ANGER STRESS AND CONTROL

Losing your temper won't get you any where. it only hurt - mostly you.

Do you:

• Get irritated with slow drivers before you, or when some one tail gate you or over takes you?
• Mutter, curse or drive along side aggressively to express irritation to the offender?
• Get stressed by bad weather, messy, roads, traffic jams, accidents, being on time? 
• Smoke, eat, talk on the phone, drink, or discuss work while driving?

If your answer is YES to any of the above, you are steaming with road rage symptoms.

Incidents of road rage
A woman shot dead in Delhi for interceding on behalf of another driver or a beleaguered actor thrashing an auto-driver for over taking are regular news. But we feel smug, believing over expressions of aggressive or rude road behavior will never explore into such extreme acts. Yet research shows stress on road or during traveling piles up is corroding your insides. Anger, actually a reaction to a feeling of loss of control, was originally a protective mechanism intending to foolhardy things to survive. Your heart beats faster, blood pressure rises as blood vessels constrict, pupils widens allow more light, lungs works harder, energy packets like glucose are delivered fast, digestive, detoxifying and immune mechanism shut down as blood gets directed to the brain, heart and skeletal muscle , even blood chemistry changes to facilitate easy clotting. It sounds great... but not for long-term. Adrenal or stress hormones once released circulates in the blood, creating a cascading effect, even an innocuous incident can ignite you. Your insides are in a tailspin. Also after constantly firing off your adrenals are exhausted, breeding the new age ailment called hypo-adrenal, creating chronic fatigue, weak immunity inability to lose weight and concentrate, making you edgy and insomniac.

Among other things, what contributes to road rage? The relative anonymity the driver enjoys. Also a vehicle tends to magnify the sense of power. Some need to learn controlling themselves before they harm themselves or others. By sputtering inside or spewing outside, remember anger or stress hurts MOSTLY YOU.

DONT SUPRESS ANGER OR STRESS BUT DEFUSE IT
Distract yourself by looking at the photo of a loved one, god, or touch the portrait of a divinity you may have on the dashboard. Make a funny noise - something to make you laugh. You cannot laugh and feel anger simultaneously, or hum. Use a defensive driving, meaning following road rules, like maintaining safe distance, indicating when you shift lanes. Etc.  Park your vehicle one side of the road, and relax. Breathe deeply, close your eyes, and relax for a few seconds. Pray or say some words of religious readings. Start your radio slowly and listen to funny, light music, or cassette of music or spiritual discourse on radio or cassette tape in your car. Park your car on the side or parking lot, and count 1 to 51 slowly.

If you have to continue driving, drive slowly on slow lane. Stop on a road side cafe or have a soft drink if someone is with you in the car. Do talk to him/her in a slow way and explain him and let your company listen to your point and keep quiet and silently listen without encouraging your anger or stress. if you are a perfectionist, who likes to be on time, do start your journey well in advance.

YOGA TIPS TO CONTROL ANGER AND STRESS
UJJAYI, or victory breath is an immediate tranquillizer. Breath deeply as your inhale, imagine constricting slightly the glottis (the wind pipe of human body) so you can actually hear your breath like a gentle snore, only you must hear it. if loud, you are stressing and constraining your body. Don't do it. Inhale and exhale and feel your breath through your throat. Prolong exhalation. Your mouth should remain SHUT. If you practice UJJAYI each time you exercise or relax, it will become like a second nature, coming handy in emergencies like anger control. This cooling breath lowers blood pressure dramatically UJJAYI impact by pressing down on the powerful carotid artery and the baro receptor in the throat. The baro receptor is like a delicate seismograph, recording your inner state, deciding whether it is time to shoot up your blood pressure. UJJAYI is an internal trick fooling the blood into believing all is well inducing equanimity.

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