It happens to us all – whether its our high-pressure job, our children not listening to us (not that this happens at OUR house…), traffic jams, or whatever – stress happens and it has been proven that not only is it no fun, but if you don’t handle it well – it can actually do harm to your body.

According to a recent article in OnHealth magazine, a study by German researchers showed that taking a sporting event too seriously can hurt your heart. Who knew? They “found that the number of emergency-romm visits for heart problems more than doubled during and soon after a stressful sporting event.”

Not only can it hurt your heart, stress has been linked to type 2 diabetes, impared immunity, as well as worsening acne, asthma, depression and a whole host of other things.

So there are some great alternatives to screaming, cursing, yelling, horn beeping etc. Some ideas, according to the article:

• Sip a soothing cup of tea
• Tell it all to a friend
• Take a quick 5 minute walk to “cool off”
• Breathe slowly and deeply – focusing on the tension in your body
• Tense and relax each muscle
• Sing a soothing song
• Stretch
• Visualize a relaxing, peaceful scene
• (this one could be the hardest!) Turn off your cellphone and ignore email

Try it and make your heart happy!!