How Yoga Helped Me To Fly!

Recently, I spent a day with a room full of strangers. I then took an aeroplane flight from Gatwick to…Gatwick.

No, this wasn’t some sort of weird dream. Instead, having been increasingly afraid of flying over the last few years, I had decided that it was time to enrol on a ‘fear of flying’ course with a well known airline.

Half way through the day, I was feeling very tense about the flight which was to follow in the afternoon. Having had lectures about aircraft safety from cabin crew and a pilot, the ‘psychological’ session began. The instructor talked us through a breathing exercise. This involved inhaling for a count of four, holding the breath for two counts and then exhaling to a count of six. This seemed familiar, as it is similar to some of the routines which are practised at the yoga classes run by Laurence and Elizabeth at the Yogamoo studios.

And of all the parts of the day, this was the thing which seemed to calm me the most.

We then practised breathing from the stomach, and on centring ourselves. Next was a visualisation exercise in which we were asked to imagine that we could see the anxiety, breathe it out, and assign a colour to it. Again, were it not for my strange surroundings, and a distinct lack of sun salutations and warrior poses, I could have been in a Yogamoo class!

After learning a few more relaxation techniques, we headed off to the airport. A short while later, I braced myself to face the gigantic metallic bird which sat gleaming imposingly on the tarmac… and on I got!

I won’t lie: I felt terrified. Most of what I had learned during the day went out of the window (metaphorically speaking, not actually…). Despite having paid a lot of money to attend the course, and the staff there being fantastic, I was left with the yoga relaxation techniques that I already knew. And it dawned on me just how useful it is to be able to empty the mind and focus on the breath: this enabled me to relax, whereas in the past I have been a blubbering wreck even at the thought of flying.

I am sure I could not have done this so effectively were it not for attending numerous yoga sessions over recent years, mostly under Laurence’s expert guidance. I am also sure that similar breathing and visualisation techniques could be applied to many situations beyond the yoga class, and could be a huge help to many people in different walks of life. Yoga really is all around us.. or should be. And for me this has (hopefully) opened up the whole world…

Now I just need to book a holiday and get back to Elizabeth’s power yoga classes (which I missed to attend the flying course) in order to shape up, ready for an exotic beach!