The next time you’re feeling stressed, irritable, anxious or tense — listen to a little tune. Studies show that music works wonders at relieving stress and increasing overall feelings of well-being.
Some of the ways music soothes stress include:

1. Deep breathing. When we listen to music, our breathing automatically slows and deepens.

2. Increased serotonin. Often called the “feel good” chemical, serotonin is a neurotransmitter in our brains that affects our feelings of happiness, comfort and relaxation.

3. Better sleep. Listening to music before bed results in a more sound sleep.

4. Reduced pain.

5. Slower heart rate

6. Lower blood pressure.

7. Production of heart-protective chemicals. Why does music have such profound effects on our bodies and minds? The answer could stem back to our very first lullabye – in our mother’s womb. For nine months we were tucked safely away, comforted by the steady rhythm of a heartbeat and the gentle rush of water surrounding us.

So the next time you’re feeling uptight, stressed or anxious, turn back to music. Here are some tips on how to make music relieve your stress:

1. Listen to music you like. It doesn’t have to be classical to be relaxing. In fact, if you don’t like classical music, it could make you more stressed! Research has proven that listening to the kind of music we like lessens our stress – but music we dislike can actually raise our stress levels. Jazz, country, reggae, alternative, pop and rock music will all reduce stress, if it’s your kind of music.

2. Vary the songs you play. Listening to the same song over and over again will lessen the music’s stress-relieving effect.

3. For extra comfort, listen to old favorites from your youth.

4. Listen with our without headphones. Whichever way you prefer is best.

5. Make your own music. Playing an instrument has the same effect as listening to music.

6. Walk while you listen. If you have an MP3 or walkman, pop on your earphones on and head outside for a walk. This will give you a three-fold boost to surmount your stress: music, exercise, and fresh air. If you aren’t in the mood to walk, resting while listening will still be effective.

7. Whether you walk, sit, fold laundry or lie down, listen for about 20 minutes to achieve the best result. Still, even a song or two will help you feel less tense.

To be able to manage stresses, you must first be able to find the cause. Without finding the reason for feeling stressed out, you cannot fix the solution. It is like roaming aimlessly to find a way to your home. People who feel stressed out have tried all options of relieving stresses, but failed just because they haven’t been able to figure out what caused them to stress. If you are determined and spare time from your schedules, you can find the stressors. Once you have identified the stressors, you can easily take steps to do whatever required getting these out of your life.

Stress is something which refuses to get ignored, and its affects are seen adversely on the mind and body. Stress is the catalyst for headaches, muscle aches, migraines, digestive disorders and many more illnesses. Stress can cause serious damages to health, cancer and heart problems being two primary diseases that could be caused by stress. Hence eradicating the stressors from your life as soon as possible is important. But to eliminate stresses, we need to know what causes stress and where do they come from.

So where do these stressors come from? Sources are classified broadly into external and internal stressors. External stress comes from your work, the pressure of performing, etc, from relationships with family and friends, the atmosphere you live in. If you feel that theses are not the sources of stresses in your life, look internally for the state of your mind, sleeping and eating habits, the emotional trauma you’ve been through.

Not all families are perfect, and you cannot deny the fact the pressure from family members can stress you out. The pressure may not be directly from them, but you may start worrying about the future of kids, health conditions of you parents, happiness of all the members etc. Some family events may be missed due to work pressure, and you start worrying about not being able to be there for your family. You must learn to strike a balance in your life. This same can be applied for your relationships with friends.

Once you have identified the stressors, devise a plan to get rid of them. For instance, if you are stressed because of your job, you can consider quitting the job and finding a better one, or a career change. You can opt for doing your own business. This will make you feel relaxed, and you will enjoy what you are doing. But if you are unable to conclude on what is causing stresses to you, make a note of the possibilities whenever you feel stressed. Over a period of time, you will definitely be able to find a few causes, and eventually pinpoint one reason that is responsible to stress you out. Locating stressors is not an easy job, but to get rid of stress from your life, you have to manage stresses properly so that you can move forward comfortably.

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By learning how to exercise control over panic attacks, you can avoid getting a panic attack. The symptoms of a panic attack are sensations of palpitations, dizziness, breathlessness, stomach aches, chest pains etc. Panic attacks also have a mental component, it is important to know the factors that cause such attacks. Before we know how to control such attacks, it is vital to understand why panic attacks get triggered. It is true that panic attacks come without warnings, but most are often triggered by situations and events. For example, if driving fast can cause panic attacks, the very thought of driving a formula1 car could be trigger an attack. The best way to deal with it is to seek help from family and friends.

Here are three classifications of Symptoms which could cause a panic attack

Physical aspects

• Unusual and constant perspiration
• Shortening breath
• Palpitations
• Chest pains
• Stomach aches
• Dizziness
• Trembling

Mental aspects

• Loss of speech
• Too many thoughts clashing in your head
• Fear
• Losing all senses

Emotional aspects

• Fear of losing
• Fear of death

Knowing the symptoms which are potentially dangerous to you, your family members will be able react efficiently to avoid you from getting an attack.

Panic attacks can have ill affects in your personal and professional life. Learning ways to exercise control would help you enormously. When some people make fun of the idea on controlling anxiety, they feel it is next to impossible for someone to control panic attacks. But it isn’t so. If they are fully aware and capable enough to take an appropriate action at the right time, such attacks can be avoided. If you have experienced one such attack earlier, think why it happened to you, and how you felt before the attack. Most often such attacks come without a warning making you feel dizzy or cause headache initially. When you feel such things happening to you again, try to get out of the situation as early as possible. Panic attacks are not life threatening, but if left untreated, it may get worse. Behavioral therapy is another method of controlling panic attacks.

Meet your doctor and get yourself examined. A panic attack may indicate another issue, which could be cured by medicines. If medicines are not a solution for the issue, your doctor could arrange alternatives for you. Maybe a support group or therapist. There are also many anti depressants prescribed to deal with panic attacks. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) is one such anti-depressant. These are prescribed on short term basis to minimize the occurrences of the symptoms which cause panic attack. Ensure that there are no side effects caused when you use these medications with coffee, or any other medication you are already prescribed to. Your doctor must help you out with this. Maintain a healthy lifestyle by giving enough rest for your body, taking in nutritious food, avoiding stress and regular exercising. These activities will reduce anxiety

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