Many people have dreamed of jumping with a parachute at least once in their lives, but not everyone has the determination to make this dream come true. In an effort to conquer the sky, some are stopped by the fear of heights, others - by the possibility of injury, and still others - all together. There are some simple ways to overcome your fear of the first jump.
Get used to the fear of heights
Fear of heights is considered innate - it is present in everyone, and you should not be ashamed of it. Even professionals who have made a large number of parachute jumps in their lives are afraid of heights. They argue that with experience the fear of heights does not disappear anywhere, it just levels off and becomes natural for them.
To get used to the fear of heights, you need to visit, for example, an extreme sports festival or just come to the airfield and watch the parachutists jump. Attending such events can help you overcome your fear or understand if you really need to jump with a parachute. At the airfield, you can watch the preparation for the jump of professional athletes and beginners. Ask them about preparation, safety, or their feelings in conquering the sky.
If after that you still have a fear of heights, analyze what scares you the most at heights. Try to rethink fear. This is hard work. Do not think that you are scared, but think about what sensations you can get from free flight. Just try to fly an airplane. In flight, view the ground through the window. Think not about the height, but about what beautiful views open up in front of you.
Overcome the fear of the unknown
Some do not dare to jump with a parachute, not so much because of the fear of heights, but because of insecurity and fear of the unknown. It is important to remember that a person often has some kind of fear when faced with something new. He gains self-confidence only with experience and knowledge.
Learn the technology and rules of skydiving, safety techniques, talk to instructors. Record the conversation with the instructor on a tape recorder, listen and analyze this conversation at home.
How not to lose resolve just before the jump
Immediately before a jump, you need to stop thinking about it and darken your thoughts with the statistics of unsuccessful jumps. Take a break from bad thoughts with a movie or light reading.
Many people refuse to jump with a parachute already on the plane: it is then that an innate fear of heights awakens in a person, he can start to panic and wind himself up. In this case, you need to deceive your psyche and catch some calming thought, fix and dwell on it. You might think of the fantastic sensations that you can experience in free flight, remember the joyful faces of those who have already jumped, or think that you now have sufficient knowledge of jumping safety, or imagine that jumping is a heroic task that you just need to be done, for example, like James Bond, etc.
