Do you listen to Mozart's mellow Clarinet Concerto or Beethoven's
joyful Symphony No. 6 in F Major (the Pastoral Symphony) while
driving to work? Maybe you take advantage of your daily commute time to practice
your PowerPoint presentations or rehearse the scenario for an upcoming client
meeting.
One small business owner says she sinks into her driver's seat with a sense
of freedom every morning, knowing her kids are safely off to school and her
husband's on his own commute, giving her a chance to be totally alone in a
cocoon of tranquility.
If your daily commute is a hostile, traffic-choked experience, with moments
of road rage thrown in, these stress busters might help you arrive at work in a
less agitated state of mind. If you're stressed, after all, that's likely to
affect your job performance.
Mental Power
Conquering stress is even more important when it involves the emotion of
motion, such as driving, according to clinical psychologist Robert Maurer, who's
known as the "Dean of Inner Living" at the California Health and Longevity
Institute.
Stress is a "flight or fight" response. Commuting is a perfect opportunity to
train your brain to control responses to problems on the road in a positive
rather than negative way. That's because your brain is a creature of habit. You
can reprogram it to respond graciously to traffic conditions.
Instead of yelling at a speeding driver who cuts you off, tell yourself that
person must have an emergency. Let it go. If someone's driving too slowly in
front of you, perhaps he or she is disabled. Instead of angrily flashing your
headlights, move over. At entry ramps, allow a car into your lane.
Doing one small kindness a day is a positive, optimistic experience and gives
us a sense of control over our lives, Maurer says.
Building up an immunity to stress on the road can be as easy as listening to
a favorite author's audiobook on your CD player or iPod (Simply
Audiobooks has rental programs and downloads). Show tunes, Maurer says, can
be uplifting, too. Make sure you build in extra commuting time for clogged
highways so you don't stress out about arriving late for an appointment.
Practice a breathing exercise to turn off frazzled nerves by taking five quick
breaths, then five slow ones.
Muscle Power
To de-stress, exercise physiologist Michael Brazeal recommends subtle
core-stabilizing exercises that can be safely performed while driving, or at
stop lights and during gridlock. Flex your fingers, one hand at a time, and move
your wrists in circles. Flex your thighs and arm muscles. Keep your shoulders
down instead of up around your ears. Don't drive in the same position for any
length of time; shift in your seat slightly every now and then.
Align your spine before you start the car: Sit up straight and move the seat
back to support you. Adjust the rearview mirror so that its top edge meets the
top of your rear window. Check the mirror occasionally as a reminder. If you see
the car's headliner, or roofline, instead of the top of the window in the mirror
it means you've slumped down in the seat and need to re-align yourself to
maintain your core stability.
More tips: Hold the steering wheel with slightly bent arms, and use
the tilt/telescope and lumbar support features if your car has them. If you're
listening to music, dump the deep bass because at some levels it can cause
vibrations that affect your breathing.
Muffin Power
Finally, keep your tummy happy during your daily commute by eating a
healthy breakfast--muffins made with protein, fruit and fiber--to keep your
blood circulating as you sit in the driver's seat, in serene control of any
stress.