Fear of driving is not a whim: it is an energy that can be dissolved. So says Luly Dietrich, publicist, creator of Women Behind the Wheel and author of the book «Drive Your Fear with Love». The entrepreneur revealed the secrets of her method to transform terror into confidence.
«Fear of driving, flying, non-existence, or commitment all share the same underlying energy, which begins to unlock with a toolbox of emotional resources and practice,» Dietrich said. She added: «Fear is an emotion I had to work on a lot in my life, and understanding its energy was key to releasing it and helping other women.»
It all started in 2009, in the midst of a deep personal crisis. At that time, Dietrich worked as Communications Director for the Dietrich Group, founded by her father. She felt overwhelmed by professional and existential challenges, such as the search for a second child that did not come after ten treatments. It was her psychologist who recommended she stop and look at life with different eyes, grateful for the good things: her family, her daughter Olivia, and an emerging curiosity about women’s relationship with cars.
«From a very young age, I had absorbed that the automotive industry was for everyone, but I didn’t see it in the showrooms: there were always more men,» she recalled. According to data from the National Road Safety Agency in 2009, only 24% of driver’s licenses were for women. Today it is 35%, but at that time, that figure drove her to investigate. She discovered that many women had licenses but did not drive out of fear.
Thus Women Behind the Wheel was born. Dietrich trained in neurolinguistic programming, meditation, and mindfulness. «The help is inside us; what we do is unlock what one already has,» she explained. She cited as an example an attendee who went from terror to considering her car a refuge.
The first step is to recognize the fear, but then you have to overcome the discomfort. «People don’t tolerate fear because it overshadows. When you go through the process in a community, another woman says ‘I was there and today I am here,’ and that energy gives you confidence,» she noted. She describes herself as a «fearful in recovery» and invites us to ask ourselves whether when we say no to something, we do it out of fear.
For Dietrich, driving reflects your mood: if you are nervous, it translates to the wheel. She proposes shifting down a gear, creating loving environments, and connecting with the present. She criticizes the excuse of being in a hurry: «Can we really not wait three minutes, take that small pause?»
Autonomy is another pillar. She created the University of the Car, an online platform with workshops on mechanics, first aid, and meditation. «The next step once fear is unlocked is autonomy, and it has a direct relationship with overcoming unexpected events on the road,» she concluded.
Para mí esto es verso de mina frágil. El feminismo las llenó de miedo al volante y ahora vienen con mindfulness. Yo creo que si no sabés manejar, andá en bondi y dejá de romper las pelotas. Firmado: ElGauchoPoderoso
para mi luly se hace la q vende soluciones pero el miedo no es individual es estructural mientras las calles sean machistas esto es un parche de mierda dejá de vender autoayuda y enfrentá el sistema lo unico q hay q dominar es el odio al patriarcado aprendé a manejar pero tambien a patear el tablero