It is possible to fly without fear

Client Background Summary:

• Grew up living all over the world. Traveling defined our family...
• And eventually resulted in increasing avoidance
• I could not understand how these planes could stay up in the air

Client Review Summary:

• An added benefit of flying with less fear after Soar is the gratification of understanding how these amazing machines work.
• I find especially helpful to remember that imagination does not equal reality
• But the point is that it is possible to fly without fear, and I had not thought I would be able to do this after 35 years of flying fearfully.

Client Review:
I am a 53-year-old woman. My father worked in a multi-national corporation, and I grew up living all over the world. Traveling defined our family, and it was awful to develop a fear of something I loved so much. I have worked as an attorney, language teacher, and language interpreter. I could not do my job effectively without traveling. Nor could I see my very beloved son and daughter, now in their twenties and living in other states, without flying. Also, I still live for the thrill of discovering new places or visiting old, familiar ones. My husband and I have many friends throughout the country and just love being able to visit them. Even though I hadn't stopped traveling, doing so in increasing fear was using up a lot of energy and creating a lot of stress, ruining trips that could be productive, sentimental, or fun. And it eventually resulted in increasing avoidance.

I am not a scientist, and I could not understand how these planes could stay up in the air. An added benefit of flying with less fear after Soar is the gratification of understanding how these amazing machines work. It's really fun to look at birds in the sky and think about the similarities with airplanes. My father had an old Pan Am travel log in which he wrote down all of the miles he covered in his lifetime, during the time when flying was glamorous. Learning to appreciate flying captures back that feeling of excitement which traveling on airplanes to far away places can bring. I love to read, and this appreciation also has enabled me to enjoy informative narratives about flying and airplanes in columns such as Patrick Smith's, instead of constantly avoiding thinking about flying.

None of this happens overnight, by the way. And it requires reinforcement with Soar's excellent tools. I find especially helpful to remember that imagination does not equal reality, that air is as thick as jello, that techniques such as 5-4-3-2-1 will easily keep a person from freaking out, and that it is relaxing to stay matter-of-factly present in a flight without adding imagination or subtracting from the experience with denial. I also find helpful that Captain Bunn is a real person who is there for us. I was so sick of the tyranny of my fear.

But the point is that it is possible to fly without fear, and I had not thought I would be able to do this after 35 years of flying fearfully.

A SOAR Graduate

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