Flying with the mind

The Solar Impulse flight which has been in the news recently after bad weather forced it to turn back is also of great interest because of the fact the the pilot is using self hypnosis and mindfulness techniques because he is unable to sleep properly during the record breaking attempt to fly around the world with solar power alone.

It's a 35000km journey with over 500 hours of flying time. The pilot must spend 5-6 days in the cockpit and during this time he is unable to sleep properly.

It's a really test of human endurance, and using his mind as well as his body is the key to success.

"What is really special, is that it is the first and only airplane in the world which has unlimited endurance. We have an airplane which is fully sustainable in terms of energy, and our challenge now is to make the pilot sustainable as well."
André Borschberg

Of course, concentration is so important and being vigilant of the surroundings, weather conditions and everything else that a pilot must check take a great deal of work.

How does it work on board in reality?

It's all about taking a short nap or time out to meditate and use self hypnosis several times a day. Bertrand Piccard explained that it helps him endure the long hours.

"When you get into self-hypnosis, you turn your look from the outside to the inside. You don't focus anymore on what happens outside, you focus only on the inside. I am completely relaxed my body is sleeping, but my mind is alert and can still check instruments, talk to mission control, and fly the plane." 

In the event of him needed to be awakened his suit vibrates alerting him and he can then take control of the plane once more.

Bertrand taught himself self-hypnosis before taking part in a balloon race across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1992. He shares piloting duties with his co-founder, Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg.

You can watch the flight for yourself on the Solar Impulse website.  

If you would like to take just ten minutes out of your own day and experience how it feels for yourself then just try my FREE Ten minute Relaxation MP3

Hypnodog Princess and her owner Krystyna appeared on Loose Women this week talking about their rise to fame after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent and how they are waiting with baited breath to see how far they can get in the competition and if they can make it even further in the quest to appear at the royal variety show.

Hosts Andrea Maclean and Nadia Sawalha knelt down in front of Princess whilst looking in her eyes before Kystyna helped them to relax. The pressures of live TV may well have affected the poor dogs performance. Whilst we watched them we heard the music from the Jungle Book “Trust in Me” which was quite amusing if you remember how it was used by the hypnotic snake whose eyes span around. It was interesting because Nadia was convinced to be Janet Street Porter and it didn’t work for her, whilst Andrea was convinced that dogs should have the same rights as humans.

Krystyna explained that Princess had learned that if she stares at people she gets a treat, although she admitted that perhaps she wasn’t actually hypnotising them.

What do you think of this? Were they really hypnotised? Watch the video for yourself and let me know,

 You can also hear my interview with Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 all about the Britain’s Got Talent Audition..