In an effort to start incorporating more health and wellness stories onto the blog, here are some tips on dealing with stress….

Stress can easily come from every direction in our lives—demanding bosses, wailing children, absent spouses, financial woes are just a few of the stressors that demand our attention and our sanity. All this pressure can add up and contribute to major and minor health issues. From muscle tension to high blood pressure to weight gain to aging skin, chronic stress does a number on your health and physical appearance. Get your body back on track by finding ways to eliminate or combat the major stressors in your life. If you can’t just ditch the job (or win the lottery), try regular exercise and meditation to help improve your stress levels. These two activities work in concert to help lower blood pressure, fight off that pesky stress-related spare tire, and reduce anxiety.

Try a variety of workout and meditative practice styles until you find something that you can stick with. Yoga is renowned for its stress-busting ability; and some people swear by running. As with exercise, finding the right way to meditate varies based on personal taste. If you need pointers on how to meditate, this infographic from Skin Energizer shows you the basics on getting started. Meditation is a mental exercise—and like any work out, the more you practice, the better you will become at it. And you will reap the benefits even if you haven’t gotten it down to science.