Manual Regulation—The 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise
Our objective is to control feelings automatically when you fly. But in aviation, for every automatic system, we have a manual backup. For feelings, your manual backup is the 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise.
Stress hormones can unbalance your thinking and control your focus. The 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise is nothing more than an exercise to fully occupy your mind so that, as hormones caused by disturbing thoughts are being burned off, they are not replaced. After a minute or two of the exercise, you will again be able to focus your thoughts as you choose. Don’t let yourself return to thoughts that trigger anxiety. As you are finishing the exercise, find something useful or pleasurable to do.
Doing the Exercise
To complete the exercise, simply follow these steps:
If your eyes drift off, just bring them back. Do the exercise out loud the first time. Then try it silently. See which works better for you.
Continue until you have made five statements. For example: “I see the lamp, I see the table, I see a spot on the lamp shade, I see a book on the table, I see a picture on the table.” Continue focusing on the object in front of you, and switch to hearing.
Continue until you have made five statements. Note: It’s okay to repeat something if there are not five different things you hear. For example: “I hear the clock ticking, I hear the refrigerator, I hear a dog barking, I hear a car, I hear the clock ticking.” Continue focusing on the object in front of you, and switch to statements about physical contact.
Continue until you have made five statements. Note: The focus is on external objects in physical contact, not internal feelings such as heartbeat or tension in the body. For example, say, “I feel the chair under me, I feel my arm against my leg, I feel the breeze from the ceiling fan,” and so on.
That completes one cycle. The exercise requires intense concentration. As you concentrate on non-threatening things, stress hormones are used up without being replaced.
What about the next cycle? If you continued the exercise in exactly the same way, you soon could do it without intense concentration. Unwanted thoughts might be able to get a foothold. To keep concentration intense, make one change. Instead of five statements, make four statements. Then, in the next cycle, make three statements. Next, make two statements. Then, in the last cycle, make one statement.
Remember the order of each cycle: seeing, hearing, and feeling. Keeping track of the order and the count is part of the concentration required. If you lose count, or can’t remember what comes next, that’s a good sign because it means you’re getting relaxed. When you are as relaxed as you want to be, stop. If you want to become more relaxed—or to fall asleep—start again with five repetitions. This strategy needs to become so automatic that it comes to mind and is used at the first sign of anticipatory anxiety. To help it become automatic, overuse it to begin with by doing it every few minutes, whether you need it or not.
When to Use the 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise
First, use the 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise as a backup, as mentioned above. Second, use it to combat anticipatory anxiety. Start by using it every fifteen minutes for an hour. Then, use it every thirty minutes for an hour. Next, use it once an hour for the remainder of the day. This will prove to you that you have absolute control over anticipatory anxiety, provided you do the necessary work. It will also help you remember to use it when anxiety arises.
This exercise should also be used in the days and weeks prior to your flight. It is vitally important to avoid repeated imagination of a crash, or of a panic attack. Be vigilant. As soon as you notice imagination of disaster, immediately use the 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise. Use it to regain your ability to focus your mind as you choose.