How do you relax & reduce the effects of everyday stress?

Many people go through life with increasing levels of stress. Stress is a necessary response to have but it is supposed to be a short term response, not a long term response.

Long term stress lowers the immune system, increases the risk of heart problems and the chances of developing cancer, interrupts sleep patterns affecting the quality and the quantity of the sleep and affects relationships and increase the susceptibility to getting addictions.

When you become excessively stressed (which happens when a situation becomes more than you can deal with) the emotional part of the brain takes control. This then shuts down the logical part of the brain lowering your intelligence to that of a young child whilst at the same time shutting down the digestive system and releasing adrenaline and other stress hormones into the body ready to fight or run away.

What is needed is to learn to relax. We all have an Ultradian Rhythm which is a 90-120 minute cycle of stress and relaxation. The relaxation 'dips' are usually about 90 minutes apart. These are times your mind/body is telling you to stop and relax and let it change hemispheric dominance as well as updating patterns in the brain. This is the time you find your mind wandering and daydreaming, or that you want to carry out addictive behaviour, etc...

By using these natural dips to accept them and go with them rather than fighting to overcome them with stimulants etc you can reduce the daily stress level. Using these 'dips' is like eating little and often for the mind/body and emotional wellbeing. It is also useful to have a couple of times a day when you go deeper like before bed to help you sleep, or mid afternoon when your Ultradian Rhythm and Circadian Rhythm and responses from eating food all kick in at once.

A comfortable period of relaxation can boost work productivity and efficiency. Can increase your ability to handle challenges and boost your immune system.

Attached as are two tracks: A deep trance track designed with many metaphors and rhythms and patterns for positive mind/body health and wellbeing (a suitable track for the periods of longer and deeper relaxation). The other track is a shorter track (about 11 minutes) to use in these Ultradian 'dips' and to help you to learn to relax.

I'm interested to know of other tracks or ideas people use to manage day to day stress and what tips other have to share? And what types of tracks people prefer when taking time to relax during a day and why (for example; guided meditation, structured hypnotic induction, authoritarian, permissive, etc, or even no track at all just self induced self hypnosis or using an anchor)?