Month 4: Manage Your Stress

Oz Tip: Among the major stresors in our lives are Nagging Unfinished Tasks (NUTs, I call them). Try to identify the NUTs in your life and then resolve to fix them, so they don’t become a constant source of anxiety.

Stress is good. Stress is bad. So which one is it? It’s both.

Stressful events raise our adrenaline, focus our thinking, and help us make instantaneous decisions (like swerving out of the way of an oncoming car). But chronic stress—a micromanaging boss, a troubled teenager—can put our bodies into a kind of long-term, hyperalert status, lowering our immunity and making us susceptible to illness.

You can train your body to respond more positively to stress, though. Start with these exercises.