Basic Induction Approach

"For a moment here, I want you to move all your toes, then your ankles, then flex your legs at your knees, and then your legs at your hips.  Take a deep breath and then exhale.  Now move your neck.  Now move your arms at your shoulders.  Now at the elbow.  Now at your wrists.  Now move all your fingers.

"Good.  By moving these muscles, your body applied electrical energy which cause them to tension.  Now, as you are here, you are feeling these muscles relax...feeling that electrical energy lessening from the muscles.  This relaxation feels really good.

"Ten, just concentrate on relaxing just your feet. Let all the muscles in your feet feel really comfortable. Let all the muscles in your toes feel very loose and limp; very relaxed. You can only hear my voice.  And this wonderful wave of relaxing pleasure runs all the way down your ankle, passed your heal, all the way down to your toes.

"Nine, just relax your leg muscles, knees, thighs, and shins. No longer worry about your feet. Just let all of the muscles in your legs get very loose and limp; very comfortable and very, very relaxed. Very relaxed. Let your thigh muscles relax. Let all the muscles in your shins get very loose. And this wonderful wave of relaxing pleasure runs down your legs, passed your knees, past your ankles, all the way down to your toes. Very relaxed, and very, very comfortable.

"At eight, relax your neck, back, chest and stomach muscles. Take a deep breath...and as you exhale, feel how your body naturally relaxes. Its a good feeling. Let all the muscles in your neck feel really loose.  You can only hear my voice. Let your stomach muscles feel very relaxed. And this wonderful wave of relaxing pleasure splashes onto your neck, then runs down your back, passed your chest, past your waist, passed your knees, past your ankles, all the way down to your toes. Very relaxed, and very, very comfortable.

"Seven. Now relax your arms, hands, and all your fingers. Let all the muscles in your fingers relax.  If something is bothering you, fix it and become more comfortable. Also, if something should happen that is life threatening, you  will immediately awaken, feeling awake, alert, and concerned, and you will do all you can to fix any such problem so that it cannot harm you or the people for whom you care. Let all the muscles in your arms feel really comfortable. And this wonderful wave of relaxing pleasure comes in from your fingertips, pushing all of the stress and fatigue out of your body. It feels so good. It comes up your arms, splashing on your neck, running down your back, down your legs, all the way down to your toes. Very relaxed and very, very comfortable.

"Six. You might feel like you are awake, like you are not hypnotized, but, for some reason, you are very relaxed. If you feel this, this is normal.  Don't worry about it.  You might feel like millions of cotton balls gently pressing down all over. If you feel this, this is gravity.  Don't worry about it.  I want you to imagine that you're floating down on a cloud. The farther down you float, the more relaxed you get. The more relaxed you get, the better you feel, and the better you feel causes you to float down even more. Always getting more relaxed. Always feeling better.  Always floating farther and farther down.

"Five. Your feet and your legs feel great, just the way they are. Take a really deep breath.  And you find that you can only hear my voice.

"Four. As you exhale, relax. Your neck, back, chest, and stomach muscles feel really good. Your arms, hands and your fingers feel just fine, just the way they are.

"Three. And you are floating even farther down, always more relaxed. The more relaxed you get, the better you feel, and now you are feeling really good.

"Two. And you will remember everything you need to remember. To forget means you know something and then have to black the thought out. On the other hand, it is so easy to not remember some things. We will try to remember things you have had to forget, and if need be, make them so that you just don't remember them. Take a deep breath...and relax......

"One."

(note...begin visual imagery)

"You find yourself in a wide open field. This meadow is a valley surrounded by high hills. You can see evergreens and forest on the hills and mountains beyond, in all directions. There is a stream a safe distance away.

"Looking around, you see animals, birds, butterflies and other insects. Nothing here is giving you any reason to be afraid. You only feel relaxed, and you feel you want to explore this area. "

{Note:  the easiest way, in my opinion, to deepen the effect of hypnosis is to make an objective statement, and to follow with a subjective question.   For example:}

"You see a house.  What color is it?
There is someone coming out.  Do you know this person?
Look into the sky.  What do you see?
You hear people talking inside.  What are they saying?
You drink some water from the stream.  How does it taste?"

{In this way, the objective statement gives you control of direction, while the subjective question draws upon the person's imagination, and brings them deeper into their subconscious.}

"Where do you find yourself in this memory? Who is with you? What are you doing here in this memory?  Okay, good."

© 1999 David I. Brager