Use this 3-step guide to manage 'flight anxiety,' from a psychologist

For the last month headlines about colliding aircrafts and plane malfunctions have dominated the news cycle.

Even if you've never suffered from flight anxiety, stepping on a plane, at this point, can seem like a gamble.

The reaction is understandable, says Jessica Cail, an assistant professor of teaching of psychology at Pepperdine University.

"Our brains are constantly scanning for anything that might signal we need to flee and what it's getting now is news story after news story of this potentially terrifying thing that might happen," she says.

There is one self-guided practice travelers can do before boarding their flight that can help them manage some of that anxiety.

"Teach your nervous system to re-pair the associations to flying with something, at the very least, neutral," she says.

Here's a Cail's three-step guide:

1. Get in a relaxed state

Lay down on your coach, in a quiet room. If you're having trouble clearing your head, try meditating. You just want your body and mind to be at ease.

2. Picture your trip

Start to visualize all the steps of your trip: packing, driving to the airport, going through security, sitting at your gate. If you notice yourself stiffening up at one of these images, replay it.

"If you start feeling tensions in your shoulder or your arms or your legs, go back to that idea in your head until you can hold onto [it] in a relaxed state," Cail says.

You want to start associating your trip with comfort, as opposed to fear.

3. Get a good nights sleep before your flight

"Be in your healthiest state possible before your flight," Cail says.

This means getting a full night's rest, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding caffeine.

It's easy to fall into the "airport diet" where you have a glass of wine 9 a.m., but if you're nervous about a flight, you shouldn't consume any drink that alters your state of mind, she says.

Remember, it's OK to be anxious. Unlike other perceived dangers, like walking home alone or beaches during shark season, there's not much you can do if a flight does malfunction.

"We are a combination of terrified of what might happen and then powerless if something does," she says.

But, hopefully, combating your anxiety with a calm state of mind can alleviate some of the stress you have boarding that plane.