They say there's more than one way to skin a cat. The same goes when you start tearing your hair out with all the frustration, grief, anxiety, and yes, stress. It's a state of mental conditioning that is like taking that bitter pill down your throat, causing you to lose your sense of self, and worse your sanity. Just thinking about it can drive anyone off the edge.

There are several ways to manage stress and anxiety, and eventually remove it out of your life one of these days. I promise it's not going to be too taxing on the body, as well as on the mind.

Then, take a moment to breath - literally. One of the most common reactions to stress is tension, usually muscle tension. The neck muscles will stiffen and breathing will often be more shallow. Focus on this, check for it and, if present, consciously loosen up neck muscles with a gentle side to side motion of your head. Take a deep breath or two.

Meditation has also been practiced, in Asia and elsewhere, for centuries. It's easy to learn and has multiple benefits. Taking as little as a few minutes per day (though 15-20 is preferable) can go a long way toward relieving stress and anxiety symptoms. The focus on any one thing helps move the mind away from the stressor. There is also evidence that, practiced properly, it can have numerous beneficial physical effects as well.

The old phrase from Congreve: ?Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast? still has a place in contemporary society. While the effect shouldn't be exaggerated, it's nonetheless true that the right kind of music can help shift mood. Both because of its memory associations with pleasant events and for reasons not well understood, music can alter feelings.

Just keep in mind that those are all techniques to help relieve symptoms, they don't address the underlying causes. As such, they are only one (albeit important) component in curing stress. For that, more in-depth action is needed.

If life were mostly unmentionable incidents we couldn't manage, stress and anxiety would be considered natural and insurance companies wouldn't make the fortunes they do.

So, to deal with chronic stress well it's necessary to have an objective view of the actual damage external circumstances entail. Many situations in life result in a loss of values, a loss (temporarily) outside our control. But companies that experience business reverses do recover, injuries heal, relationships mend or form between new partners, new friends are found.

When an individual focuses on what is valuable and possible, acute stress is minimized. When thought and effort combine with a realistic attitude toward the inherent hurdles in life, chronic stress is all but impossible.

"Quick tip - Give stressy thoughts the red light.It is possible to tangle yourself up in a stress knot all by yourself. "If this happens, then that might happen and then we're all up the creek!" Most of these things never happen, so why waste all that energy worrying needlessly? Give stress thought-trains the red light and stop them in their tracks. Okay so it might go wrong - how likely is that, and what can you do to prevent it?"

Objectivity and re-committing oneself to the achievement of values is essential for breaking the cycle. But be mindful that gaining those values is an achievement, one requiring thought and action. Rarely do they simply arrive in some equivalent of a winning lottery ticket.