10 coping strategies that helped me in an anxiety attack
I had just spent ten days in the sunny Caribbean, cruising through beautiful islands and catching up on some much needed R&R. Although nothing seems to be too relaxing when you have young children in tow, we actually managed to really wind down, read a book and enjoy quality time with our (extended) family. I was ready to hop on this plane and just get home and start the new year fresh. However, what was supposed to be a 12 hour travel day, turned out to be a 34 hour ‘day’ that left me with a horrific experience that recovering from will take some time. So if anybody wants to offer us another vacation, please, by all means, I take it.
I have been dealing with a fear of flying for quite some time now. It comes and goes and sometimes I can manage and sometimes it takes more effort to keep myself calm. This time though I had good intentions and was mentally prepared. I even had a good flight to get to our vacation place and my routine, that I use as soon as I get on the plane, seemed to help.
But this time was different. The turbulences were unbelievable – my children were lifted off their seats – that kind of crazy. Even my husband, who travels a lot for work and has no problems with flying whatsoever, acknowledged that the turbulences were very strong. It wasn’t even the impact alone, it was the length of time they lasted.
Whether it’s a fear of flying, trauma, stress build up or any other phobia that triggers an anxiety attack for you, have a read through the following 10 coping strategies that I used to not completely lose my marbles and spin into a tailwind of not being able to breathe and uncontrollably cry and sob (oh yes, it has happened before):
1. Hydration
Even before going on an airplane, I make sure that I have water with me at all times. Although it always seems to be incredibly expensive at the airport, I purchase bottled water once past the security check and fill it into my stainless steel water bottle. In addition, I always accept a glass of water once on the plane. The air is so dry and after just a short amount of time, you can notice your skin being sucked dry and your lips start to get chapped. In the past, I tend to get a headache from flying, but I don’t really need a headache in addition to feeling anxious, do I?
2. Essential oil blend
I often apply essential oils to parts of my body and/or my family’s feet or stomachs. On airplanes, I use a grounding blend and apply it to my wrists to ease anxiousness. I layer two blends together. By applying essential oils to your skin, they will not only pass through your skin and go directly into the bloodstream, but because you also inhale them, they bypass the blood brain barrier and go straight into your lungs. Because of that, please always make sure you only use high quality and 100% pure essential oils.
3. GABA
I started using GABA chewable tablets (I use this one) last summer when I was flying home to Europe and noticed a significant difference in my behaviour. I was definitely calmer and more relaxed. What is GABA? First of all, it stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid. GABA is an important neurotransmitter in our central nervous system which has been indicated with various health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that send messages from one neuron to the other and facilitate communication between brain cells. It works by shutting off that negative message from firing up in your brain and promoting calmness and relaxation.
4. Awareness
As soon as I noticed that the turbulences were stronger than usual and didn’t end after ten minutes or so, I was fully aware of what’s happening: I was having an anxiety attack. I noticed my body was under an incredible amount of stress and very tense. I could feel it coming and the few minutes that I had before completely losing it, I started to prep myself. I believe that me being fully aware of my body’s reaction, actually helped me to stay present in the moment and go with the flow.
5. Blocking out noise and light
First, I pulled my hoodie over my head, covering my ears and eyes. I put my head between my hands and used the table to rest my arms on. It was incredibly loud on the plane, or so I thought. I needed to withdraw from my surroundings and focus within. Thankfully, my children were (shockingly!) fine. Distractions would have taken away from staying in “my zone”. My daughter narrating the take off with sentences like “wow, this looks so creepy” and “oh no, we are going down” didn’t really help either LOL.
6. Deep breathing
This is an obvious one, which I use quite often with my kids as well. Deep breathing can help with reducing stress and improving energy. By breathing deeply into your diaphragm, relaxation centres in our brain are being activated. However, this time it wasn’t enough for me. I needed more.
7. Deep voice moaning
Then, I remembered something my doula (if you live in Vancouver, check out her website here) used to tell me while in labour with my babies. Here it comes, people. This is the #1 thing that saved me this time. Moaning! Screaming and high pitch noises evoke fear in our bodies, so we always want to moan in low, deep tones (often, how babies are being made in the first place, just sayin’). The point is to bring us back to relaxation and into our parasympathetic nervous system. So as I did back then in labour, I started moaning very deeply (thankfully it was so loud on the plane that nobody could hear it, at least I hoped nobody would…). I ended up doing this on and off for two hours straight, as this is how long the turbulences lasted. It’ll help to release the tension in your body and to be able to keep breathing.
8. Positive affirmations
This is also a big one for me. It’s incredible how we can influence our brain to think a certain way and we should do it much more often than many of us do. Positive affirmations can reduce your anxiety by saying them over and over again in your head (or out loud) and slowly changing your thinking and reality.
9. Visualization
Similar to my last point. You can trick your brain into thinking that you are already home and you made it safe and sound to where you would love to be right about now. I try to be as ‘colourful’ and ‘imaginative’ as I can be, also because it’s killing time at the same time. But basically, I think really hard about our home and what happens when we get there, what needs to be done, how to get settled back into our routine and so on and so on. This does obviously not have to be a ‘coming home’ visualization. You can think up your ‘favourite vacation spot’ or ‘my ideal job’. Try it!
10. Gemstones
The week before our trip, my mum took me to a store that has all sorts of gemstones and crystals in all shapes and sizes. They had these little pre-made bags with gemstones that supported overly protection, repelling negative energy and overcoming fear of flying. Alright, alright, before you roll your eyes and say that this is all voodoo type stuff, even if it is (to you), in situations like these, I try anything that can possibly help. And if you have experienced anxiety in your life before, I know, you understand. I had them in my sweater pocket and was playing with them in my fingers.
Obviously, I feel much better now, actually, as soon as we touched the ground, I felt 1000 times better. Although this was incredibly stressful for me, I believe that I successfully kept myself from losing it completely (I did sob at the end though LOL) and not going into a crazy "this is the end" spin of negative thoughts. I call that a win!
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If you want to learn more about how you can get to the root cause of your symptoms, please drop me a line at hello@cabbageandbeets.com.
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Tell me in the comments below, how do you cope with anxiety attacks?