Learn to drive with one of the driving instructors in our directory and get free access to driving test nerves and driving anxiety solutions to transform how you feel about driving
Relaxation

Coaching

Hypnotherapy

Mindfulness

Self-Talk

Imagery

Did you know relaxation helps reduce driving nerves? Practising relaxation exercises before driving lessons and before your driving test will help to reduce long term stress and minimise the impact that stressful situations have on you.
Every time we find ourselves in a stressful situation and we feel under threat we tense our muscles ready to fight, run, freeze or hide. Even when the stressful situation is resolved and the time for action has passed our muscles will often remain tense for a long period of time.
Repeated long-term stress whether generated by everyday life or by driving can lead to long-term muscle tension and muscle tension can lead to pain, headaches, poor sleep patterns and irritability which of course can make us more stressed! These habits are repeated and developed over years until the feelings of being stressed with our shoulders being up by our ears, aching necks and shoulders and sudden flares of anger in response to situations become a normal part of our lives.
Long-term stress affects your attitude, thinking, and behaviour so if you are feeling the effects of stress before you start your journey in the car then it is also likely to have an impact on your driving behaviour. With road safety statistics suggesting that driving error/behaviour could be a contributing factor in 95% of road incidents, it makes sense to start looking at ways of managing and reducing stress levels to improve your driving experience and using relaxation to help driving nerves. Read more in this blog from Brake about how your emotions may stop you from driving safely.
Muscular relaxation techniques are one of the possible options for helping you reduce and manage your stress levels as well as the physical symptoms of long-term stress. However learning to relax is a skill which takes practice the same as learning to drive so be prepared to keep practising, think of it as a relaxation training plan (you would not run a marathon without training first!). The Confident Drivers website has a variety of relaxation techniques and audios for you to try – give them a go and then continue to practice with the one which suits you best.
As you practice and learn how to relax you can start to transfer your new relaxation skills into your everyday life. Whenever you experience a stressful situation or event during your day you can practice your new skills to reduce muscle tension and modify your response to stress. This, in turn, will lead to you feeling more in control of yourself and your emotions, feeling more relaxed and increasing your confidence.
Imagine starting your driving journey feeling relaxed and focused and then having the skills to manage your stress response to different situations along the way. Staying calm and keeping your attention on your journey – becoming a Confident Driver!
Now you know how relaxation helps driving nerves, find out more about other stress management solutions in our subscription packages for learner drivers and group subscriptions for driving instructors.
Please help us by sharing this guide with others. There is a good chance that if you found it useful, so will they.
Download our driving test coaching wheel and put a plan in place to pass your driving test!
Try our FREE driving test nerves course with videos, exercises and advice to help you overcome driving test nerves!
YES I NEED THAT!If you have a driving test coming up soon you might find our Ultimate Guide to Driving Test Nerves useful.
Read more of our reviews from happy learner drivers on Trustpilot
It's great to have a website offering fantastic techniques to assist with the challenges of driving. The website recognises the fact that learning to drive can be stressful and there are strategies to help with this. The website's name, 'CONFIDENT Drivers' is what a learner is aspiring to be, so it's very positive. The techniques also apply to building general confidence in all walks of life, so useful again. Thank you!
I was so pleased when my instructor signed me up for Confident Driver. I loved the hypnosis sessions & I recently passed first time with one fault. Recommend 100%
Confident drivers has been a really useful tool in changing my attitude to the driving test. I hadn't recognised just how much my negative thoughts about my ability rather than my actual driving ability have been holding me back and putting me off. I particularly liked the quick fix section that gives you strategies to calm down just before the test!
If you would like some additional help and stress management resources to help you tackle your driving test nerves or improve driving confidence then our subscriptions are created by leading industry experts especially for you.
Four relaxation audios
Three ways to use imagery techniques
A range of breathing exercises and a breathing audio
Positive self-talk tools and techniques to manage negative thinking
Four TFT Meridian tapping videos for different emotions and feelings
A range of Coaching tools and techniques to help plan ahead and change your driving mindset
Two hypnotherapy audios specifically tailored for Driving Confidence and Driving Test Nerves.
You will also get a SIX Week Introduction to Mindfulness course - learning skills you can use in stressful situations throughout your life.
These plans are created specifically for individual drivers, you can find out more details on our learner drivers page. We also have a range of group plans created for driving instructors, you can find more details on our ADI page.
If you have driving anxiety or are feeling nervous and worried about your driving lessons why not book lessons with a driving instructor who partners with us. Find a driving instructor near you who offers a subscription to Confident Drivers included in the price of their driving lessons
Search using your postcode or by zooming the map to your local area to find your nearest instructor.
Maybe your local driving instructors have not heard about us yet. Why not:
Share our details with your chosen instructor so they can take out a group subscription for you and their other students.
Alternatively subscribe to an individual plan for learner drivers yourself from just £10.
Take a browse around our blog for articles written to help learner drivers and driving instructors recognise the most common reasons for experiencing driving nerves and confidence issues. Each article offers strategies and suggestions that may help you.
Your driving goals are likely to need to be more flexible this year. So how can you keep learning and feel prepared for your driving lessons and test
Increasing your belief in your capability to drive will, in turn, increase your driving confidence. So how do we do that? Self-efficacy theory suggests that self-confidence or belief in your abilities is dependent on several key factors...
If you struggle with driving anxiety or driving test nerves you may well have wondered if hypnotherapy can help
Learn ways of developing more helpful thinking styles which will help you reduce the signs and symptoms of your nerves and begin to feel more confident.
The widget in the blue circle is the tawk.to live chat widget, if you click it you will see the window maximize and you will be able to chat with us when we are online, or leave a message when we are away for us to respond to later. If you have any questions give it a try!
Try our FREE driving test nerves course with videos, exercises and advice to help you overcome driving test nerves!
YES I NEED THAT!