Jennifer Aniston opens up about battling extreme fear of flying with Hypnosis: ‘Eliminate all of those superstitions’

Jennifer Aniston, the ‘Friends’ star, recently shared her ongoing battle with a fear of flying. In an interview, the 56-year-old actress revealed she now uses hypnosis and meditation to manage her anxiety during flights, moving away from old superstitions. Aniston also mentioned her favorite travel destinations, including Japan, the Maldives, and Kauai.

‘Friends’ actress Jennifer Aniston has shared an inside look at her ongoing struggle with a fear of flying. Although she loves travelling and exploring dream destinations, Aniston has had no choice but to adopt several coping strategies to stay calm and carry on at 30,000 feet.
In a recent interview with Travel + Leisure, 56-year-old Aniston revealed the various techniques she uses to keep her anxiety in check while globe-trotting.
Aniston disclosed that she used to rely on certain superstitions to calm her nerves before and during flights. “Knocking on the exterior of the plane with her right hand and boarding the plane with her right foot” were rituals she performed religiously. However, she has now embraced a new approach: hypnosis. In Aniston’s words, “I’ve been doing some hypnosis recently, and one of the things you have to do is eliminate all of those superstitions. I haven’t been doing the right foot, right hand — and now it’s amazingly good!”
Alongside hypnosis, Aniston advocates the use of meditation while flying. She suggests “plugging into a good meditation” once the plane takes off, as it helps keep her calm and centred throughout turbulence and the odd sensations that come with air travel.

Aniston also shared some of her ideal travel destinations, citing Japan and the Maldives as places she is eager to explore. She fondly recalled filming Just Go With It in Kauai, Hawaii, calling it her “favourite” location to shoot. Lake Como, where she filmed Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler, also holds a special place in her heart.
Conquering her fear of flying isn’t the only travel-related challenge Aniston faces. She is also working on overcoming her habit of “over-packing.” “You don’t know where you’re going to be on a given day, or what you’re going to be in the mood for,” she explained, adding that her friends “really appreciate” having such a vast wardrobe to borrow from when travelling in a group.

Aniston has previously spoken openly about her fear of flying, including a terrifying experience in 2019 when a birthday trip to Mexico with Courteney Cox took an unexpected turn. As she recounted on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, their plane experienced an “explosion” during takeoff. The flight returned to the airport two hours later after discovering “debris from a wheel” on the runway. Fortunately, everyone landed safely and completed the trip the following day.