This is the tape you'll use to train yourself in self-hypnosis. So I want you to lie down comfortably on your back, with your feet 8 to 10 inches apart, so that no part of your legs are touching. Just let your arms lie comfortably down by your sides, with your palms down. Now pick out a spot, an imaginary spot will do, on the ceiling above you. Stare at that spot without speaking or moving a muscle. Take a deep breath. Fill up your lungs. Exhale slowly. Let go now.

Take a second breath. Hold it. Exhale slowly. Let go now. And now a third. Let go now. And now a third and deeper breath. Hold it. And let it all out. Let go now.

Now just let your eyelids close down. Let them close down so tightly and relax those eyelids so much that it feels as if you just can't open them. Now you know that you can open them. Your whole body begins to relax as every muscle and nerve begins to grow loose and limp and lazy. As you become more relaxed I want you to focus all your attention mentally on your feet. Picture the muscles of your toes. See those muscles as they move back through the balls of the feet, through the arches, on into the heels, and attach at the ankles.

Now release them. Let them go loose and limp, just as if they were rubber bands which you've released, and they fall into a loose pile on the bed. move on up through the calves of your legs and into the knees. On upward into the thighs. Let those nerves and muscles go limp. Let them go loose. As your muscles are relaxing, just let your mind relax also. Let it drift where it will as you go deeper and deeper into relaxation. Let all your cares and tensions fade away. Your legs feel heavy now. They feel almost as if they're detached from your body. They feel too heavy to even move them, so just let them lie there.

Relaxation move on up into the hips and all across the lower abdomen. On up through the abdomen, through the stomach, and into the solar plexus. Let it all go now. Just release the tensions. Let go of the nerves and muscles. Move on up through the chest and turn all those muscles loose. Feel them releasing with each easy steady breath that you take. Every sound that you hear simply makes you relax deeper and deeper. The fingers on your right hand are now relaxing, so is your right shoulder. Your whole right arm is relaxed, loose, limp. It feels almost as if it's beginning to float.

now into a deep relaxed slumber. The fingers of your left hand began to grow loose and limp. Up through the elbow and into the upper arm, the muscles are turning loose. And into the left shoulder, all of the nerves and muscles relax and let go. You feel the fingers of both your hands begin to tingle. And have a floating sensation. Your toes may be beginning to tingle and have a floating sensation. This is a good sign that you're becoming totally and completely relaxed. Now relax the muscle again and around your neck, all around your neck. Let your jaw separate and let your teeth fall apart a little.

Let the chin and cheek muscles relax and hang loose. all the muscles around the mouth and around your nose, moving up and all around the eyes and across the forehead. Smooth out all those tiny, tiny muscles around the mouth and eyes. Just smooth them out and let them go loose. Move on up across the forehead, up and over the scalp. Around the back of the head. Around the ears and back of the ears.

Feel every muscle and nerve let go and turn loose and become relaxed as the tensions simply drift away. Now relax all the muscles in your back from the base of your neck all the way down to the tip of your spine. All those broad muscles, all those little tiny muscles around your spine. Turn loose. Feel them relax. Feel them let go like those rubber bands that you released. Your body is at complete rest now. You feel as if you have no bones in your entire body. Your mind is experiencing a wonderful, tranquil feeling of calmness and peace. And you go deeper and deeper into lazy relaxation, I want you to mentally picture a beautiful scene which I will describe to you.

See yourself in a beautiful high mountain meadow. Listen. You can hear the sounds of the meadow. The birds are singing. There's a rippling brook nearby. Listen as the water gently cascades over the stones. See that you're walking on a path through this beautiful meadow. To your left is an expanse of green meadow grass. And thousands of beautiful spring wildflowers, the perfume, the smell of these flowers, it's wonderful and drifts on the air and you smell it each time you take a breath. There's recently been a rain shower, so that wonderful clean fresh smell of the earth after and the air is so softly warm all around you. To your right is the stream with its little pools and waterfalls.

It trickles past the edge of a magnificent forest, overgrown with huge evergreen trees and oak trees that seem to spread out their branches for acres around you. And the trees almost vanish in the sky above. They're so tall and they're so beautiful. Among those trees you notice smaller flowering trees and plants. Oh, there's dogwood, myrtle, jasmine, magnolia, thousands of different kinds. The odor is wonderful. The colors are breathtaking. Harmony and peace are all about you, absorbing you. You feel as if you are dissolving into the scene itself, becoming a living part of it.

As you enjoy the scene, you look at yourself. You are exactly as you desire to appear. You're vibrantly healthy, trim, your body is slim. You're attractive and magnetic. Your body is perfect, just as you want it to be. Now you see that over to the right, under one of the most elegant of the trees, is a soft cloud-like lounge chair. You walk over to it and see that it's been put there for you.

So you sink down into it. You almost become a part of it. And you realize that you are more relaxed and serene than you've ever before been in your life. And as you relax here, you see a beautiful large butterfly coming to you. It trusts you. And it settles so gently and lightly on your hand. Oh, it's the most beautiful, brilliant creature you can imagine. And you study it. Its colors are iridescent.

Blue changing to emerald green. Their violets changing to crimson red. It's so beautiful. And it rests a while. And then as it gently flies away, a drop of water falls from its wings and onto your fingers. Look into the water and you see that it reflects every brilliant, shimmering, fluorescent color of the rainbow. And as you watch, you see the shafts of color flash out in every direction. They extend out for two to three feet, all around. It's as if you're holding a pulsating rainbow in your very own hands.

The beauty is breathtaking. They're red, violet, indigo, yellow and gold, bronze, silver, green. The rays of color are shooting into the air, into and melting into the brilliant clear blue sky, flashing against the puffy, snowy white clouds as they drift by. You also see that the shafts of color have become attached to your own body. And you see yourself become glowing with color. And you yourself are sending out rays of those beautiful colors. And you relax as a pink aura of love settles around you. Your cares and worries, your tensions are flowing completely away.

And this beautiful place now becomes your place. You can come to this place every time you wish, anytime you wish. This cloud-like chair becomes your means of travel and the rainbow colors become your energy with which to travel. You see now that there are control panels on the arms of your cloud-like chair. So you push the button that says transport and you fly gently to the very peak of the mountain above. You settle gently down on top of the mountain and you now overlook the meadow and you see your favorite tree. Why it seems as if you can see the whole of the universe. Now you're going to move down that mountain, down to the valley below.

I'm going to count from eight down to zero, and you'll drift gently and softly down deeper and deeper into relaxation as you float and drift down toward the valley. Okay ready? Here we go starting downward now. Eight, floating gently and slowly you feel a peace you could never even imagine before. Calmness and quietness are closing in around you. Seven, on down gently sinking, drifting, floating downward. Six, your body is floating as if even free of the chair upon which you're riding. Down. Down. Five, going on down the mountain. Four, you're halfway down now and when I reach zero I will say gently sleep and you'll go into a deeper level of relaxation than you have ever known before. Three, on down you float. Two, on down.

Every muscle and nerve is limp and loose. You feel completely lazy. Your feeling is of total comfort. Love and peace surround you as you go down. One. And now when I say zero and gently sleep, you'll experience that wave of relaxation from head to toe and you'll be in a state of profound relaxation. Zero. Gently sleep. Now let go. Just rest and enjoy this total peace and stillness as you settle gently at the bottom of your beautiful mountain.

Now as you just rest here for a while. You know your body is so relaxed it feels as if it doesn't exist. Now we'll also relax the mind as well. I want you now to picture in your mind numbers. Picturing the number 100, you'll count backwards and let those numbers pass by your inner eye, one at a time, as you move downward into more relaxation, as in 100, 99, 98, and so on. As they pass, they simply will begin to fade away. You will make them fade away. And by the time you count 96, they are so faint, you will hardly be able to see them. And by 94, they will completely have gone. Faded and gone.

Okay? Start to count to yourself now. 100. 99. Fading. Getting thicker. 98. Let them go. Just let them go. Fainter and fainter. 96, almost gone now. 95, going now. Don't try to keep them. You don't want them. Make them go away. Let them go.

95, almost gone now. 95, going now. Don't try to keep them. You don't want them. Make them go away. Let them go. 95, almost gone now. 95, going now. Don't try to keep them. You don't want them.

Make them go away. Let them go. 95, almost gone now. 95, going now. Don't try to keep them. You don't want them. Make them go away. Let them go. Now gently sleep. Your mind and your body are at Just breathe easily now. Know that each time you want to reach this wonderful level of peace and relaxation, you'll only need to say to yourself, or I'll say to you, gently breathe, wonderful state you're experiencing at this very moment.

All right now, I'm going to count from one up to five. When I say the number five, you will be fully alert and aware. Your eyes will open and you will feel perfectly wonderful in every way. Hypnosis is a skill easily learned with practice and you will reach a state of total relaxation more easily and And if you wish to return to sleep, you'll simply rouse yourself enough to turn off the equipment which may be playing. Return to bed, and you'll return to sleep within a couple of minutes. Okay, now. easily, calmly, you're coming back to your full awareness once again. Two, every muscle and nerve in your body is calm, loose, limp and relaxed. You feel wonderful in every way.

Three, from head to toe you feel perfect in every way. Physically perfect, emotionally calm and serene. Four, your eyes begin to feel sparkling clear as if you bathed them in that beautiful mountain spring water. And on the next number I count now, your eyes will open, you'll be fully alert, your energy Your energy will be renewed and you will feel wonderful in every way. Five. Eyes open, fully alert. Take a deep breath, fill up your lungs. And stretch.

