How to Overcome Driving Anxiety

Driving anxiety has become a big problem of many people who have to deal with heavy traffic when they drive to work and back home. Being stuck in traffic, having nowhere to escape can be quite challenging and stressful. If you are suffering from driving anxiety I've got some good news for you. You can overcome your anxiety while driving with these highly effective techniques.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups of your body. Sit in a comfortable position and tense each muscle group for about 10 seconds, and then let go of it suddenly. Before you go on to the next muscle group give yourself 15-20 seconds to relax. Notice how the muscle group feels when relaxed in contrast to how it felt when tensed. If you feel stressed and nervous while driving, pull aside and do this technique until you are ready to continue driving.

Driving anxiety has become a big problem of many people who have to deal with heavy traffic when they drive to work and back home. Being stuck in traffic, having nowhere to escape can be quite challenging and stressful. If you are suffering from driving anxiety I've got some good news for you. You can overcome your anxiety while driving with these highly effective techniques.

Deep Breathing

Focusing on your breath is a great way to calm yourself down, both body and mind. Deep breathing gets you to focus on the breathing instead of any other aspect; if you are having anxiety, you simply breathe deeply to take your mind off whatever is causing the anxiety and reduce the bodily sensations that hyperventilation can cause.

Soothing music

Music has the ability to take your mind elsewhere. If you are thinking about how stressful the driving in high traffic is, you need to stop thinking about that. However our minds are made in a strange way and it's practically impossible to not think about something. Music can do just that. It can take your mind somewhere else so you think about other things.

Remember that your safety should be in the first place. If you don't feel ready to drive in heavy traffic don't do it. Start with baby steps and take bigger steps when you feel more comfortable to do so.

Try to get as much practice as possible in traffic. You can start out in your local area, staying away from rush hour at first. You can hit rush hour when you get more confident. After you master driving in your local area try making some trips towards bigger cities. At the beginning take less high speed roads and avoid trouble spots. You will get plenty of chance to drive on highways when you get better.