It is November, the darkest month of the year, the nights are long and the days are short. The weather is corresponding – one minute it’s raining, the next thing you know it’s snowing. The only thing you want to do is get under a cozy blanket with your favorite book and to forget about everything else. All in all it is a fall melancholy – the lack of sun is depressing. During this time your body is subject to stress. According to psychotherapists overcoming stress is the hardest during fall, but we will definitely try to give you at least several tips on how you can manage it.

Let’s start off by answering the question of what stress really is. Science defines stress as the reaction of our body to life’s emotional experiences. Therefore such reaction can be caused by any strong emotion. In fact only long intense or unexpected negative nerve strain affects us destructively, exhausting the defense mechanisms of our body. Stress can be caused by a word – insulting, offensive or rude. A fight with the loved one, boss’s rebuke, friend’s betrayal – all of this leads to pungent feelings, which luckily do not last long, anywhere from a couple of minutes to several hours.

What happens in your body during stress is comparable to a storm. The levels of adrenalin, noradrenalin and glucose in your blood increase leading to a so-called biochemical intensity. Your pulse becomes more rapid, the level of blood pumped by the heart per minute increases drastically, the oxygen consumption increases as well. Your body prepares for vigorous actions – for battle or for retreat.

Stress can be caused by political situation, a car wreck, crime, loss of close people, and in these cases it can often grow into chronic condition. Your body experiences a sudden decrease of protein, which is known as the foundation of our body, as well as the decrease of vitamins A and C. Very often chronic stress can develop into ulcerous inflammations, chronic gastritis, stenocardia or bronchial asthma.

The birth of a baby, winning the lottery, unexpected proposal, all of the above is also considered stress, but positive. Such bursts of emotions, which regretfully do not happen very often, are actually useful since they improve the function of cardiovascular system, improve the immune system and counteract the effect of negative stresses.

Since 1936 when Canadian doctor Hans Selye used the term stress for the first time, there has been a lot of scientific research done regarding fighting the emotional tension. However, to this day doctors have not invented the universal method of overcoming stress that would work for each individual person. There have been a lot of different recipes discovered over the course of time, the trick is to find the one that will work for you.

So how can you develop resistance to stress? Surprisingly sometimes even the most commonplace reminder that you are the most worthy and attractive person can do miracles. Even the famous English playwright Somerset Maugham wrote that our life consists of 10% of what we do and 90% of how we perceive it. If we go back to the ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates he claims that reason is the best doctor.

When we are feeling bad the whole world seems to be upside down. Sometimes even the day starts aggressively, we turn off the alarm irritated, drag ourselves to the bathroom and snap at our loved ones. Starting from the very morning the stress only intensifies and our body programs itself for negative emotions. And after all, the best time to program our consciousness for the day is in the morning. Let’s rewind – you opened your eyes and… smiled. In spite of the irritating alarm, you easily flew into the bathroom, gave a compliment to your spouse on the way, and enjoyed your reflection in the mirror. And I mean enjoyed your reflection, not found a million reasons to be unhappy about your appearance. That’s it. You just launched the self healing mechanism. Set yourself up for good events from the very start. This is the formula for those who have decided to resist stress. Once you get back home in the evening, despite how tired you are, devote 10 minutes to yourself. Sit down in your favorite chair, relax and with your eyes closed go on the imaginary trip: transfer yourself to your favorite place under the sun, make a trip around the world in several minutes, climb the Kilimanjaro Mountain, sit in the park fragrant with roses. The brighter and the more realistic you imagine your trip, the faster your blood pressure will return to normal and the faster your stress will disappear.

Another good method of conquering stress is silent therapy. It is recommended by the Vancouver University scientists who have determined that stress is worsened by phone rings, car sounds and even radio sounds. It is recommended to have a session of complete silence at least once a day. Turn off your phone and TV, close your windows and sit in absolute quietness for at least 15 minutes. Breathe rhythmically, repeating words "relaxation" and "peace" to yourself. This easy exercise helps you relax in no time.

A lot of people resort to raiding the fridge in the state of nervous tension eating anything they see in there. In reality only a few foods can help deal with stress. Eat an apple, make yourself a salad, nibble on a carrot, or drink a glass of juice. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of vitamin C, which helps normalize the blood pressure hence helps get rid of the feeling of uneasiness. It is recommended to have a handful of raisins if you are feeling stressed out. Due to the high amount of potassium contained by them, raisins strengthen the nervous system, plus the good taste adds up to positive emotions. As a precaution to the stress breakdown try eating the following anti-stress salad on an empty stomach every morning for 1-2 weeks – 1 banana, 1 orange and a handful of 3 types of different nuts like hazelnut, walnut, and almond.

Stress is much easier to prevent than to get rid of, therefore if you know that a certain situation can be potentially stressful make sure to not face it on an empty stomach. An increased discharge of digestive juices and its increased acidity are the companions of stress that provoke the ulcer. If the stomach is occupied with digesting the food in stress circumstances the consequences of nervous shock will be less destructive.

You should also remember about tea and coffee. The positive effect of these drinks on the brain function is caused by caffeine contained by them, but it is extremely important to make sure that caffeine is consumed in reasonable amount. Everyone has his/her own acceptable dose, some people drink 2 cups a day some people drink 4. The same amount will be enough in stressful situation. Make sure not to overdo it though, since it will not lead to the decrease in tension but will cause irritability instead.

When it comes to alcohol there are different opinions among the doctors. Some doctors flatly recommend not to consume it during stress; others on the contrary recommend to have a shot of cognac or a glass of wine after a hard day, but not more than that. Alcohol in large quantities can serve as a strong detonator of stress and only brings the feeling of relaxation for a short period of time.

There are certain exercises you can do to deal with stress. Even ancient healers used to say that the difference between life and death is in our breathing. So take a deep breath! The easiest and most effective anti-stress exercise is to take a calm inhalation, exhale slowly, hold your breath for as long as you can and then inhale again. If you do this exercise 10 times in the morning and in the evening you will feel that your nervous system has strengthened already in a week. To release the conflict situation or emotional tension the specialists recommend to do several short inhales and exhales with your mouth without pausing. Pregnant women are taught this kind of frequent breathing since this method helps to release pain during childbirth.

If none of the above helped then start… laughing. Laughter turns on the positive physiological processes. Most likely in a critical situation it will be laughter through tears, but the longer you laugh, the more natural your laughter will become, and you won’t even notice how your problems that seemed so insoluble just a few minutes ago are viewed by you in a completely different way.

There are also pleasant small things that you can do to relieve stress. Don’t forget about the music. Experts recommend listening to classical music; it is a great doctor since it calms your nerves and tunes your body into the right mode. Squeeze in water treatments into your schedule. A 20-minute bath with chamomile, lavender, salts or aroma oils before going to sleep has a great anti-stress effect. Another peculiar method of fighting stress is drawing. It helps splash out your negative emotions onto the paper hence get rid of them.

And the final recipe – run away from stress! Go to the park and enjoy the solitude. You will see that already in an hour you will remember your favorite cake recipe, you will want to read the book that you set aside for later, play with the dog and call your friends… Understanding that you don’t have time to be melancholy will definitely come.