It's true. The healthiest thing for your body is to stay away from airplanes altogether.
But for those of us who love adventure, exploration, and new experiences, air travel is simply an essential part of life. Since nothing's going to stop you from living fully, here are 5 ways to hack your jetlag, avoid excess toxins, and find balance while you fly.
1. Earth Separation
We weren’t born with wings or built to survive in high altitudes, so traveling in an airplane can confuse our bodies and make us feel distant from the earth.
How to Hack It
Ground when you land. Head straight for the restroom and get your hands and face into some running water. Water that travels through copper or metal pipes is conductive to the ground and helps your body recalibrate.
Once you’re outside, find a patch of green grass anywhere in the vicinity and walk barefoot there for a minimum of 5 minutes. If you can, stay in the grass for 20-45 minutes for best results. This action gives your body a reset and sends the message that you’re back on the ground after cruising through the air for hours.
2. Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMFs)
Planes are contained space surrounded by air traffic control, navigation systems, cell towers, Wi-Fi signals, and cell phones. As you’re getting bombarded with massive amounts of non-ionizing radiation, your system is practically being microwaved by EMFs.
How to Hack It
Avoid Wi-Fi. If you can find a flight without data streaming around you in the cabin on all sides, take it. There will be fewer radiation levels for your body to process and deal with as you fly.
Sit as far from the engine as you can. The EMF, plus the vibration and sound from the engines can make you feel sluggish and sick. Try to sit toward either the front or back of the plane and avoid the wing area if possible.
Stay out of the body scanner line. It’s not always your choice, but sometimes you can get through security without being scanned. Ask about alternative security lines at the customer service desk.
Try a neurofeedback machine and/or oxygen mask. Yes, your seat partner might think you’re strange because you’re wearing a headband with cords and wires or a mask on your face, but you know the truth – you’re training your brain to sync into a more alpha state and feeling better than anyone else on the plane.
3. Stagnation and Jet Lag
Air travel involves a lot of stopping, sitting and waiting. From the endless lines and gate areas to the semi-comfy plane seat, your body stays mostly immobile while you go from here to there.
Plus, if you’re entering a different time zone, your internal clock is going to get confused, resulting in sleep loss or interruption, which are extremely damaging to both your physical and mental health.
How to Hack It
Fast from food, sugar and alcohol. The last thing your stressed-out body needs during a flight is to work even harder to digest a meal or process alcohol. Go ahead and eat a large meal before you board, but then stick with minerals, green juices, electrolytes and water while you’re in the air. If you must eat, here are some of the best foods to consume on a plane:
- Berries
- Nuts
- Seaweeds
- Dark chocolate
Get up and move. Your lymphatic system is begging you to send oxygen to your tissues, so stand, stretch, walk and breathe deeply at least 1-2 times an hour. This simple hack can help ease muscular and low back pain as well.
Drink caffeine or a stimulant. Sometimes sleeping on a plane is a must, but if you can hack it, try not to. If you drink caffeine, be sure to keep hydrated. You’ll stay awake and alert to give your airways increased function and regulate your internal clock to lessen the effects of jetlag.
4. Air Quality
From the moment you leave your house or hotel, you're hit with hydrocarbons, exhaust fumes and other toxins that begin to build up in your body. At the airport you're breathing bad air, especially as you board the plane with the engines running. Next thing you know, you're inside a metal tube with hundreds of strangers, breathing dry air in a low-oxygen environment.
Taking your seat on an airplane can leave you open to symptoms of apoxia like shortness of breath, fast heart rate, cough, confusion, and more. Your liver works overtime to deal with toxins in the air, your respiratory system needs support for the dryness, and most critically, your brain tries to run on less oxygen than normal.
How to Hack It
Drink loads of water. Giving your body a good dose of H2O before getting on a plane energizes you and combats the dryness in the air.
Remember to breathe. It may be difficult at first, but breathing deeply even in recirculated air will reduce anxiety and flood more oxygen through your veins.
5. Stress and anxiety.
Maybe you’ve never flown before and you’re nervous. Maybe you fly all the time, but the idea of air toxins, EMFs or other factors disturb you. Maybe you’re traveling during a personal crisis or a challenging time. Whatever the reasons, stress and anxiety are prevalent on planes.
How to Hack It
Try alternative nostril breathing. Use
Use herbal remedy such as Ashwaganda and Chamomile tea
Stay positive. Remember, you are a spiritual being having a human experience and your thoughts are your most powerful tool. Remind yourself that you are powerful, your body is strong, and the short-term environmental toxins of air travel can be easily dealt with.
If the reason for travel is positive, like finding a new house, seeing an old friend, or arriving at an exciting destination, focus on those ideas. Tell yourself you’ve done all you can for protection during your journey, so you can relax and enjoy a safe and well-balanced flight.