If we are creating a recipe for a less stressful life, after cutting caffeine Stephen Cherniske, M.S., nutritional biochemist, suggests focusing on your quality of life by reducing the background stressors. Cherniske directs our attention to another very popular part of the American diet, television, and suggests turning it off.  Turn it off to make time for relationships with family, friends, pets (that’s my addition), neighbors, and the groups/organizations that nurture you spiritually, whether it be a church, mosque or synagogue, and where you feel a sense of community.

This is a perfect time of year to remember how precious time with family and friends can be.  Family gatherings can remind us of the value of time together and bonds renewed.  Recently my brother returned from his wife’s family reunion which is an every-other-year summer ritual.  He reveled in stories of various family members and, most importantly for him, that fact that everyone attending had taken time to be together and relax together.  He clearly had been renewed and, no doubt, others had also.
 
Yes, spend time with Rover or your furry feline, too. You can have this kind of TLC (tender loving care) right at home.  To be stressed with a dog at your feet or a cat in your lap is almost impossible!

Here is an additional list of 52 other things that you can do to reduce everyday stress from prepping for rising the next day the evening before to doing preventative maintenance on your car, appliances, and relationships to avoid a major breakdown. These suggestions are provided by folks that should know, the National Headache Foundation.

Enjoy the process of discovering what helps reduce tension in your life and share your ideas with the rest of us!