A recent study concluded that women aged between 45 to 54 are twice as likely to suffer a stroke than their male counterparts.

This turns previously held beliefs that it’s men that were more at risk on its head. But what has changed?

Well the study, led by Dr Amytis Towfighi of the Stoke Centre and Department of Neurology University in California, pointed to stress and expanding waistlines.

As more women get into business and developing their careers so their stress levels increase. In the UK the Health and Safety Executive claim that over a fifth of employees say stress is the biggest single barrier to their effectiveness at work and women make up just over half of the working population.

Stress is one of the biggest barriers to effectiveness and productivity at work and if left unchecked will damage your health.

Symptoms of prolonged stress include

Not very nice. That’s why it’s important to be usefully self aware of your own warning signals and take some action before your stress levels get out of hand.

So if you find that you’re procrastinating, or feeling more irritable than you have call for, these could be your warning signals. Sometimes clients tell me they can’t make simple decisions, or pay attention to their colleagues or read information and take it in.

Quick Self Help Remedy
If you want some quick self help then try this breathing exercise, you can do it almost anywhere, anytime:
Gently breathe in and out, so that each breath flows naturally into the next. As you breathe in, think ‘peace, calm and tranquillity’ and as you exhale say: ‘relax’, in your mind. Don’t try to block out the noises around you, instead with every sound you hear, allow your level of relaxation to double. Spend just a few moments doing this and when you’re ready come back to full up-time awareness.

If you want more easy and effective self-help exercises like this that will help you get back in control of your stress then why not get my e-book ‘Beat the Burnout Blues’? It’s a step by step plan to help you in the short and long term.

Special Offer
As a bonus if you contact me after you’ve bought it I’ll give you free on-line feedback and support whilst you work your way through the book.