Why Am I Obsessed With Sitting in My Car For Long Periods of Time?

You will find a thing therapeutic about sitting down in my vehicle. When within, I’m taken to a location exactly where truth isn’t going to exist: I can only detach from the consistent requires of each day lifestyle by staring blankly at my dashboard, checking out a random passing imagined like, “Hold out, do vaginas have protein?”

In these times parked in the driveway, I come across clarity and peace. It’s like self-care without having the meditation applications and celery juice. I can merely exist with out the ping of a Slack notification, shell out some time daydreaming about what it would be like to be a coastal grandma, and mentally reset ahead of examining my lender account.

The solitude I uncover in my vehicle is just not exclusively my possess encounter, though. Not only are there a number of Reddit threads on the subject matter, but TikTok creators have also shared movies on the identical sentiment. Some people basically enjoy the peace and quiet it delivers, even though other folks use their car to procedure their emotions or thoughts.

“Sitting in your auto serves as a transitional space — a haven that exists involving the outdoors globe and residence,” psychotherapist Jessica Hunt suggests. “It can be a second to decompress, approach the working day, and mentally put together for what’s up coming.” Down below, Hunt clarifies more about why so several people locate ease and comfort in the vehicle.

Industry experts Featured in This Short article

Jessica Hunt, LCSW, is a California-based psychotherapist specializing in panic, relationships, identity, and everyday living transitions.

Why Do I Love Sitting down In My Auto?

A single motive why you may perhaps appreciate sitting down in your automobile is mainly because it feels like a personal bubble. “It is a tiny, controlled surroundings in which you can take it easy devoid of interruption, which delivers a sense of protection and management,” Hunt claims. “This is a pretty comforting escape from the stresses of daily lifestyle — even if it really is short-term.”

In the identical way men and women may well decompress by portray, doing work out, studying a ebook, or heading on a sizzling lady walk, a minute of solitude in the car could have the identical influence — specifically for people today with little ones, who could experience like they do not typically have by itself time. The time in the car might be a scarce prospect for a crack from any and all obligations or stresses.

On a psychological amount, decompressing in your automobile could be associated to the strategy of “transition time” or “micro breaks,” Hunt claims. “These are moments that help us shift from just one portion of our working day to another, making it possible for us to reset and recharge mentally.”

Individually, I like to sit in my motor vehicle following a exercise session course. Of program, this might be since I am drained and the mere thought of transferring my arms to start the car or truck looks like also substantially function. But it’s also for the reason that it assists me occur down from my exercise routine and prepare myself for what the relaxation of the working day has in shop.

Both way, it is really not a negative detail to use your motor vehicle as a cell sanctuary. (It can be cheaper than a massage or a flight to Greece, immediately after all.) But if you come across you needing these moments regularly, “it may be a indicator that you need additional intentional downtime or strain management in your schedule,” Hunt says.

“Hear to the cues and discover how you can incorporate additional rest and times to recharge during your working day,” she adds. Right up until then, you can obtain me in my vehicle.

Taylor Andrews is a Equilibrium editor at PS who specializes in topics relating to sexual intercourse, associations, dating, sexual wellbeing, mental health, and a lot more. In her six decades operating in editorial, she’s prepared about how semen is digested, why sexual intercourse aftercare is the transfer, and how the overturn of Roe killed situationships.