Scared to Fly? This 3-Minute Travel Trick Seriously Helps

Introducing Good Vibes, Well+Good’s new (woo woo) wellness video series where you’ll get a seriously immersive peek into the new age, the energy-charged, and the out-there stuff healthy influencers are buzzing about right now.

Life is too full of gorgeous, exotic places to explore and healthy jet-setting tips to let fear of flying hold you back—from the IRL experience or the Instagram potential.

But if you've got a case of flight anxiety, you know it's not an easy hurdle to tackle. Reiki and wellness expert Kelsey Patel feels you—and has a super easy, three-minute solution to share that worked for her: emotional freedom technique, or EFT.

By addressing the fear, it prepares you to let go.

The method involves repeating certain mantras to both exorcise and transform your anxiety while tapping specific acupressure points on the wrist, head, and body—and basically acts as a release valve for all your pent-up "what if?" panicky energy.

Watch the video above to try it out in real time, and scroll down to get the full directions for future plane trips.

 

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for flying

1. Begin by expressing trust in your own safety. With your right hand, begin tapping the outside of your left palm. Don't tap too hard, but make sure you feel a solid connection.

Repeat this mantra: "Even though I have all of this fear of flying, I deeply and profoundly trust myself. Even though I have so much fear of flying, I deeply and profoundly accept I'm safe."

2. Next, acknowledge your fear directly. Start a tapping cycle, starting the tapping from between your eyebrows, move to the outside of your eye, then underneath your eye, underneath your nose, on your chin, underneath your collar bone, underneath your left arm, and on top of your head.

As you move through positions, alternate between these phrases: "I'm so scared to fly. I have all this anxiety to fly. I'm terrified to fly." By addressing the fear, it prepares you to let go.

3. Close your eyes, exhale, and let go of the fear entirely. As Patel explains, "Part of it is about letting go of your desire to control—the only control we have is that we have none."

Try it a half dozen times leading up to your trip and right before your flight, says Patel, who now has way more bon voyages in her life.

Now that you've conquered your plane jitters, check out these swoon-worthy wellness destinations and ease your jet-lag with these healthy hacks.