If you devote a little bit of time to washing stress away, it never needs to build into something that can infringe upon your life. There are numerous ways of dealing with the everyday stresses that you can do without spending much money – in some cases they are in fact completely free – and the great thing about them is that you can fit them into your everyday routine so that they become habitual. This is obviously advantageous, because relying on one thing to cure your stress can lead to a lot of artificial pressure – which is one sure-fire recipe for lots more stress.

Think about things that help you relax. It could be something as simple as a nice, cool glass of water, or a good book – ideally not a thriller or anything where good guys chase bad guys and things blow up – but the main thing is that is something that takes you away from the things that are causing your stress. There are simple breathing exercises that you can do that really make you feel like you are breathing stress away and bringing in positive energy and relaxation.

The most important thing about an anti-stress technique or product is that it fits seamlessly into your life. If you are going to a lot of trouble or moving things around in your home life in order to chase away stress, the chances are that you will build up stress in doing so, and the frustration of that just means more anxiety.

More and more people are approaching stress with a method that has been passed down through the ages – meditation. Although the very use of the word will have people thinking about esoteric approaches with the use of joss sticks, scented candles, chanting and the like, it doesn’t have to be that way. Though those are popular ways to approach meditation, and they work for many, meditation is really about what works for you. It is, in the main, about finding some peace and quiet among all the frantic rushing and pressures of life.

Music is a good accompaniment to meditation. It has its place in any relaxing context, but as with anything else, it needs to fit in. No matter how much you might enjoy the occasional guitar solo, or the Wagnerian opening strains of a classical concerto, they can be unsuited to a relaxing situation. The best music for meditation is something light, unhurried and familiar. While some people favor ambient noise or New Age, chant-based music, it is perfectly acceptable to have something folky and acoustic if that is what works for you. Try and think of the beat of a song as being like the beat of your heart. Too fast and there’s no way you will relax. Slow and gentle and everything will seem a lot more serene.

In order to give yourself the best chance of beating stress and living a more relaxing life, you need to have a strategy that is easy to follow while being absolutely ruthless towards stress and its causes. Of course, planning is one thing that can lead to stress all too easily. Once you start to plan, you notice obstacles to your plans and before you know it, you’re back in the centre of a vicious circle. The solution to this problem is to plan with the time you know you have available. Combating stress does not need to be an expensive, time consuming process. It just needs to be suitable for you.

The most relaxing things for you will dictate how much time you need to devote and when you can take that time. If you like to read a book, for example, then you can do that in the evening after work, or even on your lunch break. Your lunch break, as a preference, should be taken off the premises because, for most of us, a major cause of stress is the pressure brought on by being at work. A change of scenery is always good in these cases – even if it just means going into a different room, leaving behind the scene of your work for a spell can see stress melt away. Just having time for yourself can make a huge difference.

As a secondary cause, stress can work on the sufferer’s physical health by affecting their sleeping patterns or their diet. If you are not getting the sleep you require, you will be a great deal more open to infections as your immune system does not get the repair it needs, that sleep allows it to get. Remember that while you sleep, your body is running repairs on the stresses and strains that it naturally sustains every day, so sleep is very important. And if you are not eating well, your body is deprived of the nutrients that fuel the body’s defence mechanisms against illness.

One way of combating stress that goes beyond the home remedies (which are still excellent) is acupuncture. An ancient Chinese form of medicine that acts on pressure points within the body by way of placing small pins into the skin at those points, acupuncture is world renowned for its stress-fighting properties and is used by a great many people. A qualified acupuncturist will be able to isolate the areas in which the stress is having the most damaging effects, and by judicious placement of the needles will be able to minimise its impact.

There are practising acupuncturists in most towns wherever you care to look these days. There are several licensed ones operating, and it is to these ones that you should go. Acupuncturists know what they are doing – its effects have been proven over hundreds of years – so if you are suffering from stress, going to an acupuncturist is a very good idea.

Ancient forms of treatment have been shown to be effective in battling stress – one of the most modern health complaints. More people than ever are going to the doctor with stress-related symptoms, and with good reason because the symptoms are often an early warning sign that the patient has a big health problem coming to them if they do not take preventative action. That action can come in a number of forms, and an increasingly popular form is that of massage. Massage itself has many forms, and a popular one of those is Indian Head Massage.

Indian Head Massage has the advantage of concentrating mainly on a specific part of the body where stress and tension tend to do their worst damage. It may well be, if you are suffering from stress, that you get headaches at times of particular tension. With Indian Head Massage, the efforts are concentrated on that area, and can make headaches disappear quickly. Neck and back pain, often partner problems to stress, are also relieved by this form of massage which also stimulates the draining of the lymph nodes – a sure-fire way to boost the immune system.

Put simply, if there is an area of the body where tension is building and stress is having an effect, a session of Indian Head Massage can make it all melt away. It is even easy for the individual to learn, so if you learn along with a friend or partner you can ensure that you always have a convenient solution to the effects of stress.

There are modern methods of addressing stress, that are clinically tested and created, which have very positive effects but can have the knock on effect of over-relaxing the patient. And if you are wondering how one can be too relaxed, then just give some thought to how you would feel if your body required twelve hours of sleep a day but you only got eight. Often the best solution for stress is a non-clinical one, and this tends to be an old, tried and trusted method that has been around for hundreds of years. Massage therapies or herbal remedies are often as successful as tablets and lotions in dealing with the problem of stress – and they are cheaper into the bargain.

One such method is Shiatsu massage. An old-fashioned Chinese style of massage, Shiatsu is based in the fingers of the masseur or masseuse. It works on some of the same principles as acupuncture – stimulating areas of the body that are considered to be blocked. The explanation for this is that practitioners of Shiatsu see stress as being down to a blockage in the flow of energy (or ki), and by stimulating the correct areas the flow can be raised back to its optimal level. This involves tapping, squeezing and rubbing the affected areas and has the effect of relaxing the subject while also releasing toxins and stimulating the circulation of blood around the body.

There is some debate over the best way to tackle stress, and almost every person you ask will have a different outlook on what this is. Even two family doctors might have wildly differing opinions on how best to deal with an individual patient complaining of stress-related symptoms. There is certainly no magic bullet that will guarantee the defeat of stress and its banishment from your life. But there are a range of non-invasive treatments that do not involve taking tablets that can have side effects almost as damaging as your symptoms. One such way is to try a few ancient styles of treatment that are helping as many today as they did years ago.

The Japanese practice of Reiki is ever more in use in Western society to help deal with physical ailments. While many people imagine that Reiki is a form of massage, that is not strictly speaking an accurate description of what it entails. It would be more accurate to say that it is a form of pressure treatment that concentrates on certain energy centres within the body.

Reiki involves the laying on of hands on spots on the subject’s body. Unlike with massage, the practice of Reiki does not involve the removal of any garments, as the pressure can be applied through clothes. Receivers of Reiki treatment have said that they feel heat or vibrations coming from the palms of the practitioner as the body is healed – often freeing some kind of blockage that was causing stress to build.

Stressful situations are, generally, a culmination of aberrational action or extreme circumstances. Auditing your life can allow you to identify potential stressful situations before they become a problem. If you are experiencing stress, the first thing that you should do is identify its source. Are you doing things differently from how you would normally, or ideally, do them? And if so, why? It is extremely important that you address these issues in a timely fashion and if needs be enlist help to get them ironed out. Is it a matter of having a cluttered life? If so, you should look at what parts of that clutter are unnecessary and seek to remove them, or at least delegate them.

It can be tempting to try and do as much as you physically can in a lot of situations. The old saying “if you want a job done properly, do it yourself” is a symptom of this tendency. It is true that you cannot guarantee a job will be done to your taste and your standards if you leave it to someone else, but this is where prioritising comes in. Certainly there is nothing wrong with involving yourself in making sure things are done well, but there comes a time when you need to concentrate on what you can do without putting yourself through an undue amount of stress, and give some of the work to other people who you trust. Delegating is no admission of defeat, but rather a guarantee of eventual success.

It is important to take into account your own personality when it comes to de-stressing. Some people find that they benefit from a good physical workout. This comes from the knowledge that physical activity allows you to vent some tension that has been building up plus the body releases endorphins – the body’s natural feel good chemical. Others find that a period of quiet meditation allows them to draw in good feelings and let go of the bad – never a poor idea, and for many people it has very profound effects.

For still others, it seems that herbal remedies are the most positive influence on feelings of stress. These remedies come in a range of forms. Often they can be taken in a handy capsule form, which allows the beneficial ingredients to get straight into your bloodstream. This can have the effect of calming your nervous system and getting you into a relaxed frame of mind very quickly. Alternatively, herbal teas are an excellent way of getting the ingredients you need. They get the active ingredients to where they need to be quickly, as well as having the extra benefit of being ingested as a hot drink. Heat, or warmth, can have a tremendous relaxing effect on the body and be a major factor in easing away stress and tension. Even the smell of certain herbal compounds – particularly lavender – can have an excellent effect Look for essential oils containing lavender, and sprinkle a few drops in a cup of hot water to allow the smell to spread out – but do not drink it!

Often, a massage will make use of essential oils. These oils are often made with herbal ingredients in order to use the beneficial properties of those herbs. Relaxing oils allow the massage to feel smooth and friction-free, so instead of irritating the skin the masseur or masseuse can get to the deep-lying problem and work it out of the muscles. There are other forms of massage that do not require oils – Shiatsu and Indian Head Massage among them – but many people favor a long rub-down which will generally necessitate some form of lubrication. This can take in the entire body from head to toe, but should always concentrate on any area where you are feeling particular tension. Your massage therapist will be able to detect any areas of tension and direct their massage there.

If you wish to try massage at home there are lots of books and how-to guides, but in many cases the ability to give a good massage is fairy instinctive. One tip is that during the massage you can have a warm bath running, allowing you to enjoy a luxurious soak after the rub down, dispersing the last elements of the tension and stress that have been causing you so much bother over the weeks and months. You can do it the other way around, having the bath first and then the massage, but it is best advised that a limited amount of oil is used in this case.