Preston Road toilets are the very best on the tube. No perverts, always open, always clean and they never run out of paper. Priceless especially if you have had a beer after work

Most people just live with stress. I believe stress is one of the biggest problems in Western society.

I recently visited Vietnam on vacation. One of the things I noticed was that these people looked extremely healthy and happy. While life in a third world country is tough, they often don’t have to deal with the amount of stress you and I deal with on a daily basis. All they have to worry about is having a simple shack over their heads and some food. Their needs are really simple compared to people living in the US.

Some of the ways I’ve found to be helpful for reducing stress are:

1) Simplify.
I heard a saying once that I really liked “most Americans buy things to impress people they neither like nor care about” I find this to be very profound. Many people equate “stuff” to happiness. To be honest, you don’t need a lot of “stuff” to be happy at all. Whether you live in a big fancy house that requires a huge mortgage payment or a simple smaller house, happiness does not come from your stuff. It comes from having good relationships with yourself, your family and your pets. It comes from contentment and doing things you love.

I played Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow game, and one of the things I got out of it was, the more “doodads” I have, the more income I need to support the doodads. What’s more, when people receive more income in the form of a pay raise, they often increase their spending to match or even exceed their new income.

2) Take a walk
Instead of driving everywhere, try walking a few blocks. I’m not saying that you be a work out junkie. Just walk a few blocks. Park your car not so close to the entrance and walk. Or if your town is conducive, ride a bike around.

3) Learn to breath
A teacher of mine said something very profound to me. He said “Breathing: it’s the first thing you do in life, and it’s the last thing you will ever do in life. It’s really the most important thing in life.” Because breathing is relegated to a subconscious process, most people don’t even think about it and take breathing for granted.

Don’t forget to breath. Just spend a minute or so every day to focus on nothing else but breathing deeply. You’ll be amazed.

4) Take Zen Potion
I recently encountered this pretty cool product a friend of mine recommended called Zen Potion (www.zenpotion.com). I tried it out and it really worked. I was particularly stressed on my last day before going on a vacation. After taking the product, I noticed I was breathing much deeper without conscious thought….and I felt like I was in the middle of a meditation session. It was pretty cool. I don’t know what they have in the product…all it says is “organic Aquageny syrup”, whatever that means, but it works.