The hack that helped me get over my fear of flying

Have you heard of jello “theory”? And could it help you never fear flying again?

It’s not really theory, but more of a simplified way to visualize what an airplane looks like flying through the sky, and turbulence. Planes are flying at high speeds, and at high speeds, the air is going to feel thicker, sort of like jello/gelatin. And as we know with jello, if we place something like a pea or a plane into the jello and shake it, that object isn’t just going to drop out. Similarly, the plane isn’t going to just fall out of the sky. But that doesn’t mean it can’t occasionally dip or have a few bumps.

I learned about it through the viral video from Anna Paul last year. I read a bit more about this from Psychology Today from an article from airline pilot and therapist Tom Bunn.

In the article, Mr. Bunn explains why this jello model is helpful, “Picturing a plane suspended in gelatin controls our imagination of it falling and makes us feel better when flying.” And from personal experience, thinking about flying and turbulence in this way has been helpful with my fear of flying.

Turbulence is a completely normal occurrence but it doesn’t make it any less scary. In conjunction with thinking about jello, other things that really help me are:

• using noise cancelling headphones to protect my peace

• finding a grounding mantra that I can repeat to myself

• reminding myself how safe airplane travel is (seriously it’s safer than car travel)

  
  

But if you do have a real fear (like a phobia) of flying, I would encourage you to talk to a licensed professional or doctor who can help you with tools or medications you can use to make flying a bit easier.

Also check out Dial A Pilot—a service where you can talk directly with an airplane pilot before boarding your flight.