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One of the best ways to relieve stress is to allow your body to get enough sleep. Unfortunately this is not always easy. If you are worrying about things, then your ability to sleep for eight hours at night is diminished.

Professionals refer to finding ways to deal with your stress as coping strategies. Again, these strategies are different for everyone and you have to find a method that works for you.

Below you will find some common coping strategies.

Writing - keeping a journal about the things that are bothering you can be extremely helpful and therapeutic. It often helps to allow your emotions to spill out onto paper. Sometimes you may not even be aware of how strong your feelings are about certain things. Give yourself 10 to 15 minutes each to record your feelings.

Letting Your Feelings Show - in today's world it can be hard to let your true feelings show. Some people could poke fun at you or just not understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately we have been taught how to bottle up and hide our feelings. How many times have you been told to just put on a brave face and get on with life?

Try talking with a good friend, family member, church member or even a therapist. You may just need to let your anger out, or you may just need to have a good cry on someone's shoulder, without feeling embarrassed or ashamed.

Activities - making time for you is important and a good way to do this is to find an activity you enjoy. This could be a sport, a hobby or just taking time to go out and enjoy your garden. Volunteer work has been shown to be really helpful for people who are feeling stressed. You may want to volunteer at a food kitchen, children's group or even at your local pet shelter. Helping others can really help to lift your spirits.

Let the Past Go - sometimes stress is caused by not allowing past events to stay in the past. What has happened has happened and you cannot go back and change things. For good or bad you must learn to leave those things behind and look forward to the future. Doing things like yoga or tai chi and meditating can help you focus on the present instead of the past.

Exercise - this is a wonderful way to reduce the amount of stress in your life. You may enjoy walking, swimming, cycling or even dancing. Any activity that gets you away from your current life is beneficial. Spending time out in your garden is another good stress reliever.

In this category we want to include deep breathing exercises as well. Learning how to breathe properly can help you reduce the stress in your muscles and your body. Plus when you know how to breathe correctly you can use these techniques any time you are in a stressful situation.

Relaxation - learning how to relax is vital for anyone dealing with stress. This can be achieved by taking a hot bath, going for a massage or having a sauna. Other relaxation techniques include listening to soothing music and inspirational tapes.

Nutrition - eating a well balanced and healthy diet is key to helping keep stress at bay. You should focus on eating a diet that includes lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean protein and low fat dairy items. Avoid things that contain a ton of sugar such as soft drinks, cookies and fast foods, as these can cause your blood sugar levels to spike. In turn this can mess up your emotions where one minute you are feeling great and the next you are tired and sluggish.

Suggested Exercises

Select two methods from above that you could see yourself using as a way to help reduce your stress. Commit yourself to using them by using a positive statement.

1.1 will...

2.1 will...

Learning to Avoid Stress

One way to learn how to deal with stress is learning how to avoid it in the first place. It is practically impossible to avoid stress these days. You have to deal with stress at work, at home and in pretty much every aspect of your life.

Learning how to think in a more positive way can be a huge help when it comes to managing stress. You want to focus on how to think on the bright side of things, as opposed to always looking at the negative side.

Another key to avoiding stress is to look at how you manage your time. It can be helpful to prioritize the things you do on a regular basis. You may find that there are things which you can leave to the weekend or even delegate to another family member.

Getting all family members involved in chores and tasks around the house can help lessen the stress on one or both parents. Even young children can be assigned simple chores, which will help to boost their self-esteem. Get your children to help with preparing dinner and setting the table, cleaning their rooms and even helping by sorting out their laundry.

If your family schedule is busy and overwhelming print out a family calendar and color code it according to tasks and appointments. Look for ways that you can car pool with other parents to help take your kids back and forth to activities and events.

By planning out your schedule you can discover things that may be missing. Did you pencil in a family vacation or schedule family time on the weekend? If not, then look for reasons why not and then evaluate what you are doing by priority. Is it more important to spend Sunday's with your family instead of going out with the guys or cleaning your car that day?

Finding a balance in not just your personal life but your family life is important. Too many parents tend to neglect themselves and put every ounce of energy they have into their children. Then they wonder why they start to feel run down and worn out all the time.

If you really are running on a super tight schedule then ask other family members for help. Could one of the grandparents come and stay with the kids while you and your spouse go out together? Or is it really necessary for your children to be involved in so many after school activities? It is possible to find a balance in your life, you just need to be prepared to work at finding it.