Take a trip in a hot air ballon


My Fear of Heights and a Hot Air Balloon

My  Fear  of  Heights  and  a Hot Air Balloon
My focus then shifted to experiencing how
16th  November  2005serene it was up in the sky, only
occasionally hearing the sound of the burner
Author:  Michaela  Scherras it blasted hot air into the balloon above.
I've been terrified of heights for as long asFrom experiencing this serenity my focus
I can remember and still I insist on whiteturned to the burner and feeling the heat of
knuckle  experiences.the  flames.
On occasion I've thought it'd be a great ideaHappy with experiencing what I was, I began
for my family and me to ride in glassasking myself probing questions about my
elevators, take rides on Ferris wheels (largefear. With each answer I would then ask "and
or small), check out revolving restaurantswhat  is  important  about  that?"
atop towers - not only is this alone
terrifying, vertigo also gets thrown in forRemaining centred and controlling my
good measure. Then there was my absolutebreathing, I continued to answer each
fear of flying which thankfully has beenquestion fully to myself until there was
dealt  with  successfully.nothing  left  to  ask.
Hot air ballooning is a different kettle ofFrom answering my own questions I discovered
fish. Now I know hot air balloons fly (sortmy fear was based on the fact that there was
of) however there are no in-flight rations,no jet engine, steering wheel, seat belts,
flight attendants, movies, headsets, orescape chute and we were in a basket attached
pressurized cabins. There is just a bigto  a  really  big  balloon!
balloon (also called an envelope - I paid
attention during the pre-flight briefing), aFrom  those  answers  I  then:
basket, a gas burner and a group of excited
people. To me this was not flying, more like* Determined that the likelihood of disaster
drifting and floating randomly above thewas  minimal  to  nil.
earth.
* Knew the present moment was the safest
What possessed me to voluntarily take a hotplace  for  me.
air  balloon  flight  I'll  never  know.
* Future paced me. I imagined myself eating
A flight was booked and as luck would havemy champagne breakfast with the other
it, perfect weather conditions. We arrivedpassengers after the balloon flight, and
at the departure point on a cool, crispretelling  my  story.
morning before the sun rose. The other
passengers had already arrived and were* Realised I was actually having an
eagerly awaiting the pre-flight briefingexperience of a lifetime which I probably
before  take-off.will never do again and decided to make the
most  of  it.
That  was  the  good  bit.
Not only that, the captain seemed to know
Fear washed through me, it became difficultwhat he was doing (always encouraging), I
to breathe, and my heart was poundingknew the equipment was in great shape (I had
rapidly. It took supreme effort to keep mya good look), and there was someone following
panic in check and instead, not wishing tothe  balloon  in  a  vehicle  below.
put a damper on anyone's enthusiasm, tried to
appear  as  nonchalant  as  possible.Taking several deep breaths, I refocused on
my internal world and connected with peace
As time for take-off approached my fearagain, silently giving thanks to my years of
intensified. Finally, as the ropes weremeditation  practise.
released from the basket and the balloon
slowly made its way upward, my knees turnedAt last I was able to truly enjoy this
to jelly and the urge to rid myself of theexhilarating experience! The peace and
previous  night's dinner became overwhelming.tranquillity above the earth with the sun
rising in the East, and the green rolling
Totally trapped I silently screamed as wehills below was absolutely awesome - I was in
rose  higher  and  higher  from  the  ground.heaven!
What  did  I  do next to overcome this panic?Being in the present moment, focusing on
controlled breathing, as well as becoming
I  changed  my  state.centred helped enormously in dealing with my
anxiety. Not only that by asking the
I remembered to breathe, and with that wasquestion "and what is important about that?"
able to centre myself (knowledge ofgot  to  the  heart  of  my  fear.
meditation helps!) to step fully into the
present moment. It also helped to shift myTry asking yourself that question sometime
focus and become more curious, about thewhen a need crops up. You might be surprised
purple  hills  I  could  see  on the horizon.as what you discover about yourself.



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