Afraid of Flying? Here’s How to Ease Your Anxiety and Enjoy Your Trip

By Daija Qualis | Guest Contributor | Shade & Travel

So, the headlines lately…they have not exactly been comforting. There is a lot of chatter about flying — from accidents to outages — and for nervous travelers, it is hard not to let those stories undermine their confidence in boarding a plane.

If you already find flying a bit overwhelming, you are not alone. An estimated 25 million adults in the USA experience some degree of flying anxiety. But the good news is that fear is a normal human reaction — and it is something you can ease with a few powerful strategies. As someone with a background in behavioral analysis, I know first-hand how small, actionable techniques can interrupt that fear response and put you back in control.

Here are some techniques I find helpful — both from my own experience and from behavioral therapy — to ease your worries and make flying a more comfortable experience:

➥ Stay Grounded with Your Senses.

Using the 5-4-3-2-1 method — naming 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste — pulls you back into the present moment.

How this helps: Fear lives in “future thinking”—your mind starts spinning worst-case scenarios. Grounding lets you refocus on what is real and present, interrupting those irrational thoughts.

➥ Carry Small Comforts.

A small, travel-sized lotion or a piece of hard candy can be a powerful tool against nervous

energy.

How this helps: Touch and taste activate your senses and nervous system in a way that signals safety and familiarity. It pulls you back into your body instead of letting fear spiral.

➥ Repeat a Soothing Mantra.

Quietly repeating phrases like “I’m supported, I’m strong, I’m safely supported in this journey” can be calming.

How this helps: Repeating a mantra focuses your mind on something constructive and neutral, reducing the power of catastrophic thoughts.

➥ Consider Cognitive Behavioral Techniques.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying irrational thoughts — “the plane

might crash”— and framing them more accurately — “flying is statistically safest; accidents are extremely rare.”

How this helps: My background in behavioral analysis underscores how changing your thought patterns can profoundly affect your physical stress response, reducing fear and panic.

➥ Stay Busy and Comforted.

Bring distractions you love — downloaded shows, a good book, or calming music — and

consider using noise-canceling headphones.

How this helps: Filling your senses with something you enjoy dampens your nervous system’s ability to focus on fear signals and lets you ease into relaxation.

➥ Reduce Uncertainty with Organization.

Having a clear, curated travel plan can ease a lot of stress.

How this helps: Uncertainty feeds fear. Knowing exactly where you are headed, having your

documents ready, and trusting your itinerary lets you feel more in control and less vulnerable to the “unknown.”

➥ The Jello Method.

Picture a piece of paper suspended in Jello — it wobbles but stays safely supported. That is your airplane in the air, supported by invisible structures you cannot see.

How this helps: Visualizing a comforting, protective scenario dampens catastrophic thinking and lets you view turbulence or movement as a normal part of flying.

The Bottom Line:

Nervousness about flying is a normal human reaction — but it is not something you need to suffer through. Small techniques, careful preparation, and a bit of knowledge about how your own nervous system works can empower you to conquer that fear and enjoy your journey from boarding to landing.

Written by Daija Qualis

Travel Content Creator | Guest Contributor | Shade & Travel

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