Seven ways to de-stress yourself while behind the wheel

Seven ways to de-stress yourself while behind the wheel!

By: Soudamini Mujumdar

Driving on roads in Indian cities can be an exhausting and frustrating affair. With the increasing number of vehicles plying on Indian roads, the problems of traffic congestion in metropolitans has become an ever increasing issue. This concern is being attempted to be resolved by the governments and civic bodies using flyovers, widening of roads, filling potholes and clearing encroachments, but the pace of these road clearing activities does not match the increase in number of vehicles on the roads.

Added to this, is the fear of travelling in public transport due to the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic, which has increased the pressure on the roads, which are seeing more number of people preferring to commute in their own vehicles as compared to public transport vehicles.

The pressure in this case, not only weighs heavily on the roads and the road infrastructure, but on every person using the road. Be it a pedestrian or a cyclist or a biker or a car driver, each person faces varied emotions from rage to pleasure to boredom. Each of these emotions tends to affect our actions, which in turn have the potential to affect other road users.

While some of these emotions are caused due to factors on the road, most of the time they are derived from another situation and are aggravated on road. For example, a bad incident at home will keep the driver in a bad mood while on road as well.

It is extremely important to manage and control your emotions while on road keep yourself and your fellow road users safe and away from harm’s way. There are many ways to de-stress yourself while on road. Let’s look at some practical and easy ones.

1. Take deep breaths
   A sure shot way to calm your nerves while driving is to take deep breaths and focus on breathing calmly. Often when we feel negative emotions our breathing becomes irregular. Either it might become too fast or we might end up unconsciously holding our breath. Letting go and breathing normally and deeply can help you in easing stress and calming down.
   
   
2. Pull over for some time to relax
   Whether you are riding a bike or driving a car, if you feel sleepy or if you find that your alertness is being affected, you should stop your vehicle on the side and take a small break to rest before starting again. This can be a major problem when driving or riding at night. Drowsiness can cause accidents and driving at such times should be completely avoided for the safety of other road users/ fellow passengers.
   
   
3. Accept that you are late
   During the morning rush or when you have to reach a certain place at time, it is quite natural to feel the urge to speed, even on a busy road. While it might seem an easy way out to quickly wade through traffic to reach your destination on time, it can be quite dangerous to your life as well as the lives of others on road. Many people jump signals in haste and end us clogging traffic. One way to avoid this is to accept that you are going to get late and that there is nothing you can do about it. Do not ponder over the consequences of the lateness, but just accept it.
   
   
4. Do not react to rude drivers
   Every once in a while, you encounter other drivers on the road who may make rude comments, remarks or gestures while driving on the road. This can cause a significant distress and can affect your emotional balance. And if you decide to react to such ride remarks, it might escalate the situation and make things worse for everyone on the road. Hence, you must keep calm and not react to a person passing rude remarks on roads.
   
   
5. Stop your fellow passengers from distracting you
   If you are driving a car or riding a motorbike, you may find your fellow passengers’ comments or actions distracting, such as driving suggestions from someone sitting next to you or ruckus created by a child sitting in a car or constantly adjusting positions on a moving bike. These actions can not only take away your alertness while driving but can also cause loss of balance (in case of a bike) resulting in accidents. Make sure to ask the person doing this to stop and to not disturb you while you are driving.
   
   
6. Set up your car before starting to drive
   If you have time at your hands before driving, spend some minutes cleaning your car, setting us good music, adjusting rear view mirror and side mirrors, checking the fuel gauge and other things in your vehicle. This can prepare you mentally for the journey you are about to take and can help you focus well on the driving and the road, driving other thoughts away from your mind during the journey.
   
   
7. Make yourself comfortable
   In some cases, negative emotions while driving can also be caused due to uncomfortable body posture or tension in your muscles. Take a moment while driving to see if you are sitting in your most comfortable position or not. And if not, then move your shoulders, hands, back, feet and neck to make sure you are sitting comfortably. Doing these simple body movements and stretches can also help you in relaxing and focusing your attention on the road and your driving.

Do you practice any of these while driving your car or riding your bike? What is your favorite way to de-stress yourself while on road? Let us know in the comments.