Many companies are coming to the realization that helping employees manage stress is not just "a nice thing to do" but crucial to the bottom line. Last week, we looked at the physiological effects of stress and described the first six of 12 stress management techniques to share with employees:

1. Work on your attitude;
2. Think about something else;
3. Think positive;
4. Take a mental vacation;
5. Count to 10; and
6. Use affirmations.

Let's look at six more things you can tell your employees to help them manage stress.

7. Yell or Cry

Letting out a good scream or crying can provide a release for the emotions generating the stress you're feeling. Of course, this may not be possible in every office setting or job-site. But if you're working in a private location, such as a private office or your car, I suggest you give it a try.

8. Press on Your Temples

This application of acupressure - the use of pressure points to relieve pain and treat a variety of ailments - works indirectly. Massaging nerves in your temples relaxes muscles elsewhere, chiefly in your neck.

9. Relax Your Jaw

Drop your jaw and roll it left to right. People under pressure have a tendency to clench their teeth. Dropping the jaw and rolling it helps make those muscles relax, and if you relax the muscles, you reduce the sensation of tension.

10. Practice Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths - belly breathing is what some people call it. This is an old but proven device for overcoming anxiety and nervousness. "The basic idea is act calm, be calm," says Bradley W. Frederick, D.C., Director of the International Institute of Sports Medicine in Los Angeles. "When you're experiencing stress, your pulse races and you start breathing very quickly. Forcing yourself to breathe slowly convinces the body that the stress is gone, whether it is or isn't."

The correct way to breathe? Abdominally - feeling the stomach expand as you inhale, collapse as you exhale.

11. Look Away

If you look through a window at a far-distant view for a moment - away from the problem that's producing the stress - the eyes relax. And if the eyes relax, you should probably relax as well. Take a pot off the burner and it quits boiling.

12. Recite an Anti-Stress Litany

Stress can strike anytime and anywhere, not just at work. It can hit you in the bathroom before work, in the deli at lunchtime or in the car on the way home. To help yourself unravel when unpleasant thoughts knot the muscles in your neck and tension mounts, recite the following litany (or one of your own making):

• There's no place I have to go at this moment in time.
• There's no problem I have to solve at this moment in time.
• There's nothing that I have to do at this moment in time.
• The most important thing I can experience at this moment in time is relaxation.

You need to think these thoughts consciously, because doing so automatically changes the mind-set that's producing the stress. If you're reciting the litany, you're not thinking about whatever it is that's bothering you.

Conclusion

Of course there are many other ways to work through the physiological effects of stress. These are just twelve. If you're interested in learning more, you can sign up for my ezine, Stress Stuff.

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