Stress is such a big part of modern life.

We are constantly moving, listening, playing, thinking, watching, talking, eating and doing, and we're putting more stress on our minds and bodies than ever before.

Well...I can't really say that definitively. Maybe we were super stressed out during the evoluntionary process. And the Ice Age would have been pretty intense too. Ok, let's just say for argument's sake then - right now, we're stressed the f*ck out.

Today's young adult female has a million things to stress about (except dinosaurs, thankfully)...and we just make the situation worse everyday, jamming more and more into our lives.

It's more than a little human can, or should need to handle.

Especially a girl that's trying to be easy, breezy, and even beautiful, if it'll get her a CoverGirl contract from Tyra Banks.

Stop being crap: A proper lady doesn't sweat...the small stuff

I went to a doctor the other day, just to refill some prescriptions, and you know, shoot the sh*t about the state of the national healthcare system.

Right as we were wrapping things up, he asked if there was anything else I needed.

"Well," I said, "I am quite stressed. I've been travelling a lot, had a lot on at work, and what with current hot topics like the unrest in the Middle East and various natural catastrophes making me feel so damn anxious, I've become quite highly strung. Higher strung than usual, see. Like Pamela Anderson's Baywatch swimsuit. What would you suggest for that?"

"Hannah," he said, in the kind of British accent that only doctors and other really super smart people should be allowed to use, "Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to help you there. The solution to stress can't be found in a pill bottle. It's in you, in your head." Ah, crap. I was scared he'd say that.

He sent me off with a smug grin and a recommendation to try and relax more. Buy a book about it, he said.

If I had a book for everytime someone told me that...well, I'd have as many books as I do now.

But, doctors orders, so I bought a book. And bugger me, it's actually helping.

Buying a book will make everything better

I've bought plenty of self-help books in my time.

Books make you feel like you're taking action toward an issue in your life, and parting with $10 is a lot easier than actually taking real action.

But, in my ever enthusiastic pursuit of stopping being crap, I thought I'd make a real effort with this one.

Putting stress-less to the test

The tube. The London Underground. The most depressing place on earth.

I don't think I've ever managed to complete a rush-hour commute on the Underground without achieving a heightened level of tension.

Never been? Oh, then please, allow me to explain.

First, you have to navigate through the station area, avoiding eye contact with anybody, then you make your way underground, down stairs or endless escalators, bags bumping into your arm and leg thanks to every person that has somewhere more pressing to be, trotting past on the left hand side. It gets better.

You find yourself in the deep, dank recesses of one of the oldest cities in the world, mice scrambling across the dirty train tracks, hot, gritty air blowing in your face, people streaming in front and behind you, shoving, trying to find a spare spot at the edge of the platform.

The train arrives. Force comes at your back, propelling you into the carriage, and head first into the warm armpitty embrace of a stranger. The doors close and you're suspended upright, wedged between your fellow passengers, breathing the same air, sharing elbow space, grunting passive aggressively with every jab from the corner of their newspaper to your cheek. It sounds like some twisted public transport commuter orgy, but it's not quite that much fun.

The perfect testing ground for my new no-stress strategies.

And after a week of rush-hour practice, here's what got me through the single most aggravating part of my day...

Looking at things from their perspective - I've been making a major effort to be compassionate to the people around me. The man walking slowly in front of me and holding me up? He doesn't know his way around the tube yet, remember what that was like? The woman who ran to steal the free seat in front of me? She's wearing heels, her feet are probably killing her. You've totally been there. It makes you think of others ahead of yourself, and how you want to help them. Seriously.

Everyone's trying to teach me something - The Underground is the perfect place to learn to be patient. And every single person who's there, *is* there to help teach you. Every encounter has a lesson, so how can you ever get angry at someone for helping you grow? Like the pompous asshole that wouldn't put down his Sudoku long enough to help an elderly woman off the train this morning. Brilliant. He taught me not to be a pompous asshole.

Let yourself get bored - I like to go into a bubble when I'm commuting. Earphones in, iPod on, book in front of my nose. I have this urgent need to entertain myself, as the thing I'm stuck doing is SO boring. But, maybe it's not so bad to be bored? I've stopped listening to music, stopped reading, or playing games. I just sit, or stand, still. Close my eyes, or people watch. Breathe, and let myself have a moment. It's the only time of the day I get where I have no choice but to chill.

It isn't an emergency - When you travel on the tube for a few months, you get caught up in the quickness of it all. Everyone's in a hurry, pushing past their slower counterparts, and racing for the trains. So you start pushing, and running too to keep up. But when you think about it, there's really no need, is there? Why are you in such a hurry? Did you leave a child under the age of 12 unattended in the office with a wild tiger accidentally overnight?

Smile at strangers and they might smile back - When I first moved to London, I used to smile at people, and strike up conversations with strangers. Or, try to at least. Generally, if you speak to someone, or even look at someone on the tube, you will be considered, from that point on, and by all people within the carriage, crazy. But that's just because Londoners are some of the most sour people on earth. Who gives a crap. Take a chance, smile at people. Maybe once in a while they'll smile back, and things won't seen so bad after all.

Stop the snowball before it starts - Often, when you're on the Underground, you're on your way to work, and you start thinking about work. But, you're under ground, so you can't actually start doing any work. You just sit there and simmer in all of the things you have to do that day. This snowball of stress starts in your head, and by the time you get off the train, your shoulders are holding up your earlobes, and you're in a terrible state to start the day. If you find yourself starting to worry about work, stop. Stop your mind from getting carried away, and wait to worry about things when you're at your desk and can actually do something about them.

If these strategies can work on the Underground, I figure they can work anywhere, and they have been!

I haven't once wanted to inflict physical pain on any of my fellow commuters, or anyone else I've come across for that matter. I feel calm, and more in control, and I'm only a few chapters into the book.

Maybe my $10 was well spent for once.

Anyway, I may be coping with my stress issues the 'right' way now, but I maintain my belief that the good Doctor was holding out on me.