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I have worked hard to be a better flyer, and some cognitive behavior therapy for anxiety has helped, too. Last year my best friend encouraged me to get noise canceling earbuds. "Maybe the noise of the plane is making you more anxious?" she pondered.
The earbuds and a grand variety of music on my phone have become essential parts of my flight plan.
Yesterday I flew to Phoenix, AZ with my husband. I weathered the turbulence pretty well, but I'm still working on managing my anxiety during the gradual descent before landing. My music app was on shuffle, and some interesting titles kept popping up. I decided to create a playlist focused on flying (and my mix of feelings) to distract me from feeling anxious.
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| Part of my playlist |
My favorite on this first list was "Hold On!" I have to give a big shout out to Shawn Mendes for keeping my nerves calm with his sweet voice and acoustic guitar.
I'm hoping to download some new music for our two flights home. I'm glad I've found some coping strategies to deal with the ups and downs of flying. Any other suggestions are welcome!
Flying doesn't bother me, maybe if you just close your eyes, relax and concentrate on the music. Enjoy the sensation of floating above the clouds. Oh, don't forget to breathe!
ReplyDeleteChris, first I love your tagline, "My classroom is not...help my students find success." LOVE that and feel I know you a bit better. Now to your topic—how crazy is the alignment between anxiety and titles that mitigate it? When there's turbulence, and you do say you experienced some on your way to Phoenix, I am an armrest gripper. I try to avoid any real contemplation of the actual concept of flight...all that space between us and the ground freaks me out. When there's an ocean...yikes! Hypnosis is supposed to be good. I don't know how many flights I have left, so I'll probably just "Hold On!" It worked for you. Thanks for a post that resonates.
ReplyDeletemusic is a large part of my sanity in life as well! I always play to help calm my mood or build me up if I am down. I'm glad you found some good songs to calm you during anxious times.
ReplyDeleteSo happy to hear that music brought you some peace. Doesn't surprise me. Love the playlist you created! Some of those titles made me laugh though! Bravo for getting on that plane ... now can we borrow those ear buds and the playlist for Jon some day?!? Enjoy Arizona! (You are the third friend visiting this week!)
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