Fear of heights paragliding is a common condition faced by many flyers, but it fades as they stay in the air because the sensation during the flight is closer to floating than falling. To reduce the fear, start with tandem paragliding, consider certified pilots, practice deep breathing, and focus on the horizon instead of looking down.
Many people who have a fear of heights often think that they cannot do paragliding. But they do not know that acrophobia and paragliding are not closely related. The fear of height is when you are threatened by falling from a high surface. But paragliding is about floating in the sky instead of directly falling to the ground. Therefore, paragliding, as an adventurous sport, offers you the opportunity to listen to your curiosity and face what fears you the most.
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Understanding the Fear of Heights
Fear of heights, in clinical terms, is known as acrophobia. It belongs to the category of “specific phobias” under DSM-5, as an anxiety disorder. This fear occurs due to a variety of factors, including evolutionary instinct, sensory mismatch, genetic vulnerability, past trauma, or age-related issues.
- Evolutionary Instinct: As humans are hardwired to stay away from things that pose a threat to their life, fear of heights becomes one of them.
- Sensory Mismatch: Your brain uses visual, hearing, and physical touch to keep you balanced and ensure safety. But due to heights, these visual cues and hearing become unstable, and as a result, your brain falls into confusion. This triggers dizziness, nausea, and panic during flights.
- Genetic Vulnerability: In simple terms, humans do not have a “fear of heights” gene. However, their genetics are responsible for how they react to situations that feel threatening to life, like fear of falling during the paragliding flight.
- Past Trauma: The paragliding fear of heights can be heavily influenced by past traumas, like watching someone fall, or a traumatic experience where you avoided falling from a height.
- Age-Related Issue: As humans grow, their ear structure changes, which can also a factors of why fear of heights is so common.
Does Fear of Heights Affect Paragliding?
Does fear of heights affect paragliding? The answer to this question is yes, but not always as you may think. It is evident that many people feel fear before paragliding, assuming it will be terrifying or they will have to face the worst consequence.
However, once they are in the middle of the flight, the nervousness and fear go away, like it was never there in the first place. The reason behind this is that paragliding is different from standing on the rooftop, high building balcony, or the cliff edge, where your brain can anticipate a dangerous fall.
In paragliding, because there is no physical surface from which you will fall, instead you take a smooth flight which feels more like floating than falling. Therefore, your fear of heights may affect you before the flight and a little during the flight, but as you become familiar with the experience, the fear fades away.
Real-Life Experiences: What Does Paragliding Actually Feel Like?
Paragliding is an adventurous sport, not just in the paragliding capital of India, Bir Billing, but across the globe. Therefore, millions of travelers and thrill seekers take part in this adventure throughout the year and share what they experienced, including their first time paragliding fear.
Here is what you may experience based on real-life paraglider felt in his/her flight:
- The Takeoff
The takeoff is the moment when the real fear kicks in for first-time paragliders. The instructor tells you about his past clients, how they were full of fear and did 2 to 3 more flights after the first one. You think he is lying to make you feel comfortable.
Then, he ties safety ropes and other equipment essential for the flight. Now comes the scariest part. He whispers in your ear, “No matter what happens, do not stop, just keep running.” This is where most of the first-time paragliders get uncertain about falling from the cliff edge.
- The Flight
After refusing and failing 2 to 3 times, you finally run, gathering all your life’s courage, and take off. At the start, you fall, crying and shouting your lungs out. But as the instructor takes charge and when you start feel flowing in the air, the fear slowly fades away.
- During the Flight
In the middle of the flight, you are getting comfortable with flying and thinking about doing it once again. And that first time paragliding fear? It’s gone! The atmosphere, the winds, they are unhurried, slow, cool, and feel overwhelming, as you see the clouds, trees, grasslands, tea estates, valleys, and mountains.
- The Landing
After a short or long flight, as per your preference, you start to descend. The excitement returns with a rise in adrenaline levels. The pilot or instructor takes a gentle turn to the landing area and lines up with the path. Then, you land softly on your feet with a short run to ensure safety and avoid direct impact with the ground.
How to Overcome Fear of Heights Before Paragliding in Bir Billing?
Here is how you can overcome your fear of heights before paragliding in Bir Billing:
- Practice Deep Breathing
Before you take the flight, practice deep breathing. Take deep breaths slowly and release at your normal pace. This will help you reduce anxiety, lower your heart rate, and prevent the natural fight, flight, or freeze response to heights.
- A Pre-Flight Safety Check
Anxiety about the equipment of paragliding can be a contributing factor to your fear of heights. Therefore, conducting a thorough check of the equipment and harness can assure your safety and peace of mind, reducing fear of heights paragliding.
- Focus on Floating
During the flight, it may be difficult, but focus on floating instead of looking down. The fear is often intensified by directly looking downwards, which, as a result, triggers dizziness and shortness of breath. But focusing on floating and looking at the horizon and not straight down can reduce your fear by a great extent.
- Expert Instructor
Make sure that you only select a certified and experienced pilot if you are considering tandem paragliding. Talking with them can comfort you about the experience and reduce fear.
- Mental Preparation
Prepare yourself mentally before the flight. Imagine yourself running for takeoff from the cliff, taking the flight, and landing. Being familiar with experiences before actually doing it reduces your fear and calms the mind.
- Communicate with Your Pilot
In tandem paragliding, always communicate with your pilot before the flight and during the flight. By doing this, you can calm yourself and ensure that you are safe with a trusted person.
- Socialize with Other Paragliders
If you are engaging in cross country paragliding, you may encounter other experienced and beginner paragliders as well. By interacting with them about their experience, how they overcame their fear, and how you can do it too, can significantly reduce fear of heights in paragliding.
Conclusion
The fear of heights paragliding is very common among first-time paragliders. It comes before you even take off, but as you take the jump and start to fly, it slowly vanishes. What remains with you are dozens of memories you collect in the adventure, photos, and an experience that you thought you could not do.
Rudra Adventures, as a leading paragliding agency based in India, provides you with the most adventurous experience of paragliding in Bir Billing. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned adventurer, we offer customized experiences with certified pilots and a strong focus on safety. Therefore, you can trust us and get your best paragliding adventures in Bir Billing.
Also Read:
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