Dear Tom
There are no words to express what you did for me in the course . . . .
With sincere thanks and appreciation
Bob
Dear Capt Tom
Well. It's been almost a year since I began the SOAR course. I sit here writing from a 747 at 41,000 feet in route from Hong Kong back to the U.S.A. . . . The flight so far has been terrific; we flew over an active volcano and saw Mt. Fuji at sunset. What a pleasure to be able to relax and enjoy a flight.
Sue
Dear Capt Tom
I have to tell you that I've been to a few different therapists over the course of my life for different reasons, but none of their methods were ever as specifically, let alone quickly effective in dealing with a fear or problem, as SOAR was. And the amazing thing was, not only did it fix my fear of flying, which was a huge thing, but the positive results spilled over into other fear/areas of my life that had nothing to do with flying.
Tom
I have never taken the time to write a letter to a Programme like yours or to any other consumer product that I have utilised for any reason but I felt it necessary to write to you and thank you. I have a panic anxiety disorder that has progressively gotten worse since I have gotten older and it manifests itself mostly in my extreme fear of flying. I am 43 years old and have not flown in over 6 years and had only 1 flight in the last 11. I finally made the decision that I wanted to be with my family for an important event in early September of this year and impulsively bought a ticket to fly to Seattle. My fear and anxiety started almost immediately. I then found your Programme on the internet. I started the Programme but was not very confident of it working for me. My pre anxiety was horrible and I didn’t think anything would help. Well my flight was on September 5th and the day I flew was one of the most calm days I have had in a long time. I followed some (but not all) of the techniques you outline in your Programme and I had the most enjoyable flight I have ever had. I couldn’t believe how calm I was and how much I enjoyed the flight (I even took pictures of Mt. Rainier out the plane window). The drills really did change my pattern of thinking and my fear never could escalate to a severe level. The biggest surprise to me was that I enjoyed my time in Seattle so much because I wasn’t having the anxiety and worry about the flight home. That never happens for me! On the flight home there was a couple of minor problems but I had no worry about them at all. My flight was great on the way home and I have already made travel plans for my birthday in February. Now, I am not saying I am 100% cured and will never have a fear when I fly, but I do know that I can now fly knowing that I can have normal pre-flight nerves and normal anxiety without it controlling me and stopping me from flying. I can deal with it and enjoy the flight and know that I can get through the experience.
This was an incredible revelation for me and has given me a freedom that I haven’t felt in quite some time. I thank you so much for your Programme and for you personally answering the phone (3 separate times) and talking to me when I was very scared and feeling like I couldn’t make it on the plane. Well I did make it and it was an amazing experience to make my trip with normal excitement without the extreme debilitating fear that I was so used to in the past. I still can’t believe that it works but it was amazing how much it did work for me. I can’t thank you enough. You humanised the problem for me and your personal intervention into my life and my problem was an incredible gift.
Thank you , Thank you, Thank you!!!
Dear Capt Bunn,
I have suffered from severe flight anxiety and panic attacks on planes all my life. I have traveled maybe 5 times in my life and each time was so horrible, I can't explain it.
Being a very focused person, intelligent person, controlled person, it was SO frustrating to me that I could not over come this fear. Each plane ride, good weather, bad weather, short or long, felt like the most horrific experience in my life.
Usually, a very controlled person who is in full control of all their feelings and actions, it was so unlike me to act the way I did in flight. It would start the month before a flight. I could not eat, sleep, or focus on work. The night before I could not sleep at all and the morning of I would be in full panic before we even left for the airport.
Why? I do not know. I am not afraid of death. I am not scared in small spaces. I fear heights a little, but only if not enclosed. I just could not figure it out.
Even in the most calm weather on the most simple flight, I have been known to lose control. I would cry the entire flight, I would shake, I could not read or focus and inside, I felt every moment I was seconds from death or horror. A simple 2 hour plane ride was like suffering for days. I've tried almost everything to fix or help my fears but nothing has worked.
Recently, I was offered a wonderful opportunity in my job to travel. My CEO has offered me cruises and trips to Europe. My husband loves to travel and so to turn that down would be heartbreaking to him, as he was invited to go also. It would also put limitations on my growth in my position.
My CEO offered to pick up the cost of a cruise last week as well as a week in Orlando Florida, if I would fly. He is very big into personal growth and wants the best for me. I decided to try it but this time, to do all I could to over come the fear, before the flight.
I started by ordering your tape "How Flying Works". I did not believe it would help me at ALL. That is how BIG my fear was. I went thru your tape twice in the month. I then read another book on fear of flying and read, printed out, and re-read all your emails for the past month or so.
What I found differently almost immediately was that I was not suffering the pre-anxiety I always had in the past. Knowing how the plane worked, why it worked, and all the ins and outs, really lessoned that pre-flight anxiety.
The day before the trip, I am usually a 4 on the anxiety scale from (0-10). This time, hardly any pre-flight anxiety. Just in case, I requested the doctor give me something to take along. Most times I took Xanax (and consumed twice what they prescribed), which never really seemed to work or IF it did, it left me groggy, sleepy, and yet I still had NO control over my fears. It just allowed me to perhaps sleep thru some of the flight. This time, I requested Lorazepam.
The morning of the flight and on the way to the airport, even without taking anything yet, I felt no pre-anxiety. It was amazing to me and something I thought could NEVER happen.
An hour before my trip I took one pill and boarded the plane. Usually at this point, as I put my seat belt on, I would be a 7 on the 0-10 anxiety scale. I was still a one, maybe.
The plane started to take off and I felt no more fear or anticipation as one would feel just before jumping into a pool and preparing to hit cold water. It amazed me.
Once we were up, nothing. I TRIED to feel fear and it would not come! My husband just kept looking at me and me at him and thinking, amazing!
Half way thru the flight, we had a little turbulence. My husband turned to me fearfully as this is when I would usually flip out (once screaming from my seat, WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! ) Talk about embarrassing. I looked at him and said, not a problem honey. We are just experiencing some turbulence. I know what that is now and what causes it. The plane is very safe, the pilot expects it and knows how to deal with it, and we'll be out of it soon. There is no danger. Just look at my cup of water, it is hardly moving. His mouth opened and he was in shock. I just went back to reading.
Usually, upon landing, I would rush to take the seat belt off, and run off the plane having this huge feeling of euphoria, like I just was saved from some sure catastrophe or eminent death. Nothing. I just sat there until all the passengers departed and my biggest fear? That my luggage made it safely. :-)
In the past, my entire trip would be ruined with the on going anxiety of my return flight. This time, even when I did think of it, no fear entered my head, only the thought of standing in line to get on the plane and dreading that.
The trip ended and we boarded for our flight home. Again, no fear! Yes, it was a good trip, but we did again suffer a little turbulence upon landing due to a storm on the ground. I guess I was too busy watching our decent thru the clouds to think much about it. Something I had NEVER done before.........looked out the window. :-)
I've read your other testimonials in your emails. I thought this could NEVER happen for me. Not someone who feared as much as I did. Not someone as out of control as I was on planes. But, it has!
My CEO is very proud of me and on the cruise at dinner, he said he hoped I would fly to Milan to help open their International office there this year, and while there, perhaps do some sight seeing in Venice. You know what? I believe I will. :-))
Thank you for your Soar Programme and your newsletter. I will continue to read each one and treasure them!
My life and possibilities are now endless.
Thank you,
Dear Tom,
When I listened to the first tape of the SOAR Programme, I almost cried with relief because here was information about the feelings and fears I was having. As I listened further, I had a mini panic attack because you were asking me to let my fear get as big as it can be. As I have listened to the rest of these tapes, one thing is clear - I feel better about my fear. Of all the examples and techniques described the ones that helped me the most were:
1. being in your own movie . . . this concept made such an impact that (when) I dreamed I was on an elevator that was out of control - in my dream I said this is a dream and not what is really going on - and then the elevator stopped.
2. being on the plane is your choice - I realised that being on the plane is a choice I had made and that I am not a victim of my choice.
3. the story of Billy - made me laugh out loud . . . . I was worried that there was so much fear that it would overwhelm me and I would become a raving lunatic on the plane.
Thanks for a great Programme.
Warmest regards,
Dawn
Dear Tom,
After taking your course, I finally flew round trip from New York to Florida. I can honestly say that I actually the enjoyed the flight. This was my first commercial flight since I was eighteen years old, twenty-five years ago. I never thought I could do it until I was introduced to you and the SOAR Course.
Since my flight twenty-five years ago, I've had an ever-increasing fear of flying. I was absolutely terrified of even the thought of being in the air. My family and I had been limited to driving long and tiring hours to various locations throughout the United States.
Taking your course and meeting with you has changed my life. I cannot express enough gratitude for your dedication, time and effort in helping me overcome this awful fear. It is obvious your course is taught straight from the heart. You are a truly caring person, and have provided me with an irreplaceable freedom. Such an act of kindness I will never forget.
Sincerely,
Vincent
Dear Tom:
I just got back from Bermuda - my first flight after four years, and after swearing I'd never got on a plane again. I have had a progressively worsening fear of flying. My last time on a plane was was a terrifying experience . . . despite the fact that I was under heavy sedation prescribed for panic attacks by a psychiatrist.
After listening to the SOAR tapes, I felt confident enough to know I'd get on the aeroplane this time. (I've cancelled four trips in the past your years.) Despite a two hour delay in take-off due to an engine problem, I was calm throughout the entire trip.
There's really nothing else for me to say except a most sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU!
Cathy
Tom,
To follow-up . . . now that I've been home for a week, I still feel a profound sense of personal power---a feeling of competence. I feel more centered. I keep waiting for this feeling to disappear but thank God, it hasn't.
Tom, I don't really understand the internal psychological process that your SOAR course affected within me; however, I know it happened. I feel almost as good and comfortable about flying as I did prior to my fear of flying days. And if this could happen to me, I know the SOAR course can work for anyone.
Sincerely,
Sue
Dear Tom,
I wanted you to know how very much this course meant to me. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic - SOAR really has changed my life! I never thought I would ever fly. I had such a strong mental, negative block against - I was so afraid of it, I couldn't imagine ever overcoming the fear and actually flying. There are so many things in my life that I either am, or have been, afraid of. Flying was "the big one," so if I can deal with that, the rest will be easy!
Whenever I have a particularly hectic day, I take a few minutes out to stop and think about and remember the way I felt after I flew. I get a tremendous sense of triumph and self-satisfaction. What you and SOAR are helping others to accomplish is wonderful! DON'T EVER QUIT!!
Sincerely, Linda
To S.O.A.R.
Many thanks to you all, for changing my life. Thanks to S.O.A.R., I feel as if I can try anything . . . .
Truly you have enriched my life, as I'm sure you have done for others.
I hope your Programme will become so well known, that all fearful people will hear of your group - and be helped, as I was.
Sincerely, Rose
Dear Tom:
What can I say about how generous and helpful you have been to me! . . . Hopefully the past, present and future can provide you a true insight as to the new world's and unlimited possibilities you open for others by providing the passkey to dealing with fears.
Very truly yours
Aaron
Dear Captain Bunn
Will, after 21 years of avoiding air travel - - your course has burned my worst nightmares into my best dreams and memories.
Until I had taken SOAR I absolutely did not travel by aeroplane or step into an elevator because of being confined to small areas and the feeling of being trapped as well as the fear of not being safe.
Now I don't even think twice about it!
The course absolutely works. . . . Thanks for the enlightenment. Boldly going where I've never gone before!
Sincerely,
Dennis
Dear Tom,
I want to let you know how much the course has done for me. . . . I've flown six times. I can't say I was thrilled with it - but I certainly did not fall apart on the plane. . . . At the best, I was able to avoid alcohol and to eat the meal. Both are things I had not done in years. I was also able to hold conversations and concentrate on my reading without constant fear. I even looked out the window. At my worst, I drove me neighbor crazy on a few of the flights by talking about flying and SOAR. And, I continue to listen to every sound. But I don't panic at all of them anymore.
Let me also say thank you on behalf of my husband and my parents. They were skeptical at first - but now they are so glad that I don't make them crazy for weeks before I fly!
Thanks again,
Sincerely
Betsy
Postcard from Paris from a concert pianist
Dear Tom, "In every being lives a thirst for freedom."
I'm very encouraged and grateful to tell you that the Air France 747 flight to Paris was excellent, and I felt great progress, thanks to your outstanding help! Some turbulence but my attitude toward it had changed substantially, and it didn't frighten me! First view of morning star and dawn approaching Europe unforgettably beautiful. Our 1st concert is tomorrow. Paris is a dream of beauty. Look forward to describing more to you.
Gratefully
H