The mark consists of The LIGHTEN Model for Stress Relief L - Livelihood (career) The average American spends 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. We are likely to spend more time at work than we spend with our loved ones, and many of us with workaholic tendencies will work more hours than we sleep. If your career is sucking every available hour of our day, or even if it just seems that way, getting balance with stress relief tools will be extremely important. I - Imagination Imagination can can help you get out of a stressful situation. Many stress relief tools will require you to imagine something, so you will need to let the creative side of your brain have a little fun as you visualize overcoming your stressful situation. Your conscious mind - which makes up five percent of your brain activity - allows you to focus and visualize something that is totally new and unique - something you've never physically experienced before. G - Genius (mind) Most stress is mental. It's imperative that you find stress relief tools that work for you to calm your mind. And while the imagination part of your conscious mind is important, equally important will be your ability to get in touch with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is your auto pilot. It runs your body 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also is in charge of things like memories, habits and physical sensations and what they mean to you. Based on my professional training, real and sustained change happens on the subconscious level, so you have to make sure your subconscious and conscious minds are in alignment. H - Health The most important part of the LIGHTEN Model, hands down. This is the inspiration for why I developed this model. If you don't have your health, all else doesn't really matter. You won't have the energy nor the willingness to take action. Think about it - when you have had a bad flu, do you want to do anything other than sleep? Me neither. T - Time Time is important because you need to take action. Taking action like trying a few tools and techniques TODAY - not tomorrow or next week. Right now. Why? Because humans by nature don't like change, and experimenting with a new stress relief tool is indeed change. So commit to taking action and trying different stress relief tools until you have a handful of "go-to" techniques you can rely on. E - Environment Your environment - whether it is at work, school or home - is critical to your success. Some stress relief tools you will need to have silence around you to implement. Some tools will need you to sit down while you implement them. Whatever tool(s) you decide to implement, make sure the environment around you is supportive of your efforts. N - Network (relationships) The people in your life matter. Your family, friends and significant other play a huge role in your stress level, and your stress level plays a huge role in your interactions with your personal relationships. Stress depletes us, sapping our cognitive resources. This means that you are less patient and less able to give your relationships the benefit of the doubt when they behave badly. Stress also makes people more irritable and hostile, which increases the likelihood of fighting. When fighting, stress may make people less able to listen or show interest and empathy. In short, stress turns non-issues into issues and prevents your ability to deal with the issue constructively.