A short YouTube video by Dr. Nicole Cain offering three practical, night-before strategies to reduce flying anxiety: (1) grounding (e.g., sitting in nature or walking barefoot), (2) avoiding alcohol because it increases inflammation and disrupts calming neurotransmitters, and (3) using a mental "anchor" visualization of your destination to shift focus and reduce in-flight anxiety. The speaker frames the tips as personally-tested, normalizes flying anxiety, and closes with encouragement.
Chapters
Here are three things you should do the night before you take a flight. Do you have flying anxiety? Don't worry, I've got your back. Flying anxiety is totally normal. And there are things that you could do to help make your anxiety just a little bit better. If you know me, you know that I don't love to fly. And these are things that have helped me not only fly around the United States, but also take international trips. So tip number one is before you fly, ground, like I am here, sitting in front of this tree. Another way to ground is to walk barefoot in the grass. Here's tip number two, as helpful as it may seem. Theme Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is inflammatory. Inflammation makes us more anxious. Alcohol also disrupts the production of your neurotransmitters, which are involved in keeping you calm. Here's tip number three. This is probably my favorite and most helpful tip. You want to anchor yourself on the other side. You want to close your eyes. Imagine your home. Imagine your destination, where you're going. Imagine what it feels like, the ground, the smells, the sound sounds, the textures. And imagine that you're already there. Think of it like an anchor. If you have a fear of flying, you're up in the air and your anchor will help you ground yourself in where you're going to be so that you're not anxious about where you are when you're flying. You can do this. You've got this, and I'm really proud of you for putting yourself out there.