So make yourself very comfortable now … and just look at a spot on my hand right here as you

listen to my voice … concentrating fully on that spot on my hand … without allowing your eyes
to move away from that spot on my hand …

Very soon, perhaps now… you will become aware of how heavy your eyes become so quickly
… they will want to blink and that’s fine … perhaps they become a little watery … or a little dry
… and that’s fine too … they can feel so heavy and so tired … droopy and drowsy … and it
would be so nice to just allow them to close … as I bring my hand down slowly … past your
eyes … past your nose … past your mouth … closing … closing … and closed now. That’s good
… already you are beginning to relax and feel so very comfortable.

Now I am going to touch your forehead with my finger … here. I am locking your eyes from the
outside as you lock them from the inside … and as I count from one to five you will find them
locking tighter and tighter:

One. Eyes tightly closed. Two. Locking tight and sealing shut. Three. Sealing shut as though
they were glued. Four. The more that you try to open them the tighter they become. Five. Now
satisfy yourself … make a try and find them locking tighter and tighter. Now allow that feeling …
a wave of relaxation … to flow down through your body … arms … legs … your whole body
becoming loose and free as all tension flows from you and you relax deeper… ever deeper …
with every word that I speak.

Now that you’re resting comfortably there … with your eyes closed … feeling safe and secure …
I want you to take three very deep breaths and then breathe normally … So go ahead now …
breathe in … very deeply … and now exhale … Now take a second breath … inhale … and
exhale. And now … another … inhale … exhale … Now be aware of your eyes … how
comfortable they feel … closed … and just breathe normally. I want you to concentrate on only
my voice now … putting aside any other thoughts that come to mind … and I’m going to draw
your attention to various parts of your body … and as I draw your attention to that part … then I
want you to relax every muscle and nerve … in that part of your body … as I refer to it in turn

First of all I want to draw your attention to your fingers … and your hands … your wrists … your
forearms … and your upper arms … and as you consider this area of your body … I want you to
be aware of any tension in those muscles … and concentrate on that tension. Now … relax all
those muscles … every nerve … every fibre … in your hands and arms … allow all of that
tension to flow away … to drain down … let those muscle come to rest … lengthen and loosen
… let them just feel very comfortable … heavy … very relaxed … very … very relaxed.

And when you have relaxed those muscles in this way … then I want you to concentrate on your
feet … your ankles … your calves … your knees and your thighs … be aware of any tension in
those muscles … and as you concentrate on them … then again … relax every muscle … every
fibre in your legs and feet … allowing all of that tension to flow away … to drift down …
lengthening … loosening … so that these muscles too feel very loose and comfortable … heavy
… very … very relaxed.
Now be aware of your trunk … your stomach muscles … and your chest muscles … and notice
too how all the muscles in this part of your body are now becoming more and more relaxed …
lengthening … loosening … much more relaxed … coming to rest as all of the tension just
drains away … draining away now just like the grains of fine sand in an hour glass drain down
into the bottom of the glass. Now be aware of your shoulders … the muscles in your neck and
your scalp … be aware of the tension here … and now you can release that tension as every
muscle in this part of your body now becomes more and more relaxed … loosening and
lengthening … very … very relaxed … so that you can feel all the muscles throughout your
entire body now … loose … limp and relaxed … as that comfortable heaviness continues now.

And while you’re resting in this way … I want you to imagine that it’s a beautiful summer’s day
… I want you to imagine that you are floating on a cloud … It’s so quiet and peaceful … and
there you are … at ease with the world … just drifting and dreaming as you float on and on and
… on and on … Now you’re feeling very comfortable … so much at ease and completely
relaxed … and it’s such a pleasant feeling … such a soothing feeling … a feeling as though you
just want to drift far away … into a deep … sound … heavenly sleep … You’re so much at ease
… and every muscle and nerve in your entire body is completely relaxed and at ease … and
you feel so pleasantly heavy … so completely relaxed … that you just want to continue in this
way … going into a deeper … deeper relaxation.

Every part of your body feels so heavy and comfortable … so easy … I wonder now if you can
just let yourself sink and drift … deeper … further into relaxation. And now I’m going to count
from one to three … and on the count of three … I want you to have drifted into a much … much
deeper relaxation than the one you are in at the moment:

One. And your entire body is completely relaxed … every muscle and nerve is completely
relaxed and at ease … and your body feels so heavy. Two. Your head feels so heavy and sleepy
… It’s a very pleasant feeling … You feel so heavy and tired … and you keep falling further and
deeper into relaxation … and your thoughts are vanishing … All you can do is think of relaxation
… deep … sound relaxation. Three. You are now in a deep … sound relaxation … and you’ll
continue to drift deeper and further … so that every word I utter will put you into a deeper and
sounder sleep … and all you can hear is my voice … You can hear no other sounds … All the
other sounds that surround us … background noises … traffic noises … all of these are
insignificant … you become oblivious to all of these … because all that is important is the sound
of my voice.

Now (client’s name) … I want you to become aware of the sound of the clock here in the room
… You can be aware of the steady and relaxing consistency of the ticking of the clock as it
marks time. This ticking of the clock that you are so aware of now … is going to relax the rhythm
of your brain … and as the rhythm of your brain slows down comfortably … so then you will drift
into a deeper … and deeper relaxation.
Now I’m going to count from one to seven … and I shall use the words … ‘drift deeper’ … in
between each count … and you’ll find that by the time I reach the count of seven … you will be
very deeply relaxed … very … very deeply relaxed:

One … drift deeper … Two … drift deeper … Three … deeper and deeper … drift deeper …
Four … drift deeper … Five … much much deeper into hypnosis … drift deeper … Six … drift
deeper … Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy 10 Scripts&Strats2004.qxd 05/01/04 14:07
Page 10 robin-bobin Seven … and now into a deep … satisfying and comfortable trance state.
And now I want you to notice that in a few moments … that you will no longer be aware of that
ticking sound … and when this noise stops … that the rhythm of your brain will have slowed
down to the extent that you will be aware of nothing … nothing but a beautiful silence … a
complete silence … a peaceful silence … in which nothing but the sound of my voice breaks
through. When this noise stops … you’ll be aware of only the sound of my voice … no other
sound will be of any consequence to you … I want you now to enjoy that silence … because
with this silence … you have achieved a peace that is yours … relaxation is yours … and you
can feel yourself in harmony with nature. You can now enjoy peace … tranquillity and a oneness
with your own wise inner mind where all can be resolved and made good

Now relax every muscle and every fibre of your body as completely as you can … and say
inwardly to yourself … ‘I am becoming very relaxed … My eyelids are so relaxed now … that I
cannot open them. I try but cannot open my eyes … so I am drifting into hypnosis.’

(Watch for reaction as client tries to open eyes but finds no response)

‘I am drifting down into deep hypnosis. I am becoming so sleepy … so sleepy … I am drifting

(Watch for response. Now move emphasis from self hypnosis to your instruction.)

Good … That’s very good … you are going deeper and deeper into profound hypnosis now. All
you have to do is relax and drift down deeper into hypnosis.

The Garden Deepener

As you go deeper now … your subconscious mind becomes open … more accessible and
receptive to new learnings … to changing old beliefs … as you relax so comfortably there … just
listening to the sound of my voice … here … so calm … and a feeling of peace and tranquillity
allows you to relax more and more … with each easy breath … with each gentle beat of your
heart. As I count down from ten to one … you can just let go and you can go deeper now … with
each count … using each number to let go of stress and tension … to go deeper now:
Ten … As you allow each muscle and nerve in your body to relax … letting go … becoming
calm … you feel peaceful … comfortable now.

Nine … Relax your mind and your body together … and if you lose track of the progression of
the numbers … then that is fine … just let go now … as …

Eight … You start to sense a gentle connection between your mind and your body … and an
inner wisdom.

Seven … Go deeper now … and as you breathe out … Start to pace with breathing. … start to
breathe out fear … breathing out anxiety now.

Six … letting fear … anger and stress flow away from your body … with every outward breath …
letting go now … slowly … comfortably… calmly.

Five … And now with each outward breath … I want you to start saying a word to yourself …
without moving your mouth or your tongue … your breathing not changing … your throat
perfectly still … on each outward breath … say the word inwardly to yourself … calm … (Pace
with outward breath … and repeat) … calm …

Four … without thinking what it means … without analysing the word … just moving the sound
inwards now … so that it seems to come from an inner wisdom … Match breathing. … calm …

Three … Gently now … easily … calmly … calm … letting go … and whenever your mind strays
from that sound … and it will stray away … then just acknowledge that fact and gently bring it
back … repeating to yourself the word … calm … Match breathing.

Two … Continuing now to relax … and to let go … gently drifting down … into peace and
harmony of body … mind … and spirit …

One … And as you continue to drift deeper still … you begin to see … sense or imagine yourself
in a beautiful garden … the sun is shining … gently warming your skin … comfortable … You
look across the lawn as it sweeps away to an ornamental pond … with a fountain playing … the
water droplets sparkling … glistening … in the soft diffused light that filters down through the
leaves and branches of the ancient trees that surround this garden … shielding and sheltering
this beautiful place. The grass is soft … springy beneath your feet … and as you walk … you
pass flower beds cut into the lawn … filled with the most beautiful flowers and plants … so many
varieties and colours … and you can be aware of the fragrance of the flowers carried to you on
a soft breeze that drifts across the garden … rustling the leaves … causing the heads of the
flowers to sway gently … the subtle sounds of nature all around you … birds singing … the
drone of insects and the splash and gurgle of cascading water … each sound … each sensation
… relaxing you more … comforting as you drift deeper … and every step becomes heavier.
You soon find yourself in a small clearing … the sun warming you and relaxing you more and
more now … as you sit … resting your back against a large and ancient tree … the bark of the
tree is soft and comfortable … and you sense that many people have rested here as you are
resting now … and although you are alone … you feel safe here … peaceful … comfortable …
the word calm … comforts you more as your mind drifts and fades.

Now you can allow your inner mind to show you standing at the top of a fine marble staircase …
with ten steps leading down … There is a firm handrail and here you feel safe and secure …
nothing concerns you at all … and in a moment you can walk down that staircase and as you
hear me count off each of the steps … you can step down one step … doubling your relaxation
with each step that you take. Begin now as I count: …

Ten … Doubling your relaxation … going deeper Pace with breathing.

Nine … Deeper still …

Eight … Letting go of tension as you relax and go deeper …

Seven … Doubling your relaxation … deeper still …

Six … Aware now of your breathing and how comfortable it has become …

Five … Each gentle breath relaxes you … you relax more with each breath that you take …

Four … Deeper … even deeper into a state of profound relaxation of mind and body …

Three … Doubling your relaxation going ever deeper …

Two … The deeper you go the better you feel … and you go deeper the better you feel …

One … Almost all the way down now into total relaxation …

Zero … Now stepping off the bottom step and you find yourself in a place that is comfortable
and safe for you to be … a place of safety and security where there is no anxiety … no fear …
just tranquillity … and calm peace.