How do you settle yourself back down

[JPenny]

I don't know about you guys, but if I keep myself in tight rein and everything goes smoothly, I'm sort of okay. I mean, I'm not panicking and I muddle along. But if something out of the ordinary happens (in my imagination or in reality) so the panic really kicks in, I'm a goner. :cower I try SO HARD to talk myself back to a semi-calm state, but it's nearly impossible. On my last flight it was late at night, I was in a small CRJ or ERJ--whichever one has three seats across, not four--and we had a VERY turbulant take-off. The rest of the 90 minute flight was pure misery for me, and I never was able to get settle back down, even though it was fairly smooth. :banghead What can I do next time to help myself settle down when something rocks my boat? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Jean :wave

[Passenger Mark]

Hey Jean,

That was a ERJ

Now, what I do is change my view to something else. And not so much my "visual" view, but the view in my mind.

I concentrate on whatever the problem was as being in the past now, and it is time to move on. I will pull out the camera and start thinking about what photos would look good on the site, or the DVD player and pop in the movie.

But the main thing is to move on. I just take my cue from the flight attendants. As soon as the turb stops, they get busy "moving on". Ever notice that??? Turb will start up, and they will quickly secure whatever they are doing and sit down. Then as soon as it is over, they are back up and at work again.

I just go with the flow of the activity on the aircraft.

During the "event" I concentrate on things I have read on the boards, and what I have read in Captain Ray's book. That it is ok, the plane is fine, and at some point the turb will stop.

Hope that helps some...

Mark

[xiknal]

Hi, Jean,

Have you had a chance to look around at the site called anxieties.com?

Here 'tis:

www.anxieties.com/ (http://www.anxieties.com/)

There are some good techniques for taking control of your runaway emotions. As with any techniques, they are more effective with practice, so you might try them out as you wrestle anticipatory anxiety. If you like, I can tell you more about which of them I found most useful as I started systematic work on my FoF. Just let me know, and I will say more. Barb :)

[Disney fan]

Hi Jean,

I just resign myself to it! I make a decision in my mind that It is out of my control, I can't get off the plane so I have to go with the situation. Perhaps what I mean is that I stop fighting my feelings and somehow when I do that I become less anxious!

[smokycmt]

Hi Jean!

I know exactly what you speak of in your post. I can be chugging along just fine and then something happens and I freak (so to speak).

Here's what I do. I say to myself "STOP"! pretty forcefully, so that I can clear my head. Then I make every effort to concentrate on my breathing. It seems to work pretty well (most of the time) :D

I have also come to accept that I will have these feelings of panic and even though that will occur I will be ok!!

Christine :happyguy (love this little guy!)

[WillFlyToDisney2]

I plug in the IPOD and crank up the music. The loud music in my ears distracts me from the bumps I am feeling. Make a mix CD of your favorite tunes or fill your Ipod with MP3s. Either way the music has a way of bringing your mind back to calmer moments - at least it works for me!

Watching the flight attendants is good advice too. They do this every day and just "go with the flow" as described. Watching their routine can be calming as well.

:)
Kelley

[Stefjam]

I just concentrate on keeping busy. I always keep half on eye on the flight attendants because as long as they're up and moving I feel confident that everything is ok. Someone else posted about turbulence being like potholes in the sky and I smiled when I read that because that's the analogy I have always used too and while it can be hard to think about potholes being 35,000 feet in the air it does give me some relief.

Stef

[JPenny]

Thanks guys--

I'll be printing these out and hanging on to them. The exercises at that web site will be helpful as well.

Happy flying!

Jean