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the one move for driving anxiety one of
the more common questions i'm asked is
how to apply the one move while driving
a car
people have many different fears in this
area ranging from fear of being caught
in traffic to crossing waterway bridges
often the anxiety stems from a fear of
being trapped in the vehicle in gridlock
traffic or losing control of the vehicle
and maybe causing a collision
i'm shortly going to show you how to
apply the one move to driving anxiety
but before i do i want to explain a
couple of things
the first is that you need to break this
challenge down into little steps so you
build your confidence up gradually and
that applies to all situations you want
to end your anxiety in
all the small steps have to include some
level of anxiety or else you probably
aren't pushing yourself far enough
the other thing to mention about driving
anxiety is that most people work
themselves up into a state of high
anxiety even before they've pulled out
of the driveway they imagined scenes of
causing 10 car collisions on the highway
because they freaked out and hit another
vehicle
if you have such concerns the first
thing you need to do is review your
driving history have you been a reckless
driver in the past
do you have a history of bad driving
most phobic drivers actually have clean
driving records and have never even been
in a minor road incident
anxious drivers are not a deadly hazard
on the road in fact they can be a lot
more vigilant than many ordinary drivers
who after a long day in the office are
virtually asleep at the wheel
the second major concern of most phobic
drivers is the fear of being trapped in
the car in some manner now by this i
mean being caught in
traffic on a busy three-lane highway or
on a long bridge or even stopped at
lights
when allowed to your mind will run away
with this fear and imagine all kinds of
deadly scenarios where you feel cornered
or trapped in your vehicle with no
assistance available should you
experience a panic attack
the important thing here is to curb
these what-if fears before they do take
root
by offering yourself viable solutions to
any of these scenarios and not letting
your mind trick you into believing that
there is a trap
i mean give it some thought are there
really any situations such as the ones
described where you're truly trapped
with no means of escape
you know no of course there aren't
eventually traffic always moves it
doesn't remain gridlocked forever
there's a flow and there's always an
exit
now this may mean figuring out what that
exit is for you but never let these
what-if thoughts corner you into to
thinking that there is no escape
it's very common for a person with
driving anxiety to fear
passing a certain distance away from
their safe zone usually their home
the anxious what if thought is well you
know what if i go too far and have a
panic attack and then i can't get back
this fear applies to all travel in fact
any travel that away from your home
what you have to understand is that
distance is really irrelevant
how far you go isn't important
it's how you go that is
how you are handling each and every wave
of anxiety that manifests
this is a psychological issue going on
within you
your own mind and your own body and it
doesn't matter whether you're sitting on
your front porch or on a desert deserted
island
it's always about your reaction and
nothing to do with distance from an
imagined safe zone so don't focus on the
distance focus on your response
i appreciate that you know in the
beginning you still have to prove this
to yourself with experience so if
driving a certain distance from home is
a concern then break it down as i said
into small steps start by determining
what your safe zone in your mind is and
then begin by pushing yourself to drive
just outside of that safe zone that
might be 5 10 50 miles from your home
whatever it is for you
when you get there part of you will then
feel like great i did it now let's rush
back home in case something bad happens
but instead i want you to just stop the
car and stay there for a while so stay
there seated in your car until you even
get a bit bored
now this is really important to do
because it means you are pushing that
boundary out and then keeping it out you
own that new distance now and your world
has gotten this bit bigger along with
your confidence
now you start to appreciate that the
distance you go
is an illusion the only thing that
matters is how you are responding to the
waves of anxiety
wherever you find yourself i'm going to
now show you a live example of how to
apply the one move to driving
so this is the one move for driving and
i'm going to give you a live example of
how to apply the one move when you're
driving in your car
remember when you're tackling a
situation like this any situation that
makes you anxious expect to be anxious
you know don't get upset or frustrated
when the anxiety arises it's when the
anxiety is present that you learn and
remember when applying the one move it's
not about not feeling anxious it's about
doing the thing with the anxiety present
it's about being comfortable with your
anxious discomfort so we're going to
drive and i'm going to show you how to
apply the one move on the road okay so
let's go
so here we are applying the one move
while driving and remember as soon as
you begin you're going to have those
anxious what if thoughts manifest
what if i drive too far and have a panic
attack what if i get stuck in traffic
and start to feel very anxious and
nobody can help me
and this is when you begin the one move
i want you to diffuse those anxious
what-if thoughts with a strong response
so what you would say is a so what
whatever type response to those anxious
thoughts
then as you drive along expect the
anxiety to be ever present so you're
going to accept and allow it stage two
you're gonna accept to you're going to
accept and allow the anxious sensations
as they manifest
and repeat that phrase to yourself i
accept and allow this anxious sensation
i accept and allow this anxious thought
what that will do is it will help the
anxiety settle with you you're not
resisting it you're not fighting it
then if you feel the anxiety peaking
into what's known as a panic attack and
the sensations are getting too intense i
want you to demand more you know demand
more of the anxious sensations if it's a
pounding heart or a tight chest
really bring it on so that it shatters
that illusion that the anxiety is
holding over you and you'll prove to
yourself how capable you are of driving
even with those anxious sensations
and then the fourth step bring yourself
back to the present moment and really
engage with the activity you're doing
which is driving so pay attention really
feel the steering wheel under your
fingers listen to the sights and sounds
and really just get absorbed into the
activity of driving
if you get to a point where you've gone
past your comfort zone i want you to
pull over like this
and stop and stay in the car
so you've reached let's say for example
your comfort zone is five miles and
you've driven six or seven miles
stop and stay there
and really own this distance that you've
gained because the important thing is
not to turn around and run straight back
home because then you're still running
from the anxiety push past your comfort
zone and really own it because that
pushes out your comfort zone and really
challenges what this idea of of a safe
zone is
the important thing about staying here
is that it just builds up your
confidence that you can really you know
challenge yourself like this and that
you can really go further distances than
you would have thought
then when you're ready and ideally after
you've actually gotten a little bit
bored you're going to continue on
driving so
let's continue on in this case might
mean just going back home then you know
as i said start with small steps and
then build up from there so let's keep
going
now remember
doing the one move it kind of loops
around so you keep doing it every time
you feel that wave of anxiety become
present
and then always bringing yourself back
to the activity to the present moment
and what will happen is that you'll
actually be very comfortable driving
with the anxious discomfort to the point
where you won't start to notice it
anymore and that's key that's when the
anxiety starts to really decrease
and when you start to feel comfortable
driving any distances
so this has been the one move driving i
hope it helped
