If you experience driving anxiety, chances are you’ve had a panic attack either behind the wheel or in a vehicle and now you are scared of having another one while on the road or you are just afraid of dealing with the symptoms of panic and anxiety behind the wheel.
I understand what that’s like because I’ve been there. There once was a time I couldn’t drive myself to work or the grocery store, truth be told I couldn’t drive myself anywhere. Not even to my Grandmother’s house right down the road from me.
I would have anxiety attacks just thinking about having to drive.
This all started when I had a very intense panic attack in my car while I was driving my kids home from school one afternoon.
I panicked so bad my hands began to clamp up.
It was so scary.
That instance began a tidal wave of debilitating anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia and episodes of DPDR.
I did a lot of different things to heal my anxiety and take my life back. I share those here on my blog.
One of the most helpful things I did to get over my driving anxiety was neuroplasticity exercises. My most favorite exercise was and still is visualization.
Visualization works to create new neural pathways in the brain, ones that say driving is safe. the problem is that when we have experienced anxiety or panic attacks behind the wheel, we began to fear the symptoms and associate driving or being in the car with those uncomfortable sensations. This created neural pathways in our brains that believe driving is now scary or unsafe.
Driving or being in the car isn’t scary like our brains now believe so we need to work on creating those new neural pathways in the brain, ones for calm, peace and stability when driving or being in a vehicle.
I’m going to coach you through a visualization practice that you should utilize every day for at least 10 minutes, preferably as the last thing you do at night before sleep or the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
begin by finding a calm and peaceful place. I like to do this practice at night as I’m lying in bed. I’ve fallen asleep to this practice many of times.
Start by imaging what it would feel like to get behind the wheel of the car or being a passenger in the car WITHOUT anxiety. What do you see? visualize you getting in the car, pulling out of the driveway and turning on the road.
Where are you going? to your favorite place? to get dinner? the grocery store? Wherever it is imagining the way there. What do you see as you take the trip? A familiar house or building any unique landmarks? is it sunny out? blooms on the passing trees? label everything that you can see. Be as specific as possible.
What do you feel physically? is the window down and the wind blowing in your hair? Can you feel the stering wheel in your hands as you turn and steer down the road? how freeing does this feel? do you feel joy and elation at the fact your finally back behind the wheel? Can you feel the sunshining on your skin? Be as specific as possible. How Awesome does this feel with anxiety, worry or panic? Do you finally feel free and liberated?
What do you hear? Imagine your favorite song is on the radio and that you’re singing along. Are you drumming along on the steering wheel or is your hand hanging out the window? Can you hear the birds outside or the traffic, is someone blowing a horn or did a loud motorcycle just pass you by.
Now what do you taste? imagine your favorite drink is in the cupholder. Is it a crispy soda, lemon water or a coffee?
Now what do you smell? The earthiness of the outdoors, your favorite air freshener or exhaust from traffic? Can you smell the gas as you fill up your car? What about food from a nearby restaurant?
I know this seems silly but the more specific you can be with each one of your senses the more emotion you can bring into this exercise. When you can fuel this practice with more emotion the more effective this exercise becomes. It gets much easier the more you practice and overtime you realize that this works in all aspects of your life, not just for anxiety.
Take a moment to really soak in the way this practice as made you feel. Are you so happy you could cry tears of joy? Are you so ecstatic you could jump around for joy? Allow yourself time to feel into those emotions.
I really hope you give this practice a try. It can be so much fun imaging your life just the way you want it to be. I hope you play around with this practice and that you find that it helps you just as much as it did me.
Remember to be persistent and consistent my friend.
Read more here: Anxiety, Panic and DPDR – SoulMedicinals
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