Being a teenager in high school, stress can come from every part of your life. While juggling academics, sports, activities, clubs, friends, relationships, family, and school work, it is important to stay healthy and minimize the stress you put on yourself and your body. Here are a few ways to lower your stress and stay more relaxed when things start to get difficult.

• Being an athlete in high school can put a lot of stress on you physically and mentally. When getting hurt in a sport, or developing aches and pains you should ice and heat the parts of your body that are hurting every day. According to your sport, you should take the appropriate amount of days off to let your body rest. Never taking a break can cause exhaustion and lead to additional injuries. Another way to reduce stress on your body is to have friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, or parents massage you occasionally. Massages can heal knots, relax muscles, and relieve pains. It is also very important to have healthy relationships with coaches and teammates. You should always have a positive attitude and respect for coaches and teammates. In having bad relationships with people in your sport, conflict can cause loads of stress in your daily routine.

• School work and keeping grades up can be very stressful to many students. One of the biggest ways to reduce stress in school is to stay on task and limit procrastinate. Start your work and projects as soon as possible. The faster you get your work done the sooner you have nothing to worry about. Forgetting things you are supposed to do and due dates can also cause stress on you. If you are forgetful have a separate notebook to write down assignments, dates and anything else you need to remember. Also, many students get stressed because they do not understand the things that they are taught and cannot focus during class. The biggest distraction for most students is their cell phones. During class time, you will reduce stress if you put your phone away in your bag when class starts and pay attention to the teacher and what you are learning. Do not let yourself take your phone out until pre-dismissal, when you have free time.

•  Stress can also come from the people in your life. You should only be around people that you enjoy being with and have positive influences on you. Only make time for people that care about you and want what’s best for you. Being with the wrong crowd can lead to social stress and bad decisions. With friends and relationships you should always manage your time. Being out all the time can lead to work not being done, disorganization and exhaustion. During the week give friends a few nights to hang out with, and also give yourself a few nights to stay home by yourself, get organized and get rest.

Doing these small things can easily relive most of the stress in your life. All of these steps are simple and easy and very effective in relaxing you mentally and physically. Keeping your stress levels down is very important to your health and your happiness.