Although flying is fairly common these days and most people have at least some experience, it’s not surprising that many people still struggle with a fear of flying. Even if your logic tells you that it’s safe and aeroplanes are expert engineers design the planes, your natural instinct often conflicts with the things that you inherently know as true. It’s not exactly natural or normal to fly around thousands of miles up in the sky in a hunk of metal, after all!
The good news is that if you are somebody that experiences anxiety when flying, or before flying, there are things you can do to make yourself feel better and to manage your fear.
Here’s some advice on how to relax if you’re a nervous flyer.
Practise Breathing Techniques
Using breathing techniques is a trick that can be used for just about any kind of anxiety and the good news is that it really does work, and it’s not all in your head. By practising slow, calm and deep breathing, you’ll immediately be able to calm yourself down and lower your heart rate.
Now, there are many different techniques for doing this, and the best way to find one that works for you is to go to a specialist. But if you don’t do that, the top trick to know is that you should start by slowing down, breathing slowly, taking deep breaths and just really focusing every time you inhale and exhale. Not only will these calm you down, but it’ll also distract you.
Chat to Somebody
This may be a bit difficult if you’re flying alone, but why not strike up a conversation with a stranger? It’ll be distracting.
The other thing is that if you talk to somebody while you’re feeling anxious, it may actually make you feel better and less alone if you directly express your fear of flying. Tell them what’s going on, and perhaps they’ll be able to comfort and distract you.
Fight Fear with Knowledge
Everybody’s different like different no download pokies, but for some people, fear stems from the unknown, and for most of us who aren’t expert engineers, the concept of flight and aeroplanes more generally is completely foreign. Thus, it’s not surprising that it may cause some anxiety.
So, if you’re this kind of person, why not do some research into how these things work and you’ll find out just how unlikely it really is that something will go wrong. Just don’t allow yourself to go too far down the rabbit hole!
Distract Yourself
Pack a book or a magazine that you can read on the plane, or take a game or get some work done. Whatever it is that you end up doing, it’ll distract you from your fear and help your keep your mind off your anxiety.
Being prepared for your anxiety by doing something like packing a book to distract you is also a good way to lessen it, because you already have a plan in place to deal with it as soon as it becomes a problem.
