You can read hundreds of stress management books in seach for ways on how to relieve stress - but the most powerful of all the stress management techniques is right underneath your nose...

In recent news, it was reported that:

1. Labor chief Sto. Tomas (Philippines) quits due to stress and workload [1]
2. Stress is causing soaring sickness rates among UK teachers [2]
3. Twenty-five percent of university students have sought counselling in the UK to help them cope with the stress of exams (finals) [3]
4. 97 percent of IT professionals feel traumatized by their daily work. Indeed, 80 percent of them get tense just thinking about going to the office. [4]

Is it the heavy workload, multi-tasking requirement, replying to time urgent emails, or performance pressure that is creating all this stress and ill-health?

Actually, none of these things cause stress.

Did you know that when you are feeling rushed, pressured, on the go all the time or overloaded, physical tension builds up in your chest - your chest muscles contract. This forces you to breathe shorter, sharper and shallower.

Consistent shallow breathing has been found to cause fatigue, increase in error rates, emotional tension, forgetfulness, and even health issues such as asthma, colds, anxiety/panic attacks, and indigestion. Rapid and shallow breathing increases neck and shoulder tension and raises the risk of hyperventilation [5] Rapid breathing and tension creates a state of stress.

Other research has found that when your body's cells are starved of up to 60% of oxygen they become cancerous.

A clinical study of thousands of participants over a 30-year period presents convincing evidence that the most significant factor in peak health and long life is how well you breathe [6]. In a recent interview I conducted with Thomas Goode, from the International Breath Association at http://www.transformbreathing.com, he explained why proper breathing habits are essential to good health and relieving stress. (You can hear the entire interview with Tom at www.BounceBackFast.com/interviews.html )

Stress relief is not about escaping the stress in your life. The key in how to relieve stress is creating a sense of calm inside you.

It is not people, emails, deadlines, or workload that creates stress - but the way in which our body physically, mentally and emotionally is conditioned to respond to these events. The key, being, your breathing habits.