Can Driving Anxiety Be Reduced By Practicing Yoga?
Driving anxiety is a common problem, although some people experience more than a little normal stress while on the road. If you are one of those that face intense fear and anxiety while you are driving or even fear having a panic attack, there are ways to alleviate the problem. Yoga is one way to help reduce the stress and nervousness you feel while on the road.
Some people are absolutely petrified when it comes to driving over a bridge, while others find themselves highly anxious driving in rush hour traffic. It could be that you have an intense fear of being involved in an accident. If your driving anxiety prevents you from enjoying life, driving to visit friends and relatives, or even traveling on vacation, you need help – and not prescription medications many doctors prescribe, which only mask the underlying problem.
Yoga and The Relationship to Mind and Relaxation
Yoga is an ancient practice that works to provide both physical and mental exercise as well as deep relaxation. Simply stated, yoga works to strengthen the mind and thus the thought process and to reach a self-consciousness level that helps those who suffer from anxiety to achieve better thought control. While most people who suffer from driving anxiety don’t realize it, the constant frightening thoughts are what lead to the physical symptoms such as a racing heart and sweating.
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that certain types of yoga may be linked directly to increased gamma-aminobutyric acid levels. Low levels of this acid, or GABA, are associated with anxiety and depression. In fact, studies conducted over a 12 week period with individuals who suffer from anxiety found that yoga helped to decrease anxiety and improve mood substantially more than walking.
How Yoga Works to Reduce Anxiety
Any type of anxiety, including driving anxiety, is caused by uncontrolled thoughts that tend toward the negative side. Many people are unable to redirect negative or frightening thoughts in a positive direction, and the fearful or worrisome thoughts overtake their mind, becoming more and more pronounced until the thoughts literally take control of their life.
Yoga helps an individual learn to focus their mind and access inner strength that allows someone with anxiety to face fears and challenges in their life head on. Deep breathing is usually practiced in conjunction with yoga; by learning the breathing process used in yoga and concentrating on inhaling and exhaling evenly, the attention can be diverted from anxiety to a feeling of relaxation.
The actual physical exercise involved in yoga helps to gently release tension from large muscle groups, regulating your breathing, and relaxing the body. During yoga, fresh oxygen, blood, and other nutrients flush all parts of your body, increasing your feelings of well being.
Yoga therapy is successful for decreasing driving anxiety due to the balance created in the endocrine and nervous systems. Through yoga, you can enjoy improved concentration powers and mental peace, which helps in eliminating the negative and fearful thoughts associated with driving while focusing your thoughts in a positive direction.
There is a very real connection between our minds and bodies; yoga helps you become more aware of the connection between your physical, mental, and emotional levels. It has been well documented that yoga helps in developing a positive state of mind, helping individuals to gain control over negative thoughts, fear, and anxiety. It also teaches self-soothing, which is important in reducing anxiety at any level.
Practice Yoga and Experience Less Anxiety When Driving
If you dread driving or have thoughts that are so frightening that you take the back roads to get to your destination due to your fear of driving on the interstate, yoga can help you overcome these irrational fears and thoughts.
Individual people experience many individual fears. It may be that you have an intense fear of being caught in traffic or stopped at a red light, or you’re so anxious that you simply will not drive at all unless it is absolutely necessary. No matter what fears and frightening thoughts you experience related to driving, yoga can help you develop a stronger conscious mind and more positive thoughts, so that you can replace fearful thoughts with those that are positive.
When it comes to reducing driving anxiety, it is all about mind and thought process control, and developing the ability to focus your thoughts in a different, more positive direction.
