Lifestyle changes to reduce your overall stress levels are important.

1. No multi-tasking: Do not multi-task. Although you may think this is a time-efficient way to go about things, you will rapidly become overloaded. The more stimuli you impose upon yourself, the greater the activity of your stress glands. Keep your tasks or jobs simple; that means one at a time, and do them well. When you are finished move on to the next.

2. Learn to say 'No': People often have a problem saying 'no' end up saying 'yes to everything, taking on too much for fear of hurting or upsetting others. They end hurting themselves. Learn what your boundaries are, and how much you can handle. Once you reach that limit, do not take on any more. Others will understand, for they themselves are on overload, otherwise they would not be asking for your help.

3. Avoid known stressors: If there are certain parts of your day where you know you will encounter stressors, try to alter your pattern. For instance, if you get upset in traffic try not to leave the house at rush hour. Get up a little earlier so you can miss the traffic - and possibly go for a workout before your working day begins. Then you can leave the office sooner and miss the traffic on the way home. If you can't avoid the traffic, then prepare yourself for it. Bring some soothing music to listen to, or a tape of something you want to learn. At least then if you are sitting in traffic, you can enjoy yourself.

4. Don't set unrealistic goals: Many of us want to do everything and do it as quickly as possible. We are impatient and our society has programmed us to expect results straight away, whether that be in health care, career advancement, or via high-speed Internet. Our failure to achieve goals is a major stressor. Reset your goals to be attainable, and attainable within realistic time frames.

5. Positive affirmation: Wake up and look in the mirror and take note of one positive thing a day. If you see something you don't like, then look away for now. Don't focus on the negative, however hard that may seem. The actual process of looking for 'good' is calming - and finding it will improve your mood and outlook. Some simple at-home techniques for reducing stress:

Massage: By reducing stress and increasing your feel-good brain hormones, dopamine and serotonin, massage makes you more relaxed, happier and it decreases your hunger-centre activity. This leads to less stress and less craving. Massage therapy is defined as the treatment of disease or injury through the manual manipulation of body tissues. Massage is employed for the relief of pain and spasm, to induce relaxation, to stretch and break down scarring and adhesions, and to increase circulation and metabolism.

It promotes the resorption and metabolism of toxins and the residua of inflammation. The relaxation benefits of massage therapy are not just subjective - massage has been shown to decrease both noradrenaline and cortisol levels in the blood, urine and saliva. That wonderful feeling you get at the end of a massage is not just from lying down quietly for a period of time. There is a significant therapeutic effect from receiving regular massage therapy, which clearly goes far beyond simple musculoskeletal pain relief. Simple massage techniques can also be practised at home to help relieve stress.

1. Use a massaging shower-head, which augments the benefits of superficial heat from the water.

2. Move a simple wooden roller-type massager back and forth across the neck, back or feet.

3. Use commercial electric massagers, with or without heat.

4. Have a partner apply slow, gentle, finger, thumb or hand pressure.

Safety: Contraindications are few.

Following acute injury or a severe flare-up of an existing injury, or in the presence of an open wound, local massage would not be advisable in that area. However, distant massage or massage therapy performed on other parts of the body is advisable to help increase the effects of the immune system and decrease inflammatory mediators, and cortisol levels. In order to receive these benefits, massage can be performed anywhere on the body. It is avoided in certain cancers to avoid promoting spread.

Aromatherapy: Aromatic healing oils can be used during a therapeutic massage. These essential oils are absorbed both through inhalation and through the skin during a treatment. Throughout the massage, lymphatic drainage, muscle releases and spinal pressures are applied to target the nervous system. Each oil has a different effect, ranging from toxification and relaxation to increasing energy levels. Essential aromatherapy oils for relaxation and stress relief are:

&bull Amber

&bull Bergamot

&bull Camphor

&bull Cedarwood

&bull Lavender

&bull Poppy

&bull Ylang-ylang

And there are several ways you can use essential oils:

&bull Diffuser - a small metal bowl heated by a candle

&bull A few drops in a warm bath

&bull In a massage oil

&bull A few drops in a facecloth or sponge in the shower

&bull As a perfume

How to make sure you get sufficient sleep:

&bull Reduce your stress levels: Deep breathing, meditation and massage therapy on a regular basis can decrease overall stress and promote restful sleep. Aromatherapy can also be used before bed. Burn a lavender candle or put a little lavender oil on your pillow. Supplements to help you sleep include melatonin, passionflower and hops (the herbal extract, not the beer).

&bull Get into a routine: Our body loves routine. Providing it with a rehearsed setting for sleep is a valuable step towards a good night's sleep. This means getting into bed at about the same time each night.

&bull Dim the lights: Once we fall asleep our body starts to produce melatonin, our sleeping hormone. It changes our brain waves from the active beta waves to the calm theta waves of deep sleep. Production of this hormone is also linked to light and darkness. Our body will increase the production of melatonin when it is dark and suppress its production in the light.

So try to make your room as dark as possible to mimic night-time and increase production of your sleeping hormone. It is also wise not to spend your last hour before getting into bed under bright lights. This will hinder the secretion of melatonin and make sleep more difficult.

&bull Exercise: Try to avoid vigorous exercise in the evening, as this is likely to increase cortisol and other stimulatory hormones, which will make relaxation difficult.

&bull Food and drink: Eating early (between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. if you plan to go to bed around 10 p.m.) will allow your food to digest before sleep and maximise the fat-burning time between dinner and breakfast.

Avoid a large meal late in the evening, as it is likely to give you a higher than normal peak in glucose levels due to the inactivity that follows as you wind down for the evening. This will increase your hunger hormones, making you want to snack again before bed.

Alcohol is also known to increase hunger hormones, so avoid this if you are having trouble sleeping. Caffeine in tea, coffee or soda can have a long-lasting stimulant effect, interfering with restful sleep. Try to avoid them after lunchtime and certainly during the evening.