Travelers typically welcome the jolt of excited adrenaline that sharpens the senses and takes our breath temporarily away—it’s the physical proof of an awe-inspiring adventure. Yet, those same reactions, far less pleasant in the form of anxiety, are also an inevitable part of travel, the other side of novelty’s biochemical coin.  

For an increasing number of travelers, that anxiety is centered around flying. While air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation, an estimated 25 million adults in the United States experienced a degree of aerophobia as of 2022. In the wake of tragic crashes in the first months of 2025, online searches for "fear of flying" and "flight anxiety" exponentially increased. 

Yet travel demand remains up, with more than 5 billion airline passengers expected to fly this year. For those experiencing increased flight anxiety, some for the first time, there are techniques that travelers can use to keep flying. Challenging intrusive thoughts is helpful, but the body’s regulation is key. 

"We feel like we have control of our minds and can reel them in, but we have a lot more control over our chemistry than we realize," explains Dr. Brian Ramos, a neuroscientist trained at the Yale School of Medicine and certified stress specialist. "We can flip a switch and bring awareness to our parasympathetic nervous system, rooting in the now and generating peace and calm."

Here's how to turn down distress by gaining control of the nervous system and why building resilient thoughts is best done—and first practiced—on the ground. 

1. Cool the body with chilled food and drinks—a cold canned beverage on the forehead often does the trick. 

2. Gain control of the breath through slowing inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth. Many rhythms and strategies work; the key is to slow the breathing rate and focus on a pattern.  

3. Use the senses to regulate with the "5-4-3-2-1" technique: Identify five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste.  

4. Pack sensory aids like sour candies, engaging textures, small, scented lotions, and download soothing audio tracks.

5. Embrace touch and have trusted travel companions apply gentle pressure, light caresses, or scalp massages with a soothing rhythm to maximize grounding benefits. Weighted blankets also create similar calming effects. 

6. Create a mantra before flying that will help challenge intrusive thoughts.

7. Try counseling for persistent or severe symptoms and explore the roots of the fear. 

Continue reading below to understand the science behind the techniques listed above to calm your anxiety and curb your fear of flying.

(Related: 7 ways to make travel less stressful.)

When it comes to calming the body's primal fight and flight response—the sympathetic nervous system—the encouragement to "chill out" is literal. The sympathetic nervous system sends out adrenaline that sparks a cascade of responses: heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, breathing rate increases, and cortisol releases. With that comes metabolic activity and heat from increased energy. Ramos describes that while this physiological response primes us for quick reactions and helps us keep up with modern productivity demands, it is not conducive to reducing anxiety. 

"Most people overdo it on the sympathetic nervous system to get things done," says Ramos. "But with all the 'go go go', the parasympathetic system atrophies. We're not as good at turning on our pause and rest state. We create, in a sense, our own prison." 

The parasympathetic nervous system—the rest and digest functions—acts as a brake to the hormonal flood. One quick way to switch to this side of the nervous system is to hijack the body's temperature. The body responds to the cold by shifting into a less energized state.  

Controlled breathing also kickstarts the body's relaxing mechanisms as the slower pace helps re-regulate heart rate and temperature. Adding focused patterns to breathing allows for what is commonly called grounding in psychotherapy, or the ability to connect to the present moment. 

"The breath is allowing the mind to remain in the present where we are free from the outcomes we are worried about," explains Ramos. "Anxiety is oriented to future outcomes. They are not happening right now."

Clinical psychologist Becki Apseloff describes how this process helps the body convince the brain of safety. "The message up to the brain is saying, 'Hold on, I'm actually safe right now. That alarm is a false alarm.'"

(Related: Here's what fear does to your brain and your body.)

Distraction is a universal technique, and most travelers prefer to pack and download engaging movies, books, games, and music rather than join the 2024 "raw-dogging" trend without entertainment. However, when our body floods with chemical distress signals, it is harder to access the advanced areas of the brain that allow focus even on enjoyable diversions.  

One of the most accessible ways to achieve a calmer state is through the senses. Interpreting sensory input is a baseline ability—senses even sharpen in anxious states. The act of attuning to the environment both occupies the brain and helps assess the lack of immediate threat. 

"Once you have a controlled breath, do some cognitive shuffling," suggests Apseloff. "Play those 'I Spy' games we do on car trips and start to look for everything in the plane that starts with the letter C." The idea is to engage in simple cognitive work that connects and grounds you to the current environment.  

The senses also change the body’s chemistry. Pleasurable tastes and sounds trigger feel-good chemicals like dopamine. Touch releases calming oxytocin while diminishing cortisol. Using any of these will provide a boost of chemical backup to an already calming nervous system. 

(Related: Your flight’s been delayed—or canceled. Here’s how to get through it.)

Air disasters may spark a fear of flying, but the roots of a person's anxiety are often less direct. Grappling with a loss of control is one of the most common themes for those with flight hesitancy. "You really have to give yourself over to the flight crew to do their job and that the plane will hold up," explains Apseloff, noting that we like to believe we can manipulate outcomes. "You can't stop. You can't get off. That surrendering of control is so difficult."  

Several forms of therapy—including evidence-based Dialectal Behavioral Therapy—center around a concept called radical acceptance, or reducing suffering by accepting that you are not in control of all things. Apseloff chuckles as she explains a supportive mantra that works for her: she reminds herself that her worried brain is not an accurate statistician for negative outcomes. 

These insights require access to the brain's prefrontal cortex, but in times of distress, the safety-driven amygdala and hypothalamus dominate the brain as part of survival responses. Identifying reasons for fears and practicing supportive thoughts must be done before an anxious episode, similar to creating an almost automatic muscle memory. 

Clinical psychologist Dr. Charlotte Russell, founder of The Travel Psychologist, works with clients on flight anxiety and sees benefits from individualized treatment around underlying issues. "Consider therapy to understand and address fears of flying if you've tried strategies such as relaxation and thought challenging." 

Ultimately, clinicians see gains with universal tips and individualized treatment. There may still be discomfort, but the goal is to manage fear to be able to travel. "Humans are meant to travel," says Ramos. "That adventure of life fills our hearts with a lot of joy."