8 Surprising Ways to Lower Your Stress Now

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Stacy Colino on Dec 31, 2009 at 10:47AM

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8 Surprising Ways to Lower Your Stress Now

Give Yourself Breathing Lessons

The way you breathe can either calm your body's response to stress or fire it up. "When you breathe shallowly, you set up the body's fight or flight response, including the release of stress hormones, and you get less oxygen-all of which makes stress worse," explains Alice Domar, Ph.D., director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Waltham, MA, and co-author of Live a Little.

To relieve stress and calm yourself, practice diaphragmatic breathing: Inhale deeply, allowing your chest and your abdomen to rise to a count of four, then exhale slowly to a count of four; repeat this exercise four times. Do this several times throughout the day, every day, and you should feel a lot less stressed, says Domar.

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8 Surprising Ways to Lower Your Stress Now

Give Yourself Breathing Lessons