Welcome to day two of your stress reduction toolkit.  Hopefully you started your day off with a healthy breakfast and maybe even got in a little bit of morning exercise to kick start your day.

Today we are going to look at step two in reducing stress in your life.  For many people when they,” kick start” their morning they do it with a big cup of coffee.

And yet that very same cup of coffee that you are using to pick you up contains large amounts of caffeine, which can set up the body for stress and tension over the long hall.

Avoiding excessive caffeine especially the kind hidden in soda and energy drinks is the next step in reducing stress and anxiety in your life.  You don’t have to give up coffee but it can help to monitor how much caffeine you are actually taking in on a daily basis.  Explore how much coffee, soda, chocolate, tea, and energy drinks that you consume in any given day.  You may be surprised how much caffeine you are ingesting.

Once you are aware of your habits, choose which things to give up in an effort to lower your overall caffeine intake each day. Rather than feeling you have to give things up completely, make trade offs. Perhaps allowing yourself a  morning cup of coffee and skipping having a soda with lunch.

As you gradually reduce the amount of caffeine you ingest, you will find that your body is less tense and even able to release stress more easily.