In the Advanced Hypnotherapy classes I teach, one of the things that students often ask me for is new and different scripts. I developed one that I think you may find has many possible applications because of it's 'process instructions.' I invite you to read it, and adapt it as you wish for your own use.
"You may begin by taking a few deep relaxing breaths and orienting yourself to the experience of relaxing... you're able to explore within yourself... your thoughts, your feelings and many other things that you've come to know about yourself... I don't know just when the last time was that you spent time just sitting quietly with your eyes closed, drifting off to no place in particular... but I do know right now that there really isn't anything else that you have to do... why not allow yourself the luxury... of being able to just drift along, listening and not listening. that's right... just a little bit at a time... maybe your conscious mind expects to be able to experience comfort... and your unconscious can expect something even deeper... so it really won't matter whether you consciously allow yourself the experience of a very deep light trance... or unconsciously allow yourself a lighter state of deep trance... you really don't have to know just what to expect, but when you take the time to go inside... just like you're doing now... it's easy to notice how there's a part of you that knows how to breathe deeply... and you can expect that part to always be there... so that those deep and comforting breaths just seem to come...
and there's a part of you aware of this moment, now... and a part of you that knows about later... and sooner or later... you can have the confidence of knowing over time... that change is inevitable.., some people seem to work so hard at staying the same... as if that was even possible... you know... and I know... that change always happens.., and important things.., that are quite unexpected... can change your life for the better... a new friend... a new experience... and you really don't know whether you can expect... to be feeling the sides of that chair you're sitting in, the softness of the seat... and when you first sat down to listen to my words, you really didn't know what to expect... that you'd be thinking about your future and your present... and the present that you can give yourself... of a wonderful future but today always precedes tomorrow... you probably knew that yesterday... when you were thinking about tomorrow... that you would be here today... learning something at a much deeper level.., than you're even aware of... it's interesting to experience... what happens... when someone makes an important change..,
now, I know folks who talk about planting seeds... even to the point of growing their own food... just to be able to independently nourish the self... you know how it works... you just dig the hole in the ground... sprinkle in some seeds... there's nothing more to see just yet... but there's a feeling... a very strong positive feeling.., that there's something important about to happen.., and it may seem to take a while... but you can anticipate with enthusiasm... that the seeds you planted... will surely yield something quite valuable.., now, there's a part of you... that can be oriented to future possibilities.., on the basis of the choices you make now... and the actions you take now... the now which becomes the future... and you might even be able to feel that powerful sense of expectancy... that something important is growing... something valuable and necessary is happening within you... and it can feel really good to think about that... and to look forward in time... to when you'll be able to look back over things that you did before... to make things so good now... when later is now... and it did involve a lot of good planning... and you can plan... and you can even expect the unexpected, too... and spontaneously discover things that you thought you could never expect... which then turn out even better...
after all... sometimes we just can't know... how well... things can turn out... but if you remember... and you can remember... when you were a very young child... it was very difficult to know... that one day you were going to be a grown up... the expectation you had as a child seemed so uncertain.... about when that would happen... and I remember a friend of mine.., who just the other day... remembered a... delightful surprise... learning one day... when he was very young... that he would one day be... a grown up... and it came about in a very amusing way... he was only five or six... and was playing with one of his toys... and his father offhandedly remarked... when I was your age... I had a toy just like that... he was shocked, and replied... Daddy, you were a little boy once? ....
He really just couldn't believe it... and it's difficult... and amusing... to remember... so vividly that sometimes there are no expectations... and changes happen anyway... like growing from a child... into an adult... and it's not something that you have to know... to much about... and if I had all the time in the world... II would talk about self-fulfilling prophecies and unconscious expectations... but I really don't need to mention those things right now... perhaps later something will occur to you... about them... at a deeper level.
but I can wonder whether you've noticed that your breathing has changed... and I don't remember ... saying anything about that... and your pulse rate has changed... did you expect that to happen?. . And sometimes the most soothing changes occur... with no expectations at all... but with the knowledge.... the deep knowledge.., that every change has a consequence... and have you noticed... how much more relaxed you are... how your feelings are so much lighter.., and your thoughts so much more comforting... and you're looking forward to the many ways of change that you know will occur...
and there's a therapist friend of mine.., who has a sign in his office... the sign has two sides... one side says tradition gets in the way of progress... and on the other side it says progress gets in the way of tradition... and two sides, tradition and progress... progress and tradition... and it's traditional to progress... and that's what planting seeds is all about... you know things are going to be changing... over the next few months and years... things you can look forward to... doing differently... and you can anticipate some of those changes quite well... but there's something even more profound that I'd like you to know about... there's a part of you... that really knows well... how to adjust to changes of the expected type... and perhaps even more important... of the unexpected type... and I don't know... if you have a name for that particular capability.., a name or a label... or maybe it's a feeling that is familiar to you... maybe even an image or something that you say to yourself... but it's a part of you... a resource that you can use... and have used quite successfully... to manage changes of all sorts... and you probably know what that resource is that I'm talking about... don't you?... and now you can know how to enjoy that feeling.., and how to get to that feeling.., the confidence... that things can change... and at the times that you most want to... or need to... you really can expect... that feeling to be so strong... and present in your awareness... and it will occur in lots of places, lots of times... perhaps while listening to music... perhaps while thinking about things that you want more experience for in the future...
perhaps while closing your eyes.., to take in a few deep breaths... perhaps while planting seeds... in the fertile ground of your own thoughts... so you can expect the expected... and you can expect the unexpected... and you can expect consciously what your unconscious cannot expect... the expectation within you... of what the future is all about... as you live it today... and tomorrow... and when tomorrow becomes today.., a day at a time.., and you have all the building blocks.., for lots of wonderful future experiences.., and perhaps you can feel quite comfortable... quite energized... and you might even expect... a smile or two arising from the good feelings within you... and so you can take whatever time you'd like to process your thoughts and feelings.., to enjoy the comfort... and then you can begin to reorient yourself... at a gradual and comfortable rate.., and then when you feel like you're ready to... and you want to... you can reorient fully... and allow your eyes to open..."
(Originally printed in The American Board of Hypnotherapy's excellent Journal) American Board of Hypnotherapy 16842 Von Karman, Suite 475, Irvine, CA 92606 The telephone number is (714) 261-6400 or (800) 872-9996. The fax number is (714) 251-4632 e-mail address is aih@hypnosis.com. © R.A. Neves, Ph.D., ABH President
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