Drive ‘n’ Thrive Tape

OK, so they’ve just found that the Ventura Freeway really isn’t the busiest in the nation (that dubious honor belongs to the Santa Monica Freeway) and maybe Type A’s outlive everyone after all. That’s small comfort when you’re jammed between trucks in the 5 o’clock rush hour (or, for that matter, the noon, 1 or 2 p.m. rush hour) and another Porsche has just . . . Outa My Way, Creep! . . . acted like it owns the road and there is nothing on the radio and you feel like you’re about to . . . to . . . get really unpleasant .

“It’s very aggravating,” agrees acupressurist Michael Reed Gach, who sounds just as firmly un -aggravated on the telephone, where there’s art background ocean noises to add to the effect, as he does on his new self-help tape “The Rush Hour Refresher.” This is a 30-minute cassette designed to be popped into the car tape player whenever traffic frustrations begin to build.

Between safety reminders to keep eyes on the road and at least one hand on the wheel, Gach tells the harried driver how to perform calming self-acupressure and do deep breathing exercises, “through the nose, if possible.” Then there’s an interlude of New Age music recorded over subliminal statements such as “My energy system is open” and “I am at peace with oneness.”

The tape, which came out three months ago, is $9.95 and available at Waldenbooks in Northridge and Woodland Hills or through mail order by calling (800) 451-5683.

Gach, founder of the Acupressure Institute, lives in Berkeley, where things, of course, are mellower. But don’t think he does not understand Southern California freeway frustrations. “I grew up in Los Angeles,” he says. “I often don’t allow enough time to get places, and if you have to go from the Valley into West L.A., it’s bumper to bumper. I get upset all the time. But this cures it.”