Change Your Life: Living Skillfully

This is my “signature” hypnotic induction: the Blue Sky induction (3 minutes 42 seconds). I got the idea originally from Dr David Fontana in The Meditator’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Eastern and Western Meditation Techniques, p. 117. During my hypnotherapy training each class member had to lead the morning relaxation session in turn, and I used an adaptation of Fontana’s meditation. It worked so well to relax people that I’ve made it my standard induction.

I have found that for people who are completely non-visual it doesn’t work so well, even though the visual component is extremely simple. If this is you, you’ll want to look for a progressive relaxation script instead.

The script doesn’t contain any specific suggestions, so you can make your own.

I also leave it open-ended, without an explicit reorientation. This is unusual, but perfectly safe; you can’t get “stuck” in hypnosis. If you need to end your session after a particular span of time, set a timer of some kind – the one on your stove or microwave is fine. Or if you are making a recording (for your personal use only, please), you can use my script at the beginning, follow it with your suggestions and do your own reorientation – the easiest is simply counting from one to five (or even three), ending “wide awake now.”

Enjoy!

Note: I’ve now re-recorded the script with a better microphone, and included a “deepening” where the scene shifts from looking into the blue sky to looking into a deep, peaceful blue sea. You then imagine drifting gently and safely down into the sea until you reach the deepest level of relaxation. It’s six minutes in length.

(Update: This script is just one part of my online self-hypnosis course Change Your Mind, which uses video, email and audio downloads to teach you my AIM method for focussing on your goals and improving your ability to deal with the challenges of life.)

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