Continuing the Fear of Flying course

Today I have been doing the virtual flight videos and applying my relaxation techniques to the experience.  It’s amazing how even just looking at the videos can bring on the fear. 

The main relaxation technique I have been using is tapping on the pressure points that King Acupunc showed yesterday at my needle session.  He gave me some good needling to help me be calmer and more grounded in my chi.  And two of the points he jabbed are points that I need to tap repeatedly whilst chanting a mantra. 

Today, I have been using this one “this plane is taking me to see D, this plane is taking me to see D” – that has definitely put a smile on my face.  

And this one “I am choosing to fly to see D, I am choosing to fly to see D”. 

And then this little song emerged into my head “he flies through the air with the greatest of ease”.  It’s from a song about flying trapeze artists but it works for me!!  It reminds me that planes are happiest in the air.  That is where they glide as they were built to do.  The course had this cute little picture of a smiling plane with this sentence “The plane is happiest in the air, that's where it's meant to be!”

    

I have printed out my notes form the course, downloaded the audio file and put it on my mp3 player and printed out the book to read as well.  I have my sudoku books and will get some magazines before I board.  I’ve been listening to the audio file any chance I have had today and hope I am starting to get desensitized to the whole experience. 

There is nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about.

The air is thick like liquid and the plane swims through it.
Even without engines, the plane will continue to glide through the thick air.
The plane automatically keeps level.  Pilots have to hold them in a turn or for a descent/ascent.
Bumps in the air are just like bumps in the road.   They are caused by changes in the texture of the air, but just as the car keeps going along the road, the plane will keep swimming through the thick air surrounding it.

I put my hand out of the car window as I was driving down the freeway and felt the thickness of the air at the faster speeds.  I felt the buoyancy of my hand in it.  I felt the bumps along the way as the air changed.  But it didn’t affect the buoyancy of my hand.

I imagined being in the plane as the car was bumping along the road.

I watched birds flying through the air, using flapping wings to propel them forward (engines) and then gliding along with the momentum.

Part of me is still feeling all the signs of anxiety and borderline panic, the chest pains are still there.  But another part of me is feeling much more relaxed and aware and excited to see if this course has helped me.

But the best focus is the excitement of the adventure.  The weekend in Melbourne, seeing D, staying at a grand hotel!!  Woohoo!!