Can Mindfulness Lead to Safer Truck Drivers?

TEXAS. Mindfulness practice has become popular in American technology companies and corporate offices. Some companies will spend thousands of dollars to bring mindfulness gurus into the office to share their knowledge. Forbes reports that some of the nation’s leading companies encourage their workers to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is known to reduce stress, lower health care costs, and improve productivity. Technology companies have found that mindfulness can make for more productive workers, but what about jobs where a person’s decisions and actions have life-or-death consequences? Could mindfulness help truck drivers perform better behind the wheel? Distracted drivers are among the biggest risks on American roads. Mindfulness asks that individuals focus on the present moment.

Can you practice mindfulness while driving? According to Psychology Today, it is entirely possible to practice mindfulness while driving. Drivers can notice themselves noticing the cars around them, the curve of the road, the speed at which they are traveling. Very often, our minds tend to wander from thoughts about the past and the future, all of which can be stressful. A driver who is worried about family back at home, or worried about getting his or her shipment delivered on time, may not be paying full attention to the road before him or her. Mindfulness draws the attention back to the task at hand—driving. Mindfulness can also involve the practice of paying attention to your breath while driving, noticing the feel of the steering wheel on your hand, and listening to the sounds around the vehicle. Not only are these practices good for you, but they also increase a driver’s attention on the road.

Mindfulness can also help truck drivers cope and accept situations beyond their control. For example, if a driver encounters a traffic jam, he or she might get frustrated with worries about falling behind schedule. With mindfulness practice, individuals are trained to accept the present moment fully, which means embracing the feelings of frustration, while also focusing on the breath. Resistance to a situation can often create more problems. For example, a truck driver who is frustrated about a traffic jam might later drive above the speed limit to make up lost time.

Mindfulness isn’t a cure-all to stress, but it can help drivers re-set and accept the things that they cannot control—which ultimately might lead to less speeding—and accidents—later.

So, maybe truck companies should start teaching their drivers mindfulness techniques. Or, perhaps they could ask their drivers to listen to mindfulness podcasts? The cost of each of these strategies are low, but the benefits can be quite high.

Have you been injured in a truck accident in Texas? The Cooper Law Firm are truck accident attorneys in Texas who understand the unique challenges that victims face. Our firm can review your case, estimate the value of your claim, and help you pursue it to the fullest extent of the law. Visit us at https://www.cooper-law-firm.com/ to learn more and to protect your rights.

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Longview, TX 75601
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