Does your life make you anxious? Do you find yourself constantly stressed? If you’re not careful, stress, anxiety and worry can take over your life. Like it or not, constant or chronic stress and worry can make you sick. The good news there are simple methods for anxiety and stress relief, that you can put to use right away.

The first step to relieve your stress and anxiety is figuring out exactly what’s stressing you. Once you’ve figured out what it is, ask yourself, “is this something I can change or is it something I have no control over?” By determining the root of your anxiety and stress, you are better prepared to put your anxiety and stress relief program into practice.

For example, if you’re feeling anxious and stressed about the prospect of losing your job, you can take control of this worry. Write down your options and begin to take action. Maybe you can decide to work harder to prove that you’re an indispensable part of the team or maybe you can start searching for a new job. The biggest thing is that you take action. Taking action is one of the surest ways to relieve your stress and anxiety.

When you take the time to examine the facts you’ll find that there are plenty of situations in your life that you can change with a little effort. By uncovering the root of your stress and anxiety you can develop a plan to turn them into something positive. Then when you put your plan into action you can make the changes you want.

Here are 6 stress and anxiety relief tips you can start using today.

1. Understand the root of your anxieties. When you are feeling stressed and anxious, write down exactly what you are doing at the moment so that you can figure out what’s causing your stress and anxiety. Once you have determined the cause you can then figure out ways to relieve your stress and anxiety. Understanding the root cause is a key factor to relieve your stress and anxiety and feeling better about yourself and your current situation.

2. Breathe, really breathe. Once you’ve pinpointed the things you need to change, sit back and take time to breathe. You see, when you are stressed out you don’t breathe properly. This form of relaxation is excellent for stress reduction and can help you calm your racing heart and give you peace of mind.

Breathing shallowly and rapidly can give you a panic or anxiety attack. You can control this. Relaxation is a natural part of deep breathing. Take a few moments to put your mind in a state of relaxation by breathing some slow, deep breaths. Not only will this relieve your stress and anxiety, it will help you regain your focus. Deep breathing is one of the best anxiety and stress relief skills you can learn and apply.

3. Visualization – One of the things I use for all the time for managing my and my clients stress is visualization and hypnosis. You see visualization and hypnosis have been shown to be some of the most effective ways to overcome stress and anxiety.

Since you use visualization every day for everything from “seeing” your route home while still sitting in your chair at work to “seeing” a recipe turn into a cake as you mix the ingredients, why not use your power of visualization to relieve your stress?

To begin, choose a quiet, dark space in your home. Light some candles if you’d like, and close your eyes. Imagine yourself in your ideal situation, a place for you that you can enjoy in a relaxed manner. Feel your calmness coming over your body. Visualize relaxation and let your body go limp.  Using this stress reduction technique helps you let go of your cares and worries. Now visualize yourself feeling better as you reduce the size and source of your stress. Don’t you feel better already? Of course you do! Positive visualization is one of the most powerful ways to relieve stress and anxiety while moving you in a positive direction.

4. Use affirmations. An affirmation is simply a positive statement you say about yourself. Affirmations can quickly change the way you habitually talk to yourself while improving your world view. An additional benefit is that positive affirmations can help to reverse the negative messages about you that have been constantly coming into your mind.

Positive statements, repeated over and over in your head are excellent stress coping skills. For example, when you start to feel stressed, you can repeat something like: “I let go of unnecessary stress in my life to make way for peace.” or “I deserve peace and recognize its value for my health, productivity and relationships.”

You will find that repeating positive thoughts in your mind you will go a long way to help you relieve your stress and anxiety. You body and emotions will follow the lead of your mind.

5. Develop good health habits. What would happen if you put contaminated gasoline into your gas tank? It might run, but it wouldn’t run nearly as well as it could. The same goes for you body. You can feed it junk food and soda, but just like your car it won’t run as well. If you abuse your body with junk foods or drugs and alcohol, your body and mind will react in a negative way. In fact, just like your car, your body will become stressed and anxious from the poor fuel you put into it and eventually stop running altogether.

Eating a well-balanced diet and exercise regularly is an excellent method for anxiety and stress relief. The stronger your body is, the stronger the mind is also. Taking good care of your body is one of the easiest ways to relieve stress and anxiety and managing your worries.

6. Ask for help. Although it would be great to be able to solve all of our own problems it’s just not realistic. Find someone who has been in the same situation. Ask them how they handled their situation. Reaching out to friends and family or seeking professional help can do wonders to help you to relieve your stress and anxiety.

Sometimes when you’re in the midst of a difficult time you can think that you are the only one that has ever gone through this situation. Once you’ve talked to someone who has gone through and overcome what you’re experiencing, it restores the hope that you too can do the same.

One last thing, stress and anxiety are a part of everyday life. If you begin using some of these ways to relieve your stress and anxiety it will make a huge difference in your life. Stop letting stress and anxiety control you. By using these tips you can take hold of the steering wheel of your life and guide it in the direction of anxiety and stress relief.

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy and author of an e-Course “Steps to reducing your stress“ that you can have at absolutely no charge. Drop by http://www.beststressreliefinfosite.com/ for your copy today