Overcome Your Fear of Flying: Top 10 Tips for Success

Our fear of flying online course is based on our hugely successful live course which has over a 95% success rate.

In this blog post we want to share our Top Ten tips for fearless flying…

1 – Don’t Focus On Bad Things – Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want!If I say to you don’t think of an elephant, what do you do? You think of an elephant. So if you focus on the wrong things then you end up with them!

I don’t want to panic- Ends up in you focusing on panic!

2 – Ask For Help – Tell the cabin staff that you have a fear of flying when you board the plane. Don’t be embarrassed about it, staff are highly trained and are used to phobics. They will look after you if you happen to get scared during the flight. This also will take some of the pressure off of you, as you will have a professional on board who understands your situation and who can help you.

3– Think of Turbulence as Normal – This is called a positive reframe. If it does become turbulent then imagine that you are in a car driving over the many bumps and potholes in the road. When we are in a car we don’t think twice about it, as bumps in the road are completely normal. When we are on a plane our mind blows each and every tiny jolt out of all proportion. The plane moves far less than we perceive, so remember to positively reframe what turbulence means in your mind.

4 – Pre-book Your Seat– Some of us can get anxious simply worrying about where we’re going to sit. So it’s often best to manage your expectation and pre book a seat. This can remove a lot of stress. Another tip is sit in the middle of the aircraft, as this will receive the least amount of movement during the flight and should it become turbulent it will be the most comfortable place to sit.

5 – Learn To Breathe!–  Many people don’t realise that when they are anxious they shallow breathe from the upper part of their abdomen, which will automatically make them more anxious. When we are relaxed we breathe from the lower part of our abdomen. So if you feel yourself getting scared then place your hand on the lower part of your abdomen and feel your hand expand and contract as you take some nice deep breaths. 

6 – Watch What You Drink – Avoid coffee or caffeine products, as this can cause a hyper state of mind, which will exacerbate your anxiety. Ensure you stay hydrated and drink water when appropriate, as dehydration only contributes to the fear process. 

7 – Don’t Play Negative ‘Mind Movies’– We all play Mind Movies when we think of things, be they positive or negative and these movies then influence how we feel. Unfortunately phobics have a natural tendancy to play the worse case scenario movie in their minds when their fears are at the forefront of their thoughts! So during the easyJet’s Fearless Flyer course, I teach people how to control these movies so they can learn to play different ones – and ultimately change the way they feel by avoiding these negative mind movies.

8–  Don’t Be Late – Leave plenty of time to get to the airport! There is nothing worse for adding to stress than sitting in heavy traffic wondering if you are going to make it for your flight or not. So avoid being late at all costs. Also wear comfortable clothing, as tight constricting clothing may also cause you to be agitated and stressed.

9 – Be Careful What You Say To Yourself – So many times we can literally talk ourselves into very negative states of mind. Our self-talk or Negative Internal Monologue (what I call a NIM) has a big effect on us.We are actually incontrolof this self-talk so we have the ability to change it to something more relaxing. On the course I teach many techniques of how to turn your NIM into what I call a PIM- a Positive Internal Monologue.

10 – Don’t Jump To Conclusions – Our minds tend to jump to conclusions when we’re not in control of the facts, so every time you hear any unusual noise on the plane or feel a funny movement or sensation your brain tends to fill in the gaps by imagining something bad is about to happen. Don’t make a negative assumption, ask cabin staff if something worried you instead of making things up in your head.

Summary – Your mind is a wonderful thing when you use it the right way, but it can also be the biggest obstacle to your success to flying fearlessly. You have to learn how to run your brain more efficiently and if you come on our course I promise you by the end of it you will be able to do exactly that.