1. Take a stroll: One of the easiest ways to cope with everyday stress, is to take a walk. Take a stroll around the neighborhood, climb steps in your building, finish your grocery shopping... step out! If going for a stroll is not possible, go to your kitchen garden or open the window. Breathe in... you will immediately feel able to face the day again and resume your activities.
2. Music: Music is a wonderful way to reduce your heart rate and anxiety levels. Listening to soothing sounds like birds chirping, or the flow of water helps calm the mind and helps it relax. You can always crank up the volume button and rock your blues away to the upbeat music... or you can sing at the top of your voice, if it works for you!
3. Yoga and other exercises: For thousands of years, yoga has proved to have answers to all life's maladies. Some simple asanas like a spinal twist, shavasana (corpse pose) or balasana (child's pose) etc can help you relax completely and reduce your stress levels dramatically. Stress, leads to muscle stiffness, so doing these asanas, which include stretch to the muscles, help relieve stress.
Besides yoga, any other form of exercise, releases endorphins in the body. These are chemicals that make you feel 'high' and induce a sense of well-being. Along with exercises, breathing techniques like meditation helps you alleviate stress levels and calms the mind. Also forms like hypnosis and reiki can help in highly stressful conditions.
4. Goof it up: The adage 'laughter is the best medicine' proves true in highly stressed conditions. Laughter reduces the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone and boosts the working of the brain. It increases the blood flow and distracts you from excess anxiety. So, rent a comedy, or swap jokes.
5. Take a whiff: Some highly aromatic oils like anise, basil, eucalyptus, lemon etc when inhaled directly or added to your bath water helps reduce the stress related tension in the body. Depending on the scent, you can either stimulate your brain or can relax the mind.
6. Massage: if possible, indulge in some massage therapy. Massage increases blood circulation in the body and the brain. This helps flush out many toxins and even soothes the many aches and pains that arise due to muscle stiffness, as a result of excessive stress.
There are many ways in which you can fight stress and not let it overcome you. Recognize that you are under stress and take measures accordingly.
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