I taught myself to meditate, the practice got me through my senior year of high school with relative sanity. I'm still learning the process, and I'm still honing my practice of it, it's not something that one masters overnight.

If you do want to give meditation a try, you have to ask yourself what the best way you learn things is. Some people learn better from books, others need the interactive element of a class setting.

I don't think I meditated before to relieve stress - so good luck on that one, Adam.

Not to offend anyone who does yoga or meditation, but I really can't do it well. I've done yoga, but it just hurts me. P: I'm not very flexible. Though meditation is okay.

What I do is usually go whack around the punchbag in the basement. Because I take karate, a few combos on the bag usually works out my issues. Or I just read a good book or maybe listen to some music.

Lots of stress, and not that much time to handle it. *sighs*

I don't meditate to relieve stress. Sports are always good. Especially ones where you're hitting something. Like tennis, that's what I usually play. If I'm really pissed off at something I tend to play better :P But maybe that only works with stress related to anger. Hmmm . . .

~Colleen the Great~X_X

Personally i think of a blank piece of paper and listed to dead scilence O.o

Okay this might sound strange but to make myself get rid of stress, I usually take a nice, long bath, sleep a long nap or when I'm really stressed out, I just grab my playstation control and throw some beat'em'up video game and just play till my heart is content.

Ermmm but yeah you should definitely do something healthier like Yoga or meditation, though. >_>'

I find the easiest ways to relieve stress are 1) getting out and doing something (anything) physically strenuous, like yoga or iaido or what have you; or 2) just talking to people about it, 'cause once you start telling someone else about your load, and you're trying to help them understand just how weighed down you are . . . you suddenly realise that you're not all that weighed down.

For me personally, I tend to grab some big-band jazz or some neo-classical electronica, and just sit and listen to them for about a half hour or so, as long as I need to. It's especially helpful when I've got it playing in the background while I take care of stuff.

Also you could see if there's anything you're doing voluntarily that's adding to the stress factor and really isn't necessary.

I do yoga. That's a pretty relaxing thing. You should give that a shot. Or you could buy one of those relaxation tapes and listen to that.

Good luck! :]

xoxo,
Britty

You could always try Yoga or Tai Chi, as well. I've dabbled in Yoga, and next semester I'm taking it as a PE class. I always feel refreshed and energized (on the rare occassions, as I've only dabbled).

Going to a stress clinic could also help. Our campus has one (very small private college). And since you're in NY, you should be able to find one easily.

If nothing else, a good massage might help.

Good luck relieving your stress!

I practice meditation. I just first start off getting in a comfy sitting position, close my eyes, and then start deep breathing. There are various ways to doing it. Right now I'm focusing on my breathing, but a popular way is to imagine one hand clapping.

I have to much stress to notice if it's helped or not yet =_=

I know it sounds stupid, but taking a nap might help...

Meditation for me is time to communicate with God. I sing hymns, pray, read scriptures, and most important for the meditation part-be still and quiet. Shutting out the world and worries from around you to ponder and reflect.

If you want to research about meditation, I took a World Religion class where I was exposed to meditating {as in it's more than humming with your legs crossed}. If I remember right, you can read about meditation in Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth"

Don't know if this helps, but I hope it does in some way

Never done meditation, but you should get into Iaido instead! Classical Japanese swordplay is quite good at relieving stress. :P