Anxiety is a common human emotion, but it can have a significant impact on your happiness and hinder your ability to lead a normal life. If you suffer from anxiety on a regular basis, you can take action to control your emotions. Here are some ways you can lessen feelings of anxiety and feel less stressed.

Learn to Recognize False Alarms

Anxiety is sometimes triggered by the fear of certain events transpiring, such as losing your job. In many instances, your panic is not warranted. If you begin to experience the signs of anxiety, such as shallow breathing and a rapid heartbeat, take time to recognize what events led to those feelings.

By recognizing those events and your reaction to them, you can potentially avoid an anxiety attack. For instance, if you feel anxious when it is time to pay bills, you can take some time to acknowledge those feelings and do exercises to help alleviate those feelings so that irrational fear about distant or non-existent consequences doesn't take over. 

Establish a Worry Time

Instead of dwelling on subjects that lead to anxiety all day, establish a set time each day to focus on those subjects. For instance, you could opt to take 30 minutes each evening and focus on those areas that worry you.

By establishing to yourself a set time of day to worry, you can start to train your brain to focus on worrying only during that set period instead of throughout the day. It could take days or even weeks to accomplish this, but with consistency, you can be stress-free throughout the day.

Get a Massage

Therapeutic massage therapy can help alleviate anxiety. During a massage, serotonin and oxytocin are increased. Both substances contribute to lowering stress levels. At the same time, endorphins are released throughout the body, which helps to elevate your mood.

Anxiety also manifests in physical forms, such as tension in the shoulders and headaches. Massage therapy can also help with that. Regular therapy helps to loosen muscles in those key areas. As an added benefit, the relaxed feeling you experience from the therapy often leads to a better night's sleep, which will also reduce anxiety.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association, even if your anxiety is the result of other health conditions, such as cancer or stroke, you can still experience relief of your symptoms from the therapy.

There are many other ways you can alleviate anxiety. Consult with a therapist, like those at Bakke Chiropractic Clinic SC, to learn what else you can do to become stress-free.