This site contains some free stress management resources, stress management tools, stress management techniques and stress tips for immediate use and over a longer time-frame. Integration Training takes an integral approach to managing stress looking at stress management training from all angles. Take your pick from the stress management training resources, tools, techniques and tips below and give us a call if you or your business would like more help - there is no substitute for professionally led stress management workshops designed for your organisation's needs.

Integration Training is a stress management resources specialist and people often find us online because they or their employees are suffering from stress. Stress management training increases productivity, increases morale and leads to less sick days and lower staff turnover (stress management research HERE). Conducting a stress risk assessment is a legal requirement in the UK and having some good stress management tools and stress management resources is a wise investment for businesses and other organisations.

Ways to Deal With Stress
There are many ways to deal with stress. The challenging part is to find the right approach for you.

Stress is a part of all of our lives. We can't escape it. A certain amount of stress is good for us - it's in our DNA. But sometimes, the pressures of modern everyday life can simply overwhelm us.

The best way of dealing with stress is to take control of it while it's small and before it's become a big problem. This means watching out for the signs and symptoms that are caused by stress, especially if you recognize that you experience a lot of stress on a regular basis. But many people are so used to being stressed that they don't even realize that they're stressed out - because a stressed state is normal to them.

There are ways to deal with stress, but first it's a good idea to know how much anxiety you're carrying. One way of doing that is to take a cardiac stress test. During this test you will be required to perform a basic form of exercise, which will slowly be increased, and as it is, at each stage of increase you will be graded on your ability to keep up. The purpose of this test is to determine just how much stress you are under and what sort of affect it is having on your body.

How Does Stress Affect Health?
Our culture has much to learn about stress, but even today we know without a doubt, that too much stress impacts your health - mental and physical. But exactly how does stress affect health?

Well for one thing, if you're a woman, stress makes you fat, at least indirectly - which is bad for your health. To be exact, the bodies of many women when they become stressed out release excess amounts of cortisol. Cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone", causes and increase in appetite, makes the woman hungry resulting in her eating more food. Additionally, for some reason, Cortisol seems to encourage the body to retain fat.

Stress Management
We can tell by just looking at the faces of the people around us that stress is taking a toll on so many of our lives. Stress management involves retaking control of our lives and living life the way that we want. But stress management involves more than simply managing you stress for one or more occasions. It involves a lifestyle change - and that's the main motivation behind this site.
The average American is under so much stress today - monetary stress, fear of crime stress, family stress. With the day-to-day activities that we do for our jobs, families, friends, co-workers, and so much more that we have to deal with, we sometimes find that we barely have time for ourselves to just sit back and relax. And because of all this, we get stressed out and just wish that the day were over. But, we have to deal with it because it is a part of modern life and we are living in a modern world.

Stress And Weight Gain
We're all familiar with the common perception of how stress and weight gain are linked - especially in women. You'll get stressed out and nervous. The next thing you know you're feeding your mouth - probably with good stuff like chocolate or ice cream, or both. What happens next is predictable - weight gain. So what causes this urge to eat?

The answer is cortisol. Cortisol is the body's natural stress-fighting and anti-inflammatory hormone. It's even called the "stress hormone." When a woman experiences stress it causes her body to generate increased levels of cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels have been associated with increasing or creating hunger urges. This explains her increased desire for food. It's not just her imagination creating food desires - it's her body craving for food.