Stress is a physical and psychological force that are experienced in people's daily lives. It is a natural part of life, but stress can be managed. There is good and bad stress. Good stress helps you stay motivated, while bad stress can impact your health negatively.

Physical activity is a good way to reduce that bad stress. Below is a list describing ways in which physical activity can help reduce bad stress.

• Physical activity is an outlet for frustrations. When life's annoyances build up, high-energy exercises can provide an effective release of your negative emotions. It provides a way to transform otherwise potentially unhealthy emotions into motivation for increased exercise which leads to better health and well-being.
  
• Physical activity and exercise decreases stress hormones like cortisol, while increasing your "feel good" endorphins. This naturally relieves pain and can put you in a better mood while relieving some of that stress.
  
• When you feel a lot of stress, exercise can serve as a distraction to get your mind off of your problems.
  
• Consistent exercise also helps you fall asleep faster and improves your sleep quality. Getting enough sleep is always a good stress reducer.

I've noticed that when I'm in good shape and exercise on a consistent basis, I fall asleep a lot faster than when I am not. I went through a phase where my back was hurt and I couldn't exercise as much and I noticed it took me a long longer to fall asleep at night.

I'm going to start a service similar to a shrink for getting rid of stress.

There will be a room setup like an executives office with kids sports trophies, family photos, bottles with tiny ships inside of them, expensive looking furniture, a bag of golf clubs in the corner, etc.

Instead of paying a shrink $400 an hour to talk about your problems, you'll pay according to the level of exeutive you want to explode on and get an hour to destroy anything you want in this room and scream at a real person dressed as an executive (or a shrink) cowering beside a desk with a surprised look on their face.

You're free to threaten, scream at, etc at these people any way you want, if you touch them however two guards will burst in to detain you and you will be prosecuted for assult. Maybe we can work out something with a few of the actors where you can grab them by the collar or similar threatening but not dangerous actions, I don't know about that though.

The cowering people will be actors, the family photos will be staged, the items will be cheap replicas.

They've got something similar in Japan or Thailand, but without the actors. I think the actors are a crucial part.

This is an interesting way to reduce stress! I tried googling info on this type of therapy in Japan or Thailand like you said, but I couldn't find anything. Where did you hear about them doing this at?

I saw it on TV years ago.
They fill about an 8x8 or soo room up with stuff and people pay to smash everything they want in the room.
It was China, Japan, Thailand, Veitnam, or somewhere similar, it's been so long since I saw it I can't remember.

I'll remember this thread if I happen across something about it online, but after a few minutes of searching I realized what all those variations of "Asian stress relief" in my search history might look like and lost interest in looking for it.

I remember seeing this on Spike TV on the man show or something like that. I thought it was a great idea too. I think there is real potential in this... You could also put a look-a-like of Bush up there or some of the AIG guys that gave out bonuses to all of the execs!