Overcoming Fear of Flying

Lesson 4: Take a Deep Breath and Fly

Relaxation Techniques

Since the body goes into “fight or flight” response, we need to get it back to normal to feel comfortable again. Learning to relax your body and control your breathing is useful not only when flying, but in almost any situation. It can even be used to help you go to sleep at night. There are several relaxation methods and we’re going to learn a few here.

To start, sit down and make yourself comfortable. If you’re wearing a tie, loosen it. Now picture a place you like to be; a happy place, a peaceful place – somewhere that makes you very calm and relaxed. For me it’s usually a tropical beach.

Try to imagine you are there. Picture it in your mind, hear the sounds in your head, smell the aromas that make it a special place. I can close my eyes and see the clean white sand and the crystal clear aqua waters. After taking a breath, I can hear the gentle slapping of the surf as the waves lazily creep up the sand. With the next breath, I can smell the fresh, soothing salt sea air. I can even feel the warmth of the tropical sun as it beats down on me. Oh! Sorry! I’m back now. ;-)

Put that on the back burner for a moment while we learn how to breathe. Yes, learn how to breathe – the kind of breathing we normally do isn’t the slow, deep, relaxing breathing. (Until you’ve memorized this, you might want to have someone read it to you so you don’t have to keep stopping to read the steps. Or you may want to put it on tape and listen to it.)

Deep Breathing Exercise

1. Once you’re comfortably seated, close your eyes – not too tight - and place your hand on your abdomen.
2. Inhale slowly through your nose and fill your lungs up. If you’re doing it right, you should feel your hand (and abdomen) rising – not your chest.
3. Hold that deep breath for three to five seconds (count one-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three).
4. Slowly let the breath out as if you’re trying to keep a feather in the air. You don’t want to blow it away – you want to do it slowly and gently.
5. Rest for a few seconds and then do it again. Do this ten times.¹

The breathing exercise will help bring your shallow, rapid breathing back to normal and help lower your “fight or flight” response. Use this method anytime you need to calm yourself.

Now we’ll try relaxing our muscles.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise²

1. Start with a few deep breaths (as above).
2. Start wherever you prefer (I usually start with my toes) and tense the muscles in that area.
3. Hold up to 10 seconds and then release.³
4. Move from one area to another and repeat the tensing and releasing. (I move to my legs, thighs, pelvis, abdomen, chest, arms, shoulders, neck⁴, jaw, face, and eyes.)

Here’s how to tense some of those areas:

1. Jaws – open your mouth wide and hold – then relax.
2. Forehead – raise your eyebrows as high as you can, hold, then relax.
3. Eyes – shut your eyes tight and hold, then relax.
4. Shoulders – raise them up towards your ears, hold, then relax.
5. Chest – take a deep breath, hold, then relax.

Please note that nothing should hurt. Don’t strain yourself and don’t overdo it. You don’t want to hurt yourself. Don’t rush the exercise. Let your body enjoy it.

A very important part of relaxation techniques is doing it at the time you feel anxious. It’s easy to get ourselves relaxed when there’s no perceived threat to us. It’s during the situation we find frightening that it helps the most.

Avoiding flying isn’t a solution. It feeds the problem and lets the fear go unchallenged. To truly recover from fear of flying, you must fly.

Information, which you now have, and relaxation techniques go a long way to changing your reaction to flying and to the fear. But it’s like many other things – to keep your skills, you have to use them.

¹If you feel light headed, stop and rest. When you feel better, try again.
²Developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson over 50 years ago
³While tensing an area of muscles, make sure not to tense the others. You want to tense one section at a time.
⁴If you tense your neck, please be careful not to overdo it. You don’t want to injure yourself. Do the exercise gently NOT HARD.

Optional Reading
For this section, please read at least one of the following:

Books

• The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, pages 67 – 90 (Chapter 4)
• Flying Without Fear, pages 46 (middle) – 57
• Conquering Your Fear of Flying, pages 108 (bottom) – 122
• Fearless Flier’s Handbook, pages 27 (middle) – 30

Web Sites

• Frommers Travel Guides – Fear of Flying – Part 3
  http://www.frommers.com/book_a_trip/before_you_go/travel_health_center_&_health_insurance/article.cfm?destid=HEALTH&articleid=702
• University of Pittsburgh – Health Education
  http://www.studhlth.pitt.edu/studenthealthed_wbpage/Stress_Management/stress/relaxation.html
• Anxietyselfhelp.com
  http://www.anxietyselfhelp.com/relaxation.htm
• University of Maryland Medicine
  http://www.umm.edu/sleep/relax_tech.html

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