Whenever we encounter a stressful event, our bodies undergo a series of hormonal and biochemical changes that put as in ‘alarm mode.’ Our heart rate increases, adrenaline rushes through our blood stream, and our digestive and immune systems temporarily shut down. If the stressors continue and we stay on high alert for a prolonged period of time, we experience exhaustion and burn out. None of us can avoid stress, but we can return to a state of balance and regulation through a variety of means: exercise, humor, play, music, prayer or meditation. These activities provide calming and relaxing sensory input for stress relief and can be selected according to lifestyle and preference. When stress builds up, it can result in anger, headaches, discouragement, depression, stomachaches, feelings of helplessness, self-hate, and other terrible, horrible, no good, very bad feelings.

While there are many things you can do to reduce stress, the first line of defense against stress is to make sure you are getting enough sleep. Sleep restores the body systems and provides rejuvenation. Sleep-deprived bodies will be too depleted to perform the important stress-reducing physical and mental activities we have described. Meditation used to have a rather 'hippie' image, but nowadays it's a much more mainstream activity. There are several different kinds of meditation - some of which have strong religious overtones - but the essence of meditation, like hypnosis, is to bring total relaxation to the person practicing it. Certainly, the deep relaxation that can be achieved through meditation is very similar indeed to the hypnotic state. Different methods may vary, but often meditation requires you to spend 20 minutes twice a day sitting, focusing on the present and clearing your mind by repeating a mantra - which just means a special word of your choice. The word is usually just a sound that has no particular meaning. We all have to find our own routes to stress busting - and this could very well turn out to be yours.