Being stuck in rush hour traffic (ie. driving 5 km/hour on the highway) raises the average person's blood pressure more than that of a riot policeman or a combat pilot, according to Dr. David Lewis, a stress expert from Britain. Dr. Lewis theorizes that this is because when people are sitting in traffic, they can't do anything about it but sit there and wait.
Well, if you commute everyday, if it's driving up your blood pressure everyday, then it's damaging your health. My best advice: learn stress management techniques that can be implemented anytime, anywhere, such as on the highway.
Deep breathing is one way. Take a deep breath into your abdomen (your chest shouldn't rise so much, but your abdomen should get bigger), hold for a few seconds and slowly exhale. Do this 10 times or as frequently as needed. Breaths should be deep and slow. If you take your breaths quickly, you will probably hyperventilate at best and won't feel anymore relaxed.
My favorite way of doing this is by using some of the techniques in the bookA New Earthby Eckhart Tolle. I read the book and watched the webcasts with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. I found that the webcasts really helped to clarity what was in the book and helped me to learn some of the relaxation techniques. Now, in situations where I would normally feel stressed or impatient, I use these techniques and I can feel myself relaxing. Many of the techniques in the book are simple and easy and (I think) safe to do anytime, because they are just a small shift in your attention (but nothing that takes your mind off the road.). Although I don't have an overly long commute, going to and from work is actually one of the best times of day, because I just "hang out" in my car and relax on the way.
I know it can be hard to slow down when the rest of the world is going so fast, but your body wants you to slow down. Many people who abuse their body and their system but have not yet become seriously ill or collapsed; think they can just keep going because it's worked so far. But the body works on its own terms, with it's own programming. It's a bit like the animals in a circus; you can abuse them for a while, but eventually they will have had enough and will lunge at you or bite back. They are wild animals and were never meant to be submissive and docile. Same thing with the body; eventually it gets tired and fed up with all the demands and all the abuse and starts to give out. The body was never meant to deal with stress on a continuous basis. Stress is meant to come and come at relatively short, spaced-out intervals. (And by this I don't mean every 45 minutes or so!) At this point, many people want to fix things as quick as possible and then continue on as they were. It just doesn't work that way.
Learn to slow down.
TC
Being stuck in rush hour traffic (ie. driving 5 km/hour on the highway) raises the average person's blood pressure more than that of a riot policeman or a combat pilot, according to Dr. David Lewis, a stress expert from Britain. Dr. Lewis theorizes that this is because when people are sitting in traffic, they can't do anything about it but sit there and wait.
Well, if you commute everyday, if it's driving up your blood pressure everyday, then it's damaging your health. My best advice: learn stress management techniques that can be implemented anytime, anywhere, such as on the highway.
Deep breathing is one way. Take a deep breath into your abdomen (your chest shouldn't rise so much, but your abdomen should get bigger), hold for a few seconds and slowly exhale. Do this 10 times or as frequently as needed. Breaths should be deep and slow. If you take your breaths quickly, you will probably hyperventilate at best and won't feel anymore relaxed.
My favorite way of doing this is by using some of the techniques in the bookA New Earthby Eckhart Tolle. I read the book and watched the webcasts with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. I found that the webcasts really helped to clarity what was in the book and helped me to learn some of the relaxation techniques. Now, in situations where I would normally feel stressed or impatient, I use these techniques and I can feel myself relaxing. Many of the techniques in the book are simple and easy and (I think) safe to do anytime, because they are just a small shift in your attention (but nothing that takes your mind off the road.). Although I don't have an overly long commute, going to and from work is actually one of the best times of day, because I just "hang out" in my car and relax on the way.
I know it can be hard to slow down when the rest of the world is going so fast, but your body wants you to slow down. Many people who abuse their body and their system but have not yet become seriously ill or collapsed; think they can just keep going because it's worked so far. But the body works on its own terms, with it's own programming. It's a bit like the animals in a circus; you can abuse them for a while, but eventually they will have had enough and will lunge at you or bite back. They are wild animals and were never meant to be submissive and docile. Same thing with the body; eventually it gets tired and fed up with all the demands and all the abuse and starts to give out. The body was never meant to deal with stress on a continuous basis. Stress is meant to come and come at relatively short, spaced-out intervals. (And by this I don't mean every 45 minutes or so!) At this point, many people want to fix things as quick as possible and then continue on as they were. It just doesn't work that way.
Learn to slow down.
TC