Hello, all! Summer 'tis upon us and with summer comes air travel for many people. With the people I've talked to on flights, typically everyone is hoping we stay safely in the air. So, you're not alone if you're a nervous flyer! It's totally normal to be anxious! I've only met one or two people in my lifetime who think absolutely nothing about sitting in a chair 37,000 feet above the ground. I myself stay on high alert the whole time I am in flight, so that I can keep the plane in the air with my thoughts! On my recent flights this summer, however, I flew armed with a "Relaxation for Panic Attacks when Flying" script from my therapist (http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/panic-attacks-when-flying.html), and it gave me some tools to cope with my anxiety and the confidence to finally say that I might be able to relax more on many flights to come.
Here are 10 tips from the script and from me (towards the end):
1. Focus on relaxing your whole body with focused attention on each part of it, especially the movement of your stomach as you inhale and exhale.
2. Acknowledge all the scary thoughts you have about flying and how they make you feel, then wave them goodbye as you focus on more positive and constructive thoughts.
3. Repeat to yourself that you are safe and that you are A-OK. Everything is copacetic.
4. Imagine a happy place down to the very last detail.
5. Imagine yourself arriving at your destination. How happy, relaxed, and victorious you are: you faced your fears and did the scary thing!
6. Activate the right side of your brain through drawing every detail you see or coloring in a coloring book.
7. Read a book that you've been excited about reading.
8. Talk to your neighbors.
9. Meditate on the wonder that is your hand. Really think about and appreciate every detail.
10. Listen to music that makes you laugh with happiness, sing along (silently), or dance in your seat. Here are a few songs on my playlist that invoke positive vibes for me:
Na-NaNa-Na--Nelly
As Long As You Love Me--Justin Bieber
If I Ain't Got You--Alicia Keys
Move Along--The All-American Rejects
Rockin' the Suburbs--Ben Folds
Work It Out (Radio Edit)--Beyonce'
Gotta Have You--The Weepies (helps me picture a happy place where I'm lying on my back in a blue boat, humming a tune. :) )
So there you have it, Nervous Flyers! Take the scary thing by the horns and remember, if you hit rough air or turbulence, know that it is a natural result of flying through the sky! Everything is okay!