knows where that will get you?

Increase Your Financial Knowledge

It’s like anything in life if you want to improve you have to learn new skills and then practise them. While it’s good to seek professional advice about finances it’s even better to learn how to do it yourself.

There’s a ton of books available written by people who have already mastered financial success. The more you learn the less anyone can cheat you from your hard earned cash.

Live a Life of Prosperous Thinking

You either think in terms of lack or prosperity. Whichever you give the greater focus to is what you will attract into your life. Catch your limited or negative thoughts about money and then replace them with thoughts of abundance.

Here’s an affirmation that helped me through some tough financial times and took me from earning $20 per hour to $200 per hour in just 6 months; “I love money, money loves me and I am a money magnet!”

Use this affirmation or come up with one of your own and repeat it to yourself over and over again in your head for 5 minutes at a time, twice a day. This is how you start to build a prosperity consciousness.

Time, Money and Stress Relief 

One of the most valuable commodities you have is time. Some people have plenty of time and little or no money to enjoy their life with, while others have tons of money and little or no time. Either way it’s not ideal.

The real secret to living a stress free is not just about having enough money so you don’t have to worry so much about it… it’s to learn how to handle stress better. Money is one of those things that comes and goes in our lives. Sometimes we have more, sometimes less.

What we can control though is how we deal with any stressful event or situation that you find yourself in. If you focus on ways to reduce the amount of worry or anxiety that you have in your life, then you are on the path to a happier and healthier future.

Wealth may or may not happen for you in this lifetime, but by learning how to handle stress and becoming more resilient at bouncing back from setbacks you will find that you will become a stronger and more confident person.

And if there’s one thing I know for sure about wealth, it takes confidence and belief in yourself to make it happen.