Be inspired to aim high, even if your stomach doesn’t agree…
In our April issue, we met three women whose jobs take them high into the sky, including a pilot, stone mason, mountain runner and Isobel Watson (pictured), who is an arborist. Much as she loves her work, she’s the first to admit it can be tough. “Being an arborist can be brutal,” she nods. “Especially when you’re starting out.” Ascending trees, cutting them back and, “as a last resort,” taking them down is physically bruising, and there’s always an element of risk. “You’re suspended in a harness, from a rope, putting all your trust – and weight – on to a branch. You can be up to 100ft off the ground, and of course you’ve got a chainsaw with you.” The flip side is a heady sense of freedom and achievement. “You never go home feeling as if you’ve done nothing, and you never stop learning.”
If you fancy a life in the treetops (or even an afternoon of tree-climbing) but don’t have a head for heights, however, fear not - you may not be ground-bound for ever.
Fear of heights is called Acoraphobia (not Vertigo, which often seems to confuse people) and there are things you can do to get over it. Anxiety UK says just one of the things you can do is ‘immersion therapy’, that is slowly exposing yourself to the feared situation: “Start by slowly exposing yourself/the person to heights, perhaps start with a first floor balcony or looking over the bannisters of a stair well close to the bottom. Continue by exposing yourself/the person to gradually increasing heights. When you feel ready, perhaps try an experience day, such as a virtual experience… or if you are feeling brave, an Indoor skydiving experience could be a good starting point.”
If you don’t yet feel like facing a fear of heights head on, you could start with other ways to train your brain into accepting situations of discomfort. Try the following ideas from Get Out of Your Comfort Zone: 60 Challenge Cards to Build a Strong Resilient Mindset by Ben Aldridge (Watkins).
Train your mind to deal with uncomfortable situations
Take a cold shower This will help you develop a mind-over-matter attitude and it boosts endorphins (the body’s feel-good chemicals). Just turn on the shower, switch it to cold, get in and stay as long as you can, building up the time as you get used to it. Sleep on the floor Spend the night sleeping on the floor without a pillow, mattress or blanket. You’ll have to be strong to tough it out, but it will make you deeply grateful for your bed. Blindfold yourself for an hour. Spending an hour in the dark will enhance your other senses and give you a new set of difficulties to overcome as you try to go about your business (within reason, obviously).
We’ve more ideas for training your brain from Get Out of Your Comfort Zone starting on page 28 of our April issue.
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