There's so much going on in the world today that almost everyone is feeling stressed out! Excess emotional stress aggravates chronic pain. So what can you do? Below are a few tips that you can use to lower your stress level:

• Count to ten--Sounds simple, but slowly counting to ten when you feel very stressed out can help to calm you down. It gives you a moment to re-center
• Breathe slowly--Sit still and put one hand over your lower abdomen.Breathe in through your nose for a count of five and feel your abdomen expand as you take the air in. Breathe out through your mouth for a count of five and feel your abdomen deflate. Repeat this a few times.
• Close your eyes--close your eyes and cover them with the palms of your hands. Take ten deep breaths in and out.

Learn more about stress management on Stress.about.com