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"I wish I could meditate. Really, I do. I&amp;#039;ve just never been able to sit still long enough. So lately when I feel the need to calm my anxious mind, I&amp;#039;ve been trying something else: Distraction. For me, distraction has to be an active pursuit. I just can&amp;#039;t sit around daydreaming or picturing myself on a beach for more than about 30 seconds. To engage my brain while keeping stressful thoughts at bay, I need to actually do something. That something\u2014for now\u2014appears to be playing games.  For step 1 in my little experiment I downloaded Tetris to my cell phone. I started playing it on my train ride home and soon realized that I couldn&amp;#039;t concentrate on anything else simultaneously\u2014which is a good thing. So instead of seething about something that went wrong earlier that day, I concentrated on getting to the next level (don&amp;#039;t worry, I muted the music so other passengers wouldn&amp;#039;t try to murder me).  Step 2 was the NeoCube. This gadget is basically a bunch of small but super-strong magnetic spheres that you can manipulate into a bunch of different shapes.  At first it looked so simple that I thought it might be boring, but it&amp;#039;s much harder than it seems! It took me nearly a week of daily practice before I could figure out how to make the most basic 3D cube shape. It now sits on my coffee table so I can play with it while watching TV. So it not only relieves stress\u2026 it also prevents me from doing other less-healthy things to relieve stress (like eating when I&amp;#039;m not hungry).  Step 3 is the Rubik&amp;#039;s cube. I vaguely remembered playing with one as a child, but I figured now that I&amp;#039;m a grownup, how hard can it be? Wrong. I recently took it on a road trip and played with it for a good two hours each way (no, I wasn&amp;#039;t the driver). I&amp;#039;m not any closer to solving it, but it did prevent me from going bonkers while sitting in terrible traffic.  What do you do to destress? If playing games appeals to you (it helps your brainpower, too!), check out these fun online options.  \u2014Barbara Brody, Health Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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