In general, life is stressful. Whether you’re still in school or working hard, whether you lead a single life or have a family of five, there are things you absolutely have to get done during the week, things that exhaust you physically or mentally, so by the time your days off come by, you’re well ready for them. But instead of enjoying yourself, you most likely catch up on everything you didn’t have the time to do during the week, and instead of relaxing and recharging your batteries, you keep your body and mind at the highest alert level.

By being active you keep yourself in shape, but you have to learn to give yourself a break every now and then in order to stay effective and strong, or you might end up with a breakdown or torn muscles. Find something that takes your mind off of your everyday problems, like catching up on celebrity scandal or reading somebody’s blog, and give yourself permission to immerse in the pleasure several times a week, even if it’s only for five minutes at a time. As for your body, you may jog in the mornings, practice yoga in the afternoons, ride a bike on the weekends, whatever forces you to work your body by getting you away from your usual activities.

Stress sneaks up on you and causes pains, aches and anxiety. If you don’t fight it with different relaxation techniques, you might find that even basic everyday activities like eating a also pita bread sandwich or blow drying your hair are affected and you stress over spending too much time on them instead of already working or helping the kids get dressed for school. And when you stress, everybody around you stresses as well, resulting in short fuses, more arguments and thus additional reasons for stress.