Stressed out? Here are tips to lower stress. Feel free to add yours.

Everyone feels stressed out sometimes, but if you don't keep your stress level in check, it could become overwhelming.

Studies have shown the benefits of lowering stress , and that high levels of worry and stress can negatively impact your health. In 2010, researchers at the University of Rochester School of Medicine found that people with higher job stress also had a higher body mass index (BMI) than employees with less stressful positions.

A 2006 study from Tel Aviv University in Israel showed that workers who experienced high stress levels were 1.8 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. And another 2006 study from the University of California at San Francisco showed that stress-triggered hormones could worsen or even cause skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema.

1. Try journaling

Keeping a journal can lessen stress in several ways, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). When you're feeling frazzled, writing down your feelings makes you feel more in control, and may help you better analyze the situation. It can even give you a new perceptive or ways to address the problem.

And by looking over past journal entries, you may begin to see a pattern of what stresses you out, according to the NIH. You can then decide what needs to change to prevent those stress triggers from affecting you in the future.

2. Hug it out:

Oxytocin, which is also known as the "cuddle hormone," is involved in social bonding, but can also help to lower stress levels. Produced in the brain's hypothalamus, oxytocin is then transferred to the pituitary gland, which releases the hormone into the bloodstream.

Several animal studies have shown that the hormone relieves stress and anxiety in social settings. In a 2007 study, researchers separated prairie voles, which are Midwestern rodents, from their siblings. The isolated prairie voles exhibited signs of anxiety, stress and depression, but these symptoms abated after they were injected with oxytocin.

The body naturally produces oxytocin during sex, childbirth and breastfeeding. But the "love hormone" can also be released during simple physical contact, such as a friendly hug. Even playing with your dog can boost oxytocin levels, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior.

3:Get a massage

Getting a massage not only helps you relax and ease muscle tension, it may also impact your hormone levels in a positive way, according to a 2010 study.

Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that after receiving a 45-minute massage, participants had decreased levels of cortisol , a stress hormone, and vasopressin, a hormone believed to play a role in aggressive behavior.

4: Laugh hard and often

The old adage that laughter is the best medicine rings true if you're looking for a stress cure.

A study conducted at Loma Linda University in 2001 found that participants who viewed a funny video experienced a decrease in the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine. They also had an increase in endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that boost mood and relieve depression, and
in human growth hormone, which boosts the immune system.

Laughter doesn't just help us deal with stress or emotional pain it helps us handle physical pain as well. In September, researchers at the University of Oxford in England found that laughter raises our tolerance for pain by stimulating a release of endorphins.

5. Meditate to mellow out:

Numerous studies have shown the positive benefits of meditation, which include soothing stress, decreasing blood pressure, easing feelings of pain and even preventing relapses in patients with depression.

For example, a 2008 study from Emory University in Atlanta showed that Zen meditation, which encourages mental awareness and control of one's thoughts while focusing on breathing, could treat disorders marked by distracting thoughts, such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.

There are many different meditation techniques, so don't think that you're required to sit cross-legged and hum a mantra to de-stress. Some meditation styles focus on clearing one's mind, while others encourage visualizing healing or calming imagery or thinking kind thoughts towards oneself and others.

Those with physical limitations can also meditate while sitting in a chair or even lying down.

6. Get moving:

One reason exercise is so good at relieving stress is because it reduces cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone released from the adrenal gland in times of stress, such as when you feel anxiety, anger or fear. Chronically elevated cortisol levels ultimately inflame and can even damage organs.

Exercise burns cortisol, and thereby makes us healthier and happier, Debbie Mandel, author of "Turn On Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul" (Busy Bee Group, 2003), told LiveScience. Exercise also stimulates the brain's pituitary gland to release endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that have naturally feel-good effects.

The CDC recommends doing muscle-strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) two or more days a week, as well as at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as speed-walking, every week.

That may seem like a lot, but just going out for a brisk, 10-minute walk three times a day for five days a week will add up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity.

7. Get more sleep

Getting adequate sleep doesn't just make you look better, it also improves your health and helps you stress less, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Unfortunately, poor sleep and stress can be a vicious cycle: feeling stressed out during the day can cause you to toss and turn at night, then feel tired and even more stressed the following day.

A 2010 study from the Clayton Sleep Institute in St. Louis, Mo., showed that people with chronic stress reported shorter sleep duration and worse sleep quality. The researchers also found that individuals who slept less were more likely to report feeling more stress.