One easy stress reliever is deep breathing. It benefits the body in many ways. These include oxygenating the blood, which `wakes up' the brain, relaxing muscles and quieting the mind. This is the first technique to try because it can be done anywhere, and it works quickly.

This takes deep breathing one step further. You get all the benefits of breathing deep, but you also get your brain in an area of function similar to sleep. This means you release certain hormones, and your health will improve. Also, your focus on nothing helps your mind to not work overtime.

This takes time to work, and practice to perfect, but it is a great way to leave your stress behind for a while and relax your body. This is easier for some than others, especially since you focus on something rather than nothing. Choose the best experience for you, whether it is immersive, or just something in the background.

This is where you imagine yourself achieving goals like becoming healthier and more relaxed, etc. You will want to visualize yourself doing well on tasks you're trying to master. Doing this actually functions like physical practice.

This is a technique that incorporates some of the features of guided imagery and visualizations, with the added benefit of enabling you to communicate directly with your subconscious mind. This is great for getting rid of stress, and for enhancing your abilities.

Exercise and stress management are closely linked. It helps you look and feel better physically, but your physical body and mental state are directly connected. When your body is working better, you get stressed less easily. Exercise provides a distraction from stressful situations, as well as an outlet for frustrations, and gives you a lift via endorphins as well.

By tensing and relaxing all the muscle groups in your body, you can relieve tension and feel much more relaxed in minutes, with no special training or equipment. Relieving tension helps you relieve stress as well. To practice this technique, start by tensing all the muscles in your face, holding a tight grimace ten seconds, then completely relaxing for ten seconds. Repeat this with your neck, followed by your shoulders, etc. You can do this anywhere, and as you practice, you will find you can relax more quickly and easily, reducing tension quickly.

It is interesting how sex is a great tension reliever. But have you officially thought of it as a stress-relieving practice? Well it is. The physical benefits of sex are numerous, and most of them relieve stress. When you are stressed, you may be inclined to have sex less, but you should have it more often.

Music if not listened to, too loudly makes for a great stress reliever. The right music can actually lower your blood pressure, relax your body and calm your mind.

Yoga is one of the oldest self-improvement practices. You learn stress management including breathing, meditation, imagery, movement, etc. The benefits are that you learn how to manage stress.