The brain produces electromagnectic wave forms, called brain waves.  The frequencies of these waves will change depending on the neural activity of the brain.  There are different frequencies that correspond with different levels of wakefulness and consciousness.

Binaural beats are audio signals than help train the brain to move into certain levels of consciousness.  The mind can actually be tricked into entering these new phases without us actually having to think about it.

Binaural beats work by taking two tones at slightly different frequencies and presenting one to each ear.  It sounds like a kind of rhythmic beat, and the brain actually interprets the two sounds into a completely new third beat.  This beat determines the state that the mind enters.

A stressed brain is in the Beta state, which is between 13 and 40 Hz.  When you are stressed, the sodium and potassium levels in your brain are unbalanced, which can cause mental fatigue in addition to physical fatigue.

By using binaural beats in the range of 4 to 8 Hz, you can cause your brain to enter the Theta state.  After only 10 minutes of being in the Theta state, the brain can restore the balance of potassium and sodium and eliminate that stressed feeling.

Binaural beats can also be used to enduce a state of wakeful meditation.  Meditation has been proven to reduce stress.  In people who have trouble meditating, binaural beats can simulate the effects of meditation and bring the stress-reducing benefits meditation would enduce.

You can buy binaural beats on CD that work in various ways.  There are CDs for stress, insomnia, concentration, creativity, and more.  Just be sure you’re getting your binaural beats from a reputable source, or they could do more harm than good.

Stress can cause a wide range of symtoms.  Different people will display different symptoms, because stress affects people in different ways.  We’re going to look at some of the more common stress symptoms.

1. Rapid heartbeat.  Stress often causes the heart to beat rapidly, even uncomfortably.
2. Headaches.  Stress can cause tension headaches that can range from mild to severe.
3. Stomach issues.  Nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, and vomiting are all common with stress.
4. Rapid breathing.  Many people experience this.
5. Muscle aches.  Stress can cause muscle tension, leading to backaches, stiff neck, and tight shoulders.
6. Irritability.  Stress often makes people moody and irritable.
7. Exhaustion.  Stressed people often feel mentally and physically exhausted.
8. Nervousness.  Feeling jittery, jumpy, or scared is quite common.
9. Difficulty concentrating.  Many people find they just can’t concentrate when they are stressed.
10. Excessive worry.  People under stress often worry a lot, even about things that they shouldn’t.
11. Bad temper.  Your temper may be a lot worse when you are under stress.

These are some of the most common symptoms of stress.  There can be many more.  When stress crosses over into anxiety or panic, these symtoms can intensify and be joined by many other symptoms.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should see a medical professional.  Only a medical professional can diagnose stress and make sure you aren’t suffering from a serious physical condition that could be life threatening.

Once you are diagnosed with stress, your doctor or therapist can help you figure out the best course of action to treat your stress.

There are many different ways people cope with stress.  Some are positive and helpful, and some are destructive and can even make stress worse.  It’s very important to deal with stress in a positive way, because negative methods often do end up increasing stress levels, either directly or indirectly.

Positive Ways of Coping with Stress:

• Laughing, giggling, and watching comedies that help you laugh.
• Taking a relaxing bath or shower.
• Being creative by writing, painting, drawing, or playing music.
• Gardening.
• Going out with friends to dinner, movies, shopping, etc.
• Listening to music.
• Playing with pets.
• Taking part in religious activities.
• Exercising.
• Taking walks.
• Talking to friends or loved ones.
• Meditation.
• Yoga.
• Spending time outdoors.

Negative Ways to Cope with Stress:

• Drugs.
• Excessive drinking.
• Overeating, especially binge eating junk food.
• Yelling at the people around you.
• Becoming violent, screaming, hitting people or things, throwing things, kicking things, etc.
• Smoking cigarettes.
• Biting your fingernails.
• Becoming overly critical of yourself.
• Taking part in dangerous activities like driving too fast, skydiving, or other dangerous activities.
• Avoiding contact with friends or others.

If you do find yourself using one of these negative coping methods, try to immediately catch yourself and switch to something positive.  Using these negative coping mechanisms will only serve to make your sress worse in the end.  Learning to recognize when you’re using these negative methods is vital.  Once you learn how to recognize when you’re doing it, you can train yourself to replace these negative methods with positive methods that will actually help you heal.

Chronic stress can be caused by a number of different things.  It may be something simple, it may be extreme situations, or it may be just a number of different factors that pile up on top of each other.  We’re going to look at the ten most common causes of stress.

What Causes Stress?

1. Health problems like diabetes or heart disease can be extremely stressful.  Worrying about your health, and the fear that your condition might kill you, is extremely stressful.
2. Emotional problems like guilt, grief, low self-esteem, anger, and depression are all very stressful.
3. Relationship problems can cause extreme stress, especially if you feel you have no one to talk to about it.
4. Dangerous surroundings such as living in a high crime area or in a violent home are very stressful.
5. A job you’re unhappy with is a huge contributing factor to stress.
6. Poverty or other financial issues can cause extreme stress.
7. Extreme lifestyle changes such as marriage, divorce, pregnancy, leaving home, or switching jobs are stressful.
8. Chronic pain can cause mental stress in addition to the physical symptoms.
9. Feelings of hopelessness can cause extreme stress.
10. Discrimination because of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or other issues is also very stressful.

If you are in any of these situations you should seek out someone to talk to as soon as possible.  One important key to reducing stress it to catch it and treat it before it becomes such an extreme problem.  If you wait, it can be much harder to treat.

Chronic stress can cause many health problems, some of which may eventually be fatal.  Stress is said to be the cause of as many as 70% of doctor visits, whether directly or indirectly!

Stress can cause many effects such as:

Poor Immune Function - When the body is under stress, it has less energy to devote to the immune system.  This makes the body more susceptible to colds, infections, and other illnesses.

Cardiovascular Disease - Stress has been linked to problems like high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and even heart attack!

Muscular Pain - Stress can cause all kinds of aches and pains, including neck, shoulder, and back pain.  These symptoms are probably caused by excess muscle tension.

Intestinal Problems - Stress can cause acid reflux, ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome.  People who already have these conditions may find them exacerbated by stress.

Reproductive Problems - Stress can cause fertility problems, erectile dysfunction, and painful or irregular menstruation.

Breathing Problems - People who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may find that excess stress makes their symptoms much worse.

Skin Problems - People who are under stress may find that they have more acne breakouts, as well as problems with psoriasis or eczema.

These are just a few of the problems that can be caused by or worsed by stress.  If you believe you have problems that are caused by stress, I highly recommend that you seek help immediately.  Stress is not only bothersome, it can be deadly.

One common method of releasing stress is to vent.  While most people vent inappropriately, there are ways to vent without hurting your loved ones or causing yourself trouble at school or work.

First, let’s look at some unhealthy ways to vent:

• Blowing up at coworkers, employees, or friends.
• Yelling at your family.
• Throwing or breaking things.
• Hitting walls.
• Kicking things.
• Scratching yourself, hitting yourself, or pulling your hair.

These are all very destructive ways of venting.  If you don’t find contructive ways to vent, you might end up venting in one of these unhealthy ways.  These can actually make your stress worse.

Now let’s look at some healthy ways to vent:

• Talk to a therapist.
• Make posts on a blog or in a journal that no one but you will ever see.
• Vent on forums where you have friends who will listen.
• Cry.  If you’re embarrassed, cry in a bathroom or out in the woods.
• Go into the middle of nowhere and scream at the top of your lungs.
• Grab your boxing gloves and take it out on a punching bag.  Great exercise!
• Go jogging.  Exercise relieves a lot of tension.

The important thing is making sure you vent in healthy ways rather than taking it out on the people around you.  If you take your frustrations out on the people you love, it could drive a rift between you that may never be mended.

There are many ways you can decrease your stress.  Some people have so much stress that they seek help from their physicians and take medication, but they don’t realize that they could relieve a lot of their stress with simple techniques.

1. Cut Out Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that causes a lot of stress on the body.  Around 75% of people will notice a significant reduction in their stress levels by simply cutting out caffeine!

2. Get More Exercise

Exercise isn’t just important to the body, it’s almost vital to the mind.  When you are under stress, exercise helps you burn off a lot of the excess stress energy.   Stress is exacerbated by excess adrenaline, and exercise helps the body use up that extra adrenaline.

3. Meditation

Meditation brings about a hyper-relaxed state that can drive stress right out of the body.  It is a highly important tool in fighting stress.

4. Get More Sleep

A lack of sleep is a strong contributing factor to excessive stress.  Most chronic stress sufferers feel extreme fatigue, and getting more sleep can help relieve a lot of that fatigue.  When your body is rested, you are much more capable of coping with things.

5. Take Time Off

You don’t have to take a whole week off.  Just spend some of your days off relaxing and doing things YOU want to do instead of only worrying about others.  Spending time with your family doesn’t have to be stressful.  Instead of high-stress trips to the mall or the movies, take your family fishing or camping, or just spend time playing games or having fun together!

Yoga is a very beneficial stress relief tool.  There is a strong emphasis on proper breathing techniques, slow, rhythmic motions, and muscle development.  The techniques serve to exercise both the body and the mind.

Yoga helps to lower the blood pressure and bring on an intense relaxation.  Deep breathing is very relaxing, especially when you’re used to shallow breathing on a regular basis like so many people are these days.  Shallow breathing can cause mood swings, depression, and intense stress.

Yoga helps your posture, which causes you less muscle strain and fatigue.  It helps your bones and joints become stronger and more flexible.  And when your body is less fatigued, you are able to deal with stress more readily.

Since yoga helps you relax your muscles and bring on the type of deep breathing that causes intense relaxation, it is an extremely powerful tool for fighting stress.

There are yoga classes available in almost every city and town these days.  If you cannot find any yoga classes locally, there are plenty of DVDs available that you can use to learn the basics of yoga.  Yoga really isn’t as difficult to learn as you probably think.  There are postures that can be learned by anyone of any age in any physical shape.  Even handicapped individuals can practice some yoga positions!

If you want to learn more about how yoga can help you relieve your stress, I recommend picking up a couple of yoga DVDs, especially those that focus on relaxation and stress relief.  You might be surprised just how well yoga can relieve stress!

Meditation is a great way to relieve stress.  When you meditate, your body is able to enter a fully relaxed state.  Your muscles relax, your mind is cleared of negative thoughts, and all of the stress will temporarily leave you as you enter deep relaxation.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need complete quiet to meditate.  You also don’t need to hum or chant, so you can meditate anywhere, even in your office at work.  All you need is a few minutes to be able to sit in a semi-relaxing position and close your eyes.

Let’s take a look at one method for meditation:

1. Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your arms resting limply, your hands upside down in your lap.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Feel your muscles.  Pay very close attention to how they all feel.
4. Slowly start releasing the tension in your head.  Feel those muscles relax.
5. Breathe slowly, but regularly.  Pay attention to your breathing.
6. Now start relaxing the muscles in your neck and shoulders.  Feel them relax.
7. Move the relaxation down your arms, into your hands and fingers.  Let them go limp.
8. Let your abdomen relax.  Feel those muscles release their tension.
9. Move the relaxation down to your thighs, then your calves, and finally into your feet and toes.
10. Notice every muscle in your body and relax any muscles where you feel tension.

Once you feel you’ve relaxed your entire body, just concentrate on your breathing.  Try to clear your mind of thoughts for a while.  After you feel your mind is completely relaxed, you can start to thing relaxing thoughts.  Think of waterfalls, or the ocean.  Think of fishing on a calm lake, or relaxing by the pool.  Whatever you think is most relaxing, let those thoughts fill your mind.

It only takes about 5-10 minutes of meditation to clear away your stress for a while, so try to find time during your day to take the time to meditate.  You’ll notice a difference very quickly!