Meditation behind the wheel may be key to keeping calm on the road

Traffic. Construction. Road closures.

Summer can be a never-ending source of frustration for Calgary drivers, especially with the raft of detours and delays slated throughout the city for the long weekend.

So how is one to keep cool behind the wheel?

According to author Solan McClean, meditation may be the answer.

In his book Learning to Drive Into the Now: PRND, McClean outlines meditation techniques developed specifically to keep drivers calm when things get harry on the road — and no, it doesn't require you to close your eyes or chant om.

"A lot of people hear about meditating while they're driving and they think 'well that's crazy' because you'll be blissed out with your eyes closed. But that's not what this is." McClean told the Calgary Eyeopener Friday.

"This actually makes you pay more attention to your driving and be a more attentive driver. It will calm your mind, calm your body and bring you into a place of acceptance."

His technique, called current-moment awareness meditation, is designed to keep drivers in the moment by helping them become completely aware of their surroundings when they meet stress on the road. McClean said staying present is an important way to combat feelings of anger, anxiety and frustration that often arise when we're stuck in traffic.

"What happens in these situations is we drive, we get stuck, we're gonna be late, we're frustrated, we think of ourselves as a victim of this craziness and we become combative and uncomfortable," McClean said. "It produces anxiety, feelings of anger and that's not a good thing."

So how exactly do you find Zen when there's a maniac trying to merge in front of you? Keep the focus on yourself, says McClean. And on your gearshift.

The standard feature on every automatic vehicle has the letters P, R, N and D for park, reverse, neutral and drive. But McClean has co-opted those letters to form a different acronym: practice, relax, now, drive.   

"You set your intention to practice in a positive way to bring yourself back into the reality of the current moment and away from your egoic thinking of anger and anxiety and all those things," McClean said.

The next step is to relax.

"A lot of times you'll feel the tension in your shoulders, in your face, in your hands. So scan your body and try to relax everything. Relax your body and the mind will follow."

The process of relaxing your body can help you into the next step: staying present in the now.

Focusing on the feeling of your hands on the wheel, your feet in your shoes, the smell of the air and the temperature are all techniques that can bring you back into the current moment, McClean said.

"Even the traffic, the jackhammers … Try to keep your focus on exactly what's happening in front of you."

Once you're calm and focused, the only thing left to do is drive away — if that traffic jam ever lets up.

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  With files from the Calgary Eyeopener