polluting the atmosphere isn’t really very yogic, is it.. well that’s not what im aiming to talk about here. im thinking more about how driving, at least in big cities like toronto, is really stressful.
i am on a campaign to reduce my own stress driving. i work at a yoga studio and i see so many people come in, and they are so tense, possibly from rushing through traffic to get there. i live in a neighbourhood that is rife with giant SUVs weaving at 20 km over the speed limit. if i drive 5 or 10 km over, i am deemed to be going too slow, and so i often stare at the grilles of other massive luxury vehicles in my rearview. i often get cut off. i often observe such idiocy and danger on the road and i feel my low blood pressure rising
so i have a few practices that i keep. The practices fall in the realm of actions while driving, and then mindset while driving. i’ll talk about the actions first:
1. breathe
oh how obvious this is… but yes. if you feel pissed off, just breathe. take a breath.
2. drive the speed limit
and so this means, don’t rush anywhere. oh boy. i try to leave an extra 15 min to get wherever i’m going. and if i am late, i dont sweat it. literally, i am better off getting there late, than getting there later because of a speeding ticket, or not at all because of an accident.
3. get tailgaters off your rear
oh, but how?? aha. this is where my driver training came in. duno if you all got the same training… basically, do not hit the brake. slow down, just a little. if you do this, you will likely ‘wake them up’ — most aren’t doing it to be aggressive, they are doing it because they are not paying attention. slowing down a bit, but not so drastically that they rear-end you, nudges them back to consciousness. they usually pass. if they pass angrily, don’t get upset, just smile. wow, they must be in a rush. good thing you aren’t.
4. leave lots of space.
keep the space in front of you big. avoid hitting your brakes, almost at all costs, especially in stop and go traffic. this will prevent you from wasting gas, or hitting someone in front of you, and you will literally get there at the same time as anyone else rushing up to the car in front and slamming their brakes.
i couldn’t find the video i wanted, but this is a good demo of what i’m talking about: u-n-l-o-c-k gridlock
vrrrooohhhhhmmmm.
let go.
is it your road? do you own it? share. let a person in if they want to get in. let go of getting there first.
lose the ego
you aren’t more important than anyone else on the road. but they think they are more important than you are. does that make you angry?
let them be more important. interestingly, they are the ones who are stressed out, not you.
consciousness.
be conscious of your own emotions on the road. if someone instigates road rage toward you because you aren’t “playing the game” of stress on the road, can you be aware of what that feels like, without reacting to it?
ahimsa
don’t retaliate. be gracious, let it go. sing in the car, smile at another driver. wave someone on. protect yourself, and otherwise, to quote the lovely Kate Bornstein, don’t be mean.
finally, i will take the opportunity to insert a little rant: DO NOT INTIMIDATE PEDESTRIANS, OK?? I see so many people try to turn right or left at an intersection, and a pedestrian is walking in the cross walk, and the car is edging… slowly… forward… as if to make the pedestrian walk faster? and then they turn, not two feet from the person’s legs! i really have to exhale when i see that happen.
drive safe, be kind, share the road, leave lots of time and lots of space. listen to nice music, and sing along. save gas, use the brake as little as possible. don’t be afraid of other drivers, but don’t try to intimidate them either. and please, let someone in with a grin!
namaste
Tags: ahimsa, awareness, breath, driving, gridlock, kindness, stress, yoga