do you worry about driving because another car might come up close behind you and start
intimidating you today we're going to talk about what you can do so you don't feel so nervous when
another driver comes up close behind you. Hello my name is Clare and welcome to Generation Calm
where you can learn to reduce your stress and anxiety naturally in your own time so your
mind and body feel great. You will have no doubt encountered that annoying aggressive driver who
comes up behind you really close and it kind of sucks out the enjoyment of driving but for someone
who has driving anxiety it can really cause a panic and you start to wonder if you're going to
make a mistake because you're so focused on the driver behind you that you're not really
fully concentrating on what you're doing first let's think about that other driver
remember you know nothing about them and they know nothing about you but generally our minds go to
the dark side and we might think to ourselves well they're a really mean person they're trying to run
us off the road perhaps their drink drinking and driving and they're going to cause an accident
but instead of going to that negative side how about trying a more compassionate view of what
that driver is like concoct a new story for them perhaps they're a nurse trying to get to
work on time perhaps they're delivering some groceries for an elderly neighbor
so if you find yourself villainizing this driver create a new story a nicer story about them
and it will make a difference to your mood secondly i don't mean this to sound harsh but
really that aggressive driver doesn't care who you are they are going to be up behind somebody
driving close to them whether it's you or someone else it's not about you being a bad
driver it's not that you're doing something wrong please don't internalize it that way
it is not a reflection on your driving they are just late they are just impatient and perhaps
this is just a habit of theirs and i do have some driving affirmations on another video that you
might find helpful to listen to before your next drive thirdly if it's safe to do so pull over let
them pass that's all they want to do so whether that's turning onto another street whether you can
safely pull over if there's enough room perhaps you can turn into a driveway or a parking lot
somewhere safe that you can just take a breather for a few moments and let them pass and let them
do the same behavior to somebody else and then you're free to drive and enjoy the drive
and finally allow yourself to breathe it's the simplest way to calm your body down when you've
got an aggressive tailgater behind you and they're getting super close it can really bring on those
panicky feelings in your body but all it takes is a slow breath in four counts in hold for a second
and then a slow and even breath out it's amazing what that can do to calm down your body and your
mind and one other trick is just to check if you're gripping onto that steering wheel because i
know you probably are or whether you're clenching your jaw or your shoulders are up tight just
notice and then relax relax those muscles and it will make a huge difference to how calm you feel
when you're in control of the car so with a lot of fears psychologists and other counselors will
encourage you to sit with that discomfort but when it comes to aggressive drivers i absolutely don't
agree i believe you need to pull over let them pass this has nothing to do with you they're just
in a rush they're impatient whatever it might be but the safest thing to do is to let them go on by
and then you can carry on driving calmly so i hope this will encourage you to
get out there and do some more driving practice and i'll see you again soon bye