8 Recommended Stress Relievers

Stress relief is fast becoming the most sought after topic on the internet. You get stressed everywhere, at work? Yes, At school? Of course, While driving? When in a meeting? In the kitchen? It is evident, We blame on it our hectic lifestyle and mismanaged time schedules, but I say let's put the blame game apart and start managing stress now with these 10 strongly recommended and healthy stress relievers.
Without further ado, Let's cut to the chase!

1. Breathing Exercises for Immediate Stress Relief - Deep breathing is the easiest and safest stress reliver you can ever get. Practise pranayama everyday and you'll see a dramatic change in yourself. What it does is, makes your brain more active, quietens your mind by delivering more oxygen to your mind, it's that simple. You can do it anywhere and at anytime you want.
2. Meditation is the second best stress reliever - Why? It is the next step of deep breathing; In the post I've linked to above, I clearly mentioned pranayama with meditation. So, it is important that you build on your deep breathing exercises and take it a step forward into meditation. Here's more on mantra meditation, another type of meditation that is different from deep breathing exercises.
3. Creative Visualisation for soothing stress relief - You are left with a lot of work to do and you are getting stressed in geometric proportions? What to do? Imagine that you have completed all the work, on time to be particular, and now imagine the compliments you get from your boss, the satisfaction of completing your work on time and how you can spend some quality time with your family or friends. Don't let them thoughts wander off, keep a check and get back to work soon. Inevitably your mind becomes more active and healthier.
4. Peaceful or Guided Imagery - Take your mind away from the work, to some peaceful place; the himalayas, your favorite holiday spot, open grasslands etc. You can also help yourself with some peaceful music, I suggest you try natural sounds like the sound of the ocean, rustling of leaves, the sound of the gentle breeze or anything of that sort.
5. Exercise too is a stress reliever - Not a workout, don't even think of it. Mild exercise can actually give you stress relief. Walking, jogging and mild weight lifting distract you from stressful situations and help you beat stress. If you have any more tips here, feel free to suggest them to me.
6. Muscle Relaxation for Stress relief - Tensing or contracting all muscles in the body and relaxating them at once makes you feel less tensed and gives relaxation within a few minutes. Most importantly, it stimulates the release of endorphins, the hormones that make you feel good and happy.
7. Sex relieves stress - Have you ever thought of it? You're all weary and stressed up at the end of day and sex is probably the strongest stress reliever you can get. Sadly, there is a horrible misconception that sex when stressed is bad!
8. Music and Yoga - We all know how music can be really helpful when stressed, it just lifts your spirits from nowhere and you feel charged up once again. But did you know? Different situations demand different types of music, I suggest you read it up here. Yoga deals with the same thing, deep breathing exercises, pranayama, meditation and imagery. I strongly suggest yoga because it is the most healthiest stress reliever and has been doing so since 5000 years!

Want to share more? Talk about your personal experiences? I'll always be here to talk to you, post your opinions in the comments section below.