Road Rage: Success!

If I were to summarize my experience, I can’t say that I believe the personal care routine reduced my pitta and helped my road rage or stress in any kind of direct way. I do think that it’s a nice way to practice self care as part of a daily routine. I have noticed a difference in my stress management abilities since I have been practicing more asana, pranayama and meditation. I’ve gotten to the point where I look forward to deep breathing and chanting, instead of viewing it as a chore. To summarize how my experiment has affected my road rage specifically, I want to tell a story:

I left class last Tuesday evening and was headed home down Colorado Blvd. I was about ten minutes into my drive when I saw a police car parked in the median monitoring speeds. I immediately panicked and prepared to slam on my breaks when I glanced at my speedometer and saw that I was going the speed limit. This may not sound all that interesting except for the fact that it was 9:30 PM on a Tuesday night and I was practically all alone on the road. Normally, I would be going a good 10-20 mph over the speed limit to rush home as quickly as possible. Instead, I was driving at the exact speed limit…not rushing, just enjoying the drive home!

Suffice it to say, I have no doubt that practicing deep breathing and incorporating meditation into my daily life has impacted my temperament in a huge way. I don’t know about the way that it has affected my dosha in particular, but I do know that I will carry this into my life beyond this experiment and beyond this training program. I’m grateful to have been given this opportunity to discover new healthy ways to relieve stress and become a more peaceful, patient person.