Survive turbulence

Breathe. As silly as it sounds, you often need a reminder to breathe when you are in a situation that puts you in a slight panic. Stare at the back of the seat in front of you and force yourself to breathe in and out through your mouth and nose. Recite a prayer or other calming rhyme or phrase to yourself that might help to put your mind at ease, and remind yourself that flying is hailed as the safest way to travel.

If you are traveling with friends, family or colleagues (or if you are traveling alone and feel brave enough to strike up conversation with a fellow passenger), engage in conversation with them. Do not engage in conversation about the current patch of turbulent air you are flying through; talk about anything else. Forcing yourself to have a normal conversation can often distract you from the current situation.

Attempt to distract yourself through reading material (either something you brought yourself or one of the magazines that are often provided in the seat pocket in front of you), an iPod or CD player (if electronic devices are permitted to be used in the cabin at this time) or the current in-flight movie that might be showing. If you engross yourself in something else you might successfully distract yourself.

If it will help you to know exactly how long these turbulent flying conditions will be continuing, call for a flight attendant and ask. They will do their best to find out how long the plane will be flying through turbulent air, and they will assure and calm you as best they can.

If you start to feel nauseous and nothing is successfully distracting you, politely and discreetly make use of the motion discomfort bag provided in the seat pocket in front of you, so as not to disrupt or freak out fellow passengers.