The Calm Cockpit Podcast

Season 2 Episode 13

 

Breathing is one of the few systems in the body that operates automatically while also remaining under conscious control, making it a powerful tool for pilot performance and resilience. This episode explores how breathing influences stress, focus, alertness, recovery, and sleep, and why it serves as a bridge between the demands of the external environment and a pilot’s internal state. Listeners will learn how posture and breathing mechanics affect oxygen exchange, why nasal breathing offers important advantages, and how shallow chest breathing can contribute to anxiety and reduced concentration.

 

The episode introduces three practical techniques pilots can use throughout the day: the Physiological Sigh for recovering from startle responses and high-workload moments, Coherent Breathing to improve heart rate variability and nervous system balance, and Triangle Breathing for downshifting after long duty days and preparing for restorative sleep. The conversation also explains the role of heart rate variability (HRV) in resilience and how regular breathing practice can help pilots maintain a healthy window of tolerance, enhance recovery, and improve overall performance. Whether used before a flight, after exercise, or at the end of a demanding day, these simple, evidence-informed practices provide accessible tools for flying smarter and stressing less.

 

Links:

21 Day Hatha Yoga Challenge 2026—Over the course of these 21 mornings, we’ll explore postures, breathwork, and simple awareness practices to reconnect with the body, clear the mind, and establish a steady, supportive rhythm.

 

Five minute breathing exercise from the Huberman lab

 

How to retrain your breathing: from the University College, London hospitals NHS

 

Wim Hoff Method: breathing, cold exposure, and mindset

 

Yoga with Adrienne full playlist of breathing practices

Season 2: Bonus Episode

Monday Briefing 10

 

In this Monday Briefing, you'll discover why self-care is not a luxury or a reward for surviving a stressful week, but the foundation of a healthy, resilient, and meaningful life. You'll learn a practical definition of self-care that goes beyond the stereotypes of the wellness industry and focuses instead on the daily routines that provide maintenance of your body, mind, and emotions.

This episode offers a simple framework for building sustainable habits that support better decision-making, stronger relationships, and safer flying. You'll come away with a clear understanding of why small, consistent actions—like sleep, movement, nourishment, nervous system regulation, and meaningful connection—matter more than grand gestures, along with practical ideas for creating a self-care routine that fits into real life.

Season 2 Episode 12

 

In this episode we sit down with Chris Anderson, a Designated Pilot Examiner, corporate pilot, and 12-time NAFI Master CFI with more than 23,000 flight hours and over 3,500 practical tests to his credit. Drawing on decades of experience from the examiner’s seat, Chris offers an inside look at one of aviation’s greatest challenges: managing the stress and pressure of the check ride.

Together, we explore why check ride anxiety is so universal, why it seems to be increasing among today’s pilots, and how fear, self-doubt, and the pressure to perform can interfere with skills that have already been mastered. Chris dispels common myths about DPEs, explaining that the goal of a practical test is not perfection, but verifying that a pilot can operate safely and exercise sound judgment.

The conversation also dives into the psychology of "choking" under pressure and the importance of resiliency when things do not go exactly as planned. You’ll learn why a brief pause can restore clear thinking, how the nervous system affects performance in the cockpit, and why many pilots discover their best flying only after the fear of failure has passed.

Finally, we share practical tools to help regulate stress before and during a check ride, including breathing techniques, grounding exercises, effective preparation strategies, and the value of guided relaxation. Whether you are preparing for your first practical test or simply want to perform more confidently under pressure, this episode offers reassuring perspectives and actionable skills to help your true abilities shine through.

 

 

Links:

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant--in the blink of an eye--that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work--in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

 

Crosscheck Mental Performance Training with Tammy Barlette: Elevate your flying, master your mind.

 

Guided Relaxation and Mental Reset Meditations: found on the Bonus Page of the Calm Cockpit Podcast

Season 2: Bonus Episode

Monday Briefing 9 

In this Monday Briefing, we highlight all of the bonus episodes we have compiled for you over the last year and a half of the Calm Cockpit.

These episodes are exercises and deeper dives added to our normal show, so that you can use and find them by themselves. We also highlight the efforts of our guests like Sarah Gilbert, Lisa Danahy (https://createcalm.org/), and Dr. Beth Wagner who created special content just for our show.

We recently set up a spot directly on our webpage to highlight these special episodes (https://calmcockpit.com/bonus-episodes), though they of course can be found on any of the podcast feeds you normally find episodes.

Dr. Beth Wagner of the YouTube channel Movement and Function just created a video on her channel specifically to highlight vestibular and posture exercises just for pilots in reference to her episode on our show last year found here (https://calmcockpit.podbean.com/e/beth-wagner/).

We encourage you to watch her special video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTB-4gHwB5o), give the exercises a try, and make sure to like and follow her page! We appreciate her for supporting our show and you are listeners!

Season 2 Episode 11

 

In this episode we explore the phenomenon known as “the yips” — the sudden breakdown of a deeply mastered skill under pressure. Whether it shows up in the cockpit, on a stage, on the golf course, the yips are not simply a matter of nerves or lack of talent. We unpack how anxiety, perfectionism, and over-control can interfere with procedural memory, causing the thinking brain to disrupt movements and decisions that normally happen automatically. The conversation examines why this struggle disproportionately affects experienced performers and how fear of repeating a mistake can spiral into a self-reinforcing cycle of tension, hyper-focus, and diminished performance.

Drawing from examples in aviation, professional sports, and music, this episode looks at practical strategies for recovery and resilience. We discuss the role of breath regulation, nutrition, muscle relaxation, meditation, and attentional control in restoring flow and reducing conscious interference.

 

Most importantly, we examine the mindset shifts that help high performers break free from identity-based thinking — replacing “I failed” with “I am learning.” Calm is not the absence of anxiety; it is the ability to function skillfully in the presence of it

 

Stuff mentioned on this episode:

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

 

A Soprano on Her Head: Right-Side-Up Reflections on Life and Other Performances  

 

Crosscheck Mental Performance Training with Tammy Barlette: Elevate your flying, master your mind.