Left unchecked, high levels of stress can soon lead to an episode of anxiety or depression. Help is at hand with these five simple, effective and wholly natural techniques for managing stress quickly and effectively.

If you're feeling under stress, here is a quick, easy technique you can use anywhere at anytime to help you find relief. It's called "square breathing" and it works like this: First, slowly inhale as deeply as you can for a count of 5 seconds. Then hold it for five seconds, then exhale slowly for 5 seconds. Pause for 5 seconds and then repeat four times.

Sometimes, life can be very difficult to cope with because you are dealing with a multitude of major events. For example, a relationship breakdown can trigger a number of events: the split itself, moving house, finances, social life and so on. During such trying times, the plate is already full and it's important to not pile the plate higher by making other major, life-altering decisions. Postpone changes at work, relationship commitments, house moves etc. until the plate is less full and control has been regained.

A major trigger for stress in many people occurs when they are facing a change or even a number of changes to their lives. Change is a constant in life and refusing to accept change can trigger the fear response and this causes stress levels to rocket. A crucial skill in managing stress effectively is being able to deal with change whenever it occurs. So, when you are faced with a change, try to find the positives associated with it and embrace change instead of resisting it. Every change presents an opportunity for you to grow and there are always positives to find in even the most trying of circumstances. Change by itself doesn't cause stress, what causes stress is more to do with how you react to change and if you react in a frightful, negative way, you will trigger stress and cause yourself a great deal of harm.

Use mild language to describe how you feel. Using strong, powerful words can pour oil on the fire when it comes to stress. They intensify your feelings and increase your stress levels. So here are three examples of substituting powerful words with milder ones you can use instantly. You can then generate your own substitute words to lower the intensity and reduce stress. Instead of using the word "hate" as in "I hate this job!" use "I dislike this job." Instead of saying never, "I never get this right!" use sometimes "Sometimes I don't get this quite right." And instead of saying useless "I can't do this I'm useless!" say "I can do some things easily and some things I find more difficult." Do you see how this takes a lot of the intensity? Try it, it is a very powerful way to reduce stress.

There always seems to be an endless list of jobs that need doing: repairs around the home, paperwork, car maintenance, throwing out junk, cleaning the patio, weeding the garden - on and on and on! The more we put them off, the more the list grows and the more they contribute to your stress levels. So make a list of all of these chores and then schedule something I call a "Blitz Day". On this day, you will rise early and spend the whole day sorting out each of these jobs. Take few breaks and only have a quick bite at lunchtime and just blitz through these irritating but necessary tasks. This will get rid of them, you'll lower the stress they cause but more importantly, you'll realize just how effective and industrious you can be when you apply the full force of your will to accomplish things.

Put all 5 of these natural stress relief tips into practice and you'll soon feel your mood levels rise!

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