February 19th, 2009 | by Riki Quinn
“Eighty percent of drivers are angry most or all of the time while driving“, this according to Yahoo! Geocites. It’s a scary notion considering road rage is a major cause of accidents. I myself have felt the symptoms many times while driving. It’s like the moment we enter a car our fuses automatically get shorter and anything that gets in our way sets us off immediately. Someone cuts you off, your face turns red, you feel your blood boil inside you. All that rage has to have an outlet and it ranges from the more mild cursing, laying on the horn, giving the finger, up to the more aggressive “payback” by tailgating, chasing and cutting off the person in return, purposely slamming into the guy, and even pulling a gun. I’m sure you agree that none of this is good. Besides the potential danger, anger and stress are just not healthy; they cause high blood pressure, stomach pain, head aches, and ultimately can lead to heart attacks.
It is especially difficult to drive relaxed if you are in a hurry or live in a high-strung place to begin with. According to experts at Drivers.com, we are not giving ourselves enough time to reach our destinations. If anything interferes with our time goals we become frustrated and angry. Maybe it’s time to make time our friend and not our enemy, and stop racing against it. It also helps to try and change our perspective about the different obstacles in the road that we are sure are most certainly out to get us. If you’re on the way to an important meeting and you get stuck in traffic, it doesn’t help to fret and get stressed out about it. Acknowledge that there is nothing you can do about it and relax.
And what if you just can’t relax? Well, I recommend breathing. It’s an amazing tool. And the most effective in relaxing your body (besides a massage, but most of us don’t travel with our private massage therapist with us at all times). The next time someone is driving slowly in the fast lane when you’re in a hurry, cuts you off or you’re stuck in traffic, take a deep breath. Say to yourself: “relax, getting angry won’t help me right now, just relax”.
If you’ve come to a complete stop, either at a traffic light or because of a jam and you’re going crazy with anxiety because you’re so late, try this meditative breathing exercise: In your minds eye follow the oxygen as it enters your nose and mouth, goes down your throat, into your torso, down your hands to your finger tips, and down your legs to your toes. If it’s an unusually long traffic jam you can take this a step further by imagining all the tiny cells filling with oxygen as well. Alternatively, envision light instead of oxygen, taking the same course through your body. You can choose a color for the light: blue is said to be the most soothing, green has heeling properties, white is purifying etc. Just don’t fall asleep while you’re doing this, you might cause more road rage around you by not moving at the exact moment that traffic begins to move…
So please, drive safely, and most importantly, drive calmly. Remember, the road of rage is the road to disaster.
Image source: Paul Stevenson
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