Here are the rest of the travel ideas that you sent to me, when I asked if you had tips for sensitive travelers. In some cases I have done a little editing for conciseness and clarity. This is a little long, but I wanted to get it all in!
At the end, there is a tapping script that you can adapt for your own use. Be creative.
What I have learned about traveling is that I enjoy a trip much more if there is only one or two destinations. The one- night- here- and- the- next- night- somewhere- else type of trip is very stressful for me. If I can stay a few days somewhere I can explore a place at my own pace, and feel that I am getting to know an area in more depth.
I always have a water bottle and some healthy snacks for a plane or lengthy car or bus ride. Also I do better with an aisle seat on the plane, so I pre-arrange that.
The most important thing I do is bring myself back to being in the moment I am in. I can be overwhelmed at the tasks ahead but I keep remembering that I am only able to be and do ‘one thing at a time’ and aim for keeping myself in the present. Agendas and commitments can seem like a lot but remembering to be in the now helps me a lot.
I take Rescue Remedy with me, a Bach flower essence remedy. I also have heard there’s a flower essence called Yarrow Environmental Solution that is for geopathic stress and travel, specifically for sensitives! I want to try it.
Also I put my bare feet on the ground as soon as possible after I arrive. The earth energy melts stress. It’s called earthing. It helps!
Closing my eyes, slow mindful breaths help. And lately I’m talking to my inner child, reassuring her that I’m safe, I can take care of us, we have resources. I tell her we have angels. She likes that! If I can stay in my body, through my breath, and not go spacey, it helps.
I dread the TSA, though. I don’t want to fly.
I look forward to what other sensitive souls have to say!
There is a lot of stress involved in preparing for an overseas trip, particularly as the time approaches to leave.
Start preparations early enough to ensure there are no details to worry about at the last minute.
When traveling overseas by air, be well rested and well nourished arrive at the airport early enough to cover all the necessary details involved in ticketing, baggage, seating assignments. During the trip, keep well nourished and get plenty of rest.
There are only 24 hours in each day, so make adequate plans to visit the tourist sites without becoming overstressed by planning for too many events in each day.
Tapping for time zone changes can help your body to adjust to the time zone changes as well as the stress of the trip.
I am a sensitive person and a month after I passed my driving test (I took it at age 50 and I am now 55) – a car ran into the back of me in a queue of traffic and I was treated for whiplash for several months. During the treatment time of course I couldn’t drive and the whole experience totally wrecked my confidence.
My friend and I are both qualified EFT Practitioners, so we tapped away the fears of:
1. Being hit from behind.
2. My stalling and someone hitting me from behind.
3. Other drivers getting too close to me.
4. Fear of just being in any traffic queue.
5. Fear of driving and not being in control of what other drivers do which might hurt me.
And eventually we cleared the trauma and the layers of fear I had added to it and I am a good, safe and considerate driver once again.
However, I am still slightly nervous at times and can over-think my journey before I even get in the car!!! obviously making my nervousness worse. I didn’t want to let this feeling make me give up driving so now when I get in the car I say the following ( either out loud or in my thoughts depending on who is in the car with me).
“Archangel Michael please wrap your blue cloak of protection round me and ( name any passengers) and this car and all other road users— getting us all safely where we need to go. And to all the angels, can we please have an uneventful and pleasant journey. Thank You Thank You Thank You”
I find this works and after a very short while after I set off I am more comfortable. Sometimes I forget to ask again on the way back because I have got so comfortable by then and so I say it as soon as I remember.
I take one journey at a time and as time goes on, I get more and more at ease driving my lovely little Yaris.
I feel blessed to be able to share my experience through you to try and help other sensitive souls 🙂
Something I’ve borrowed from focusing.com …..when I am fearful, say my daughter hasn’t called home and can’t be located for the moment, or I have a big presentation in front of a lot of people, and I am self conscious about what I am going to say, or just some curve ball out of nowhere that gives me pause for concern……I go within and then say aloud “Somewhere in me I am (fearful) about_________ (e.g. where my daughter is). “I repeat this as often as necessary, and make it real within me.
Depending on the upset I can also say “Parts of me are fearful about _______ (where my daughter is), ” and I touch my chest or my throat or wherever I feel most constricted with the feeling of fear or anger or sadness.
The other process I do when there is upset and I find myself dwelling on something that is negative in thought: I do something called a “Heart Lock-in.”
(Heartmastery.com ) This is about visualizing an event, person, place or thing in your heart taken from the history of your life. Something real that gave you joy, and brings a smile to your face every time you think of it. In short it warms your heart when you recall it .
We all have memories such as this: your Grandma’s kitchen; or when the family was at home or all around when you received or were sharing love, your favorite pet, or a special time that gave you heart. It could be anything, and you have a visual memory and a feeling to go to when you focus on it.
What I do is take a moment and visualize that memory within my heart. The heart, when I allow it, has its own intelligence. Wisdom and guidance comes from the heart, aided by the mind, and not the other way around. I have to practice it. I use this tool of Heart lock-in when my mind is pacing the floor and I am numb with worry.
It gives me choice where before there was none. It’s accountable, it’s responsible, and it is just as real as the fear. In essence it allows healing space between the fear and the authentic self.
Here are some tapping ideas.
Use them as a springboard for your own tapping.
*Pick a specific travel situation that you worry about.
Give it a title.
Notice what the worst part is.
What feelings are associated with this worry?
Where do you feel this worry in your body?
Rate intensity 0-10
Consider this question and answer with the first thing that comes to mind:
*What bothers me the most about traveling?
Tap on side of hand:
Even though this bothers me the most (use your own words) I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though this really bothers me, I deeply and completely forgive myself for being upset about it…
And even though this stresses me, I deeply and completely love and accept myself… and I’m willing to see it differently.
Tap the points: (add or change to your own words)
This bothers me the most _______________
I’ve been trained to worry my entire life.
Worrying is as normal as breathing.
I can’t stop worrying because_______________
If I worry enough about something then I can avoid it.
I have a hard time dealing with this.
This is stressful for me.
I don’t want to remember that.
I don’t want to feel what I am feeling underneath it all.
Even so, I’m willing to see it differently…
*This reminds me of…
Now focus within yourself and go even more deeply. Close your eyes… and think about traveling and how you’re feeling about it. Does this remind you of anything? ….Where have you felt this way before? …..What prior situation, whether from childhood or more recently, does this remind you of?
Tap on side of hand:
Even though this reminds me of ____________, I deeply and completely accept myself…. and even though I felt this way back then, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, and I accept all parts of me, even the part holding those old feelings and reactions…. and even though I’ve held those feelings for a long time, I’m willing for this to heal….that was then and this is now… and I want to heal the past… and free up the present…
This reminds me of the past– (fill in with your own words)
And what I felt then _____________
I can’t stop worrying because it’s something I’ve done for a long time and it’s learned from my mother.
I’ve learned to be in my head a lot______________
I’ve learned to worry about what may happen and to let fear run my life in certain areas.
I seem to believe that worry keeps me in control…creates my defense to prevent an almost certain disaster.
I think if I stop worrying I am afraid that I will be unprepared and will suffer the consequences.
Deep inside I have a fear of being abandoned and therefore unworthy.
These feelings from the past.
A part of me still feeling this.
A part of me still seeing things that way.
Even so, I’m willing for this to heal.
That was then and this is now.
I want to heal the past and free myself up in the present.
*It is draining my energy
Even though this travel worry is draining my energy, I accept myself…
Even though traveling is stressful for me…
Even though I get overwhelmed…
Even though agendas and commitments can seem like a lot…
Even though I’ve let this drain my energy and create negativity, I deeply forgive myself… now that I see it, I can change it….
This energy drain
I can stop putting so much energy into it.
This energy drain.
Accepting what I can’t change… and changing what I can.
I’m choosing to take back my energy…. And protect my energy… Say no to worry…and cultivate the kind of thinking that enhances my life.
*What if…?.
Tap continuously and thoughtfully through all the points using the phrases below, pausing to elaborate on something as it catches your imagination, or lingering on something that still triggers you:
What if I could find a way to get through this time, without stress?
What if I could find a way to relax about all of this?
If I can stay in my body, through my breath, and not go spacey, it helps.
I can tap for time zone changes.
I can plan for just one or two events in each day.
What if I allowed it to be easier?
I can start preparations early enough to ensure there are no details to worry about at the last minute.
I can remember that I am only able to be and do ‘one thing at a time’ and aim for keeping myself in the present.
What if it doesn’t have to be so difficult?
What if food can just be food?
What if my relatives could just be “other people”?
 What if I let myself feel the feelings, and just let them flow through me?
I’m talking to my inner child, reassuring her that I’m safe, I can take care of us, we have resources.
I tell her we have angels. She likes that!
I put my bare feet on the ground as soon as possible after I arrive. The earth energy melts stress. It’s called earthing. It helps!
And—what if this challenge somehow brought a surprise benefit to me?!
I wonder what that could be?
*Ground a new vision of you traveling in a way that feels good to you.
Tap through all the points again:
At each point imagine how you would like to feel instead.
Imagine what you will be telling yourself.
Imagine what you will be noticing.
Imagine what other people will be saying about you, and to you.
Imagine how your body can feel.
Notice all the preparation you are making that honors your body and your preferences.
Invite thoughts about the good results and fun you will have.
Happy trails to you!
With my love and blessings,
Rue
