The human body was never meant to deal with chronic stress. Release of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the neurotransmitter adrenalin is absolutely healthy under short-term stress, like when you need to run away from an angry dog and such hormones keep you alert and focused. The problem is when we lead lives that make us feel like we are constantly running from an angry dog. Increased levels of cortisol and adrenalin on a chronic basis are known to be toxic to almost every bodily system.

Before stress undermines your sanity, and your health embrace these 11 simple ways to come to your own rescue.

1. Worry about one thing at a time. Keep your anxiety focused on real, immediate issues, and tune out imagined ones or those over which you have zero control, and you'll automatically reduce stress overload.
2. Focus on your senses a few minutes a day. For a few minutes a day, practice being mindful - focusing only on what's going on in the present - whether it's during your workout or taking a break from your work. Take a relaxing 20-minute walk and don't think about your job worries or anything else. Pay attention only to your senses - what you see, hear, feel, smell. If you can do that every day, it makes a huge difference to your emotional and physical well-being.
3. Talk about - or write out - what's worrying you. Writing or talking about the things that prey on you - in a diary, with friends, in a support group or even a home computer file - helps you feel less alone and helpless.
4. No matter how stressed or busy you are, exercise. Exercise is probably the most-effective stress reliever there is. Researchers recently found that after spending 30 minutes on a treadmill, their subjects scored 25 percent lower on tests that measure anxiety and showed favorable changes in brain activity. If you can't hit the gym or trails, even a brisk 30-minute walk at lunch or getting up several times a day to stretch and walk around will help relieve stress.
5. Take time to be touched. Experts haven't figured out why having your body pressed and prodded works wonders, but they know that it does. Studies suggest massage can speed up weight gain in premature babies, improve lung function in asthmatics and boost immunity in men with HIV. If you can't indulge in regular full-body massages, treat yourself to the occasional pedicure, manicure or facial - all nurturing, hands-on treats that offer some of the benefits of massage.
6. Speak a stress-free language. People who handle stress well tend to employ what stress experts call an "optimistic explanatory style." They don't beat themselves up when things don't work out in their favor. Rather than saying, "I really blew that presentation," it's, "That was a tough group to engage."
   Expectations can only be used for those things over which you have the greatest personal control. You can expect to quench your thirst with a drink of water. You cannot expect to get the job you just interviewed for. You can hope to get it. Think "hope" instead of "expect" and you'll greatly reduce stress.
7. Don't be so serious. There's nothing like anxiety to annihilate your sense of humor. It would follow, then, that it's impossible to feel stressed when you're hunched over in a fit of giggles. Studies have shown, in fact, that laughter not only relieves tension, but actually improves immune function.
8. "Fire" those voices of negativity. We all have an "internal government," made up of various voices which alternately egg us on or drive us mad. Some of these people - the important ones - were elected to that post and others somehow got on the board anyway - like cranky neighbors, micromanaging bosses. Fire those people who do nothing more than create stress in your life. Choosing to ignore their input is very cleansing and empowering, because it means you no longer allow those people to push your buttons.
9. Once a day, get away. When you're having a hell of a day - good or bad - checking out for 10-15 minutes is revitalizing. Find a place alone (and definitely ditch the cell phone) - the attic, the bathroom, a quiet cafe, a big oak tree - and wipe the slate clean for a few minutes. Do whatever it is that relaxes you: Meditate, read a novel, sing or sip tea. What's crucial is not how much time you allot, but being consistent and doing something every day.
10. Name at least one good thing that happened today. It's a scenario played out every evening all over the country: Come home from work and start venting to your spouse or roommate about your day. Instead of creating a negative atmosphere the minute you walk in the door, try starting off the evening with your family or friends by exchanging "news and goods." Every day something good happens, even if it's just that you were stuck in traffic and someone let you pass them.

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