Now that you've reached the end of this book, you will be in a much stronger position to handle stress because you have an understanding of what happens in your mind and body and how the link between the two affects your thoughts and feelings. There's a lot of information in this little book, so you might like to re-read sections that apply to you, as well as the advice that appeals to you.

You know having read this far that there are no quick fixes, but there are plenty of ways available to handle stress. Now is the time to explore these different methods and to find what process leads you to feeling calm, able to handle the challenges of life and to enjoy life too. We've given you a lot to think about in terms of why and how you get into a state in the first place – and we don't want you to forget that changing this into a calm state is more about doing something rather than thinking your way out of it.

We hope that the key messages have resonated with you: that feeling calm isn't about being permanently laid back, that once you understand how much stress your body can handle you can protect yourself from excess stress, and that it's possible to even thrive on stress.

Of course we hope that, having come this far, you will feel optimistic about developing the skills to be calm in difficult situations and so you'll go back to this book again and again. You might even enjoy the process a tiny bit, dare we say, you may even get excited. Before you sat down to read this book you might never have imagined that stress can be rebranded into excitement, that you can rev it up in a good way to go on a fabulous journey rather than allowing it drive you to a crash.

We've provided you with the tools to be your own stress manager and to develop a system to find moments of calm in your life. Through our coaching questions and tests you can discover which situations derail you and trigger you. We've included the latest scientific research so that you know why it's medically important to get a handle on stress, and which methods of doing so really are effective. Through our panel of six leading experts you have a multi-dimensional view on the umbrella that is stress.

However you choose to use this book from now on, one thing is definite. If you want to be calm, it's a wish and a need you have to commit to on a daily basis. However you do that is up to you, and we hope you will embrace some or many of the suggestions. But remember not to allow yourself from now on to spiral into a negative state that's so deep that climbing out of it is a wrench. It's better to make one tiny change at a time, every day, than attempt a major change every few months that isn't sustainable. (Hello New Year's Resolutions – or rather goodbye.)

We wish you all the best calm moments every day in as many ways that you can find them. A calm life is an engaged and excited life, because calmness gives you the energy to live your life the way you want to.