5 Tips to Handle Driving with Anxiety (I recently had a mini break down)

I have been seeing a naturopath for a while now and we have been doing some great work together. We’ve been breaking down where all my anxiety comes from, what are all the external factors I can control in my life that can be changed, the support of herbal remedies, and mindfulness practices.

Her kindness has probably been the most impactful. She is always “high fiving” me and celebrating the baby steps along the way. A few sessions ago when we were chatting, she said something to me that I found pretty profound, “Shanna, you are not trying, you are doing! Be happy with your progress”. So often I feel like even the baby steps that I am constantly making are not good enough to inspire or pass onto anyone and that those small victories are not worth celebrating.

I feel like I’ve really made some progress with my anxiety lately or at least so I thought! Sunday evening into Monday it hit me like a train, we just received 30cm of snow, the roads looked awful, and I needed to be at a Monday morning operations meeting. The anxiety of having to commute got the best of me and then all the fear-based stories crept in and started all kinds of panic!!!

I really thought I was doing well . . . and then this.

A few days later, as I am writing this, I see that I needed to grant myself grace. Anxiety, fear, panic may always be a part of my life. This doesn’t make me less than! So, I am learning to control the degree that it affects me.

I really did want to avoid the whole scenario all together, but I can’t let this stop me from living. First it is this, and then what.

Q & A the Fake News

I find that my anxiety starts building up in my head and I tell myself stories of all these outlandish scenarios of the possible “disasters” that are going to happen to me.

Even though nothing bad as ever happened to me, the fear in my brain is good at projecting this larger than life story and then those emotions become embedded in my body.  The thoughts of fear control my mind and tells me that something bad will happen. But usually the only thing that happens is my fear and anxiety rise even higher.

I talk it out . . .  sometimes I am lucky to have my husband on the other end of the conversation. But honestly, pausing and speaking out loud to yourself helps. Start asking yourself questions before you get in the car.

What Happens if I am late for work? Fear based Shanna goes off on some crazy story that I will be screamed at and fired. (Which my boss has never done to myself or anyone else. I don’t even think he watches the clock on start times). So, I tell myself, “Shanna, if you are late, explain nicely why. Explain the situation. Offer to catch up the lost hours. If you get fired, well maybe it’s for the better”.

What this does is rewrites all the fear-based stories in your head. This really does work for a lot of my anxiety moments. The brain has an amazing imagination that can turn any story into a science fiction novel. So, by doing this you have already gone through the worst possible outcomes  

Plan your route ahead of time

Sometimes doing something as simple as having a “game plan” helps me. It’s like I am tricking the mind by trying to control what I can’t control. I can’t control the traffic around me, or the road conditions. But I can control choosing the safest route to my destination (in my mind).

Also making sure you have everything planned that you can. Checking to make sure the car’s fuel level is comfortably full (¼ of a tank feels like I am driving on fumes), have everything organized and ready to go so you’re not running around feeling scattered, leave extra early so you’re not feeling overwhelmed and if there are delays you have a time buffer.

Control the Emotions

Feeling is believing. Feeling fear is good in life. It keeps us safe. If a bear is chasing us, fear kicks in to run. (Actually, are you supposed to run? I don’t know). Either way, this fear-based emotion is good. It keeps us safe when saving is in order. But our emotions sometimes tend to get the best of us. Feeling is Believing. Fear always comes to the forefront when driving so over time my emotional body now believes. My body now believes that my anxiety in my body is fear and something bad will happen.

I wish I was one of those people who loves the adrenaline rush of fear. They get those butterflies in their stomach and brings excitement. One day . . .

When trying to calm down in stressful moments it helps to exaggerate your breath. Try for 3 counts in, hold for 2 and 4 counts out. This breathing technique can help bring you back to the present moment.

Those of us who live a life in anxiety, naturally become shallow breathers. This creates more stress on the body. I’ve heard that being a shallow breather can cause the body to be in a constant state of stress (Fight or Flight).  So, pausing to deep breathing can bring a sense of calmness and overall better state of mind. Though, do not practice breathing like this all day long.

Distraction

If you look in my car, you will find crumpled up paper somewhere. I need it to distract my mind while driving. It happened naturally a long time ago, and now I realized I need it to stay calm while driving. A lot of articles I have read, say using a stress ball/fidget toy is better.

When we feel the stress of anxiety, simply squeezing a stress ball, or in my case playing with paper, keeps my brain “busy” so I can concentrate and stay focused on driving.

Meditate/Call in a Higher Power

So, this probably sounds odd! How can I meditate while driving? I do a form of speaking meditation, it’s a script I have written in my head, and it’s something I start off my drive with. I do this now as soon as I pull out of the driveway. But for some it might be better to do while parked.

My speaking mediation is simply calling in a higher power to accompany me on my route, keep me safe, protected and get me to and from my destinations safely.

I have been meaning to record it for a free download for everyone. If this is something you are interested in. Please send me an email or DM on Instagram @sincerelyshanna

I hope you find these tips helpful the next time you are faced with anxiety and panic. I have used these for driving, but they also can be something you use during any moment of anxiety.

In addition to these 5 tips . . I use the following

Sincerely Shanna