Here are Four easy to follow tips to control short term stress.

Count to 10.

This is what some mothers tell their kids when they become angry. It is very effective.

Next time you feel stressed or recognise the early signs of it, count to ten. You can do it quietly or speak it out. It does not matter.

Sometimes this is all you need for simple stress or if you recognise it early.

A patient once burst into my consulting room, angry, stressed and about to have a heated argument with me. I told him to go back out, slowly count to ten, then come back in and perhaps we can have a meaningful conversation. Surprisingly it work a treat.

Some people prefer to count down from ten to zero. This way it feels as if you are scaling down stress and at zero, it is gone.

Take a deep breath.

Take a long slow deep breath. Breathe in slowly through your nostril and fill your lungs completely. Hold your breath to the count of four. Then slowly exhale through your mouth.

Repeat a few times and as your breathing becomes slower, you feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed. Like counting, this is a quick and easy way to reduce your stress level.

In addition, if as you breathe in and hold your breath, you visualise all the stress in your body slowly diffusing into your lungs and as you exhale, you are slowly expelling the stress for a calmer and more relaxed you, you will notice the difference.

Get up and walk about.

This is a good way to gain stress relief quickly.

If what you are doing is becoming very stressful, get up and walk away from it. I do not mean walk away from it for good. It gives your mind a break. It gives it time to calm down and come to grips with the situation.

You may want to do something else during this break. This takes the stressful problem away from the forefront of your mind and allow your Subconscious Mind to find solution options. The eponymous Morgan Stanley, when he could not find a solution to a problem, would stop what he was doing and play solitaire. After a while several ideas come forwards in his mind.

You can go for a walk especially in the park. There is something relaxing when you are near to nature. You tend to synchronise with the earth’s frequency. Your brainwave drops to this frequency for peace and tranquillity. You feel calm and relaxed. You can get the vacuum cleaner out and clean the house. Put the problem out of your mind. You will be surprised how different you feel about your task in front of your.

Talk to someone or write a journal.

This is a good stress buster. Talking to someone is in a way sharing your problem. You may get good tips especially if that someone has experience in your field. It opens your mind to a wider approach to your problem. It may make you aware that you are not alone. You have shared your problem and will not feel isolated.

There is no better stress buster than a simple thought or idea in your mind that will lead to the solution to your problem. You become focussed and energised because you can visualise the successful outcome. Your stress will change to the desired stress that produces maximum efficiency.

Writing a journal is also a good stress buster. It highlights the specific items that stresses you. Putting it down on paper transfers it into words that you can either keep or discard. This is an outlet for stress. So if you are alone, or there is no one to talk to when things are going wrong, put it in your stress journal. Ink on paper is the next best thing.

Dr. Phil Hariram.