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HypnoSOS episode 149 – Reduce Anxiety

Sit down or lie down… close your eyes and listen to the sound of my voice… simply the sound of my voice… that will gently guide you into an ever deepening state… of relaxation… of peace… A little pause in your day… where just for these brief moments… you can let anything… anybody… any situation that you have to deal with in your daily life… you can let it rest outside of you… Breathe it out now… and if there are any thoughts that still come… any feelings or ideas that you’d rather not have… you can, if you wish, just… let your unconscious mind float them to the back of your mind… where they can rest safely… they’re not going anywhere… But just for these brief moments… you can go into an ever deepening state of calm… of peace…

We’ll start with helping you to relax your muscles… quite simply… take a deep breath and hold it… and let it go slowly and deeply… and if you can imagine you’re taking that feeling all the way down to the tips of your toes… and all the way up to the top of your head… and you can if you wish to continue this… connect this feeling of physical relaxation to your out breath… allowing you to go as deep as you need… as deep as you wish… deeper… deeper… deeper still… and your muscles can warm and relax… all the way through… relax… And there is an interesting fact to know at this moment that… we cannot be in two states at once… it’s either one or the other… so as we go through this state physically… mentally… emotionally… and help you to relax… you cannot be anxious… it is a completely separate state… So for the moment it really doesn’t matter what caused the anxiety… where it came from… or how and when it occurs… what matters here is knowing that you can create a state in which it does not exist… because every part of you is taken up with being relaxed… So onto your mental state… your thoughts… well… for these moments… you can notice your thoughts… but become aware that… in these moments… those thoughts wander and drift… it becomes progressively more difficult to hold on to them… And so… connect these thoughts… along with the physical feelings… to your out breath… so once more taking a deep breath in… hold it for a moment and… let those thoughts leave… as if you’re blowing them out of your mind…

And you can, if you wish… continue this process on each out breath… letting go both physically… and mentally… Any of the things which, in the past, caused you to experience the anxiety or were associated with the anxiety… let them go… Once more… a nice deep breath… and… hold it for a moment… let it go… and this time the emotions associated with the anxiety can leave… And so… without naming any of these things… your breath can now help you to move away from the state physically… mentally… emotionally… of anxiety and into a state of peace… and this is where your wonderful in breath comes… the inspiration for being calm… You can breathe in deeply… and with it, mentally, physically, emotionally, you take on board from around you that which gives you peace… and the wonderful thing is that none of these things need to have a name… Your unconscious mind knows what they all are… where they’re from… how they occur… but by connecting your conscious thoughts and your unconscious self… you are allowing that part of you that knows how to be calm… how to be in control… what to do and feel… You’re allowing that part to take over… and so that you might find that at night when you sleep, when you dream… your unconscious mind paints a different scenario… a different picture of how to react in these situations where in the past you became anxious… Your unconscious mind knows what they are and can take care of it… and take care of you… and you will very soon find that no matter where you are, who you might be with or what you are doing… all you need to do is take a deep breath in… and out… and you will find that… you feel calmer… stronger… your dreams give you different and more effective ways of responding to the things which in the past would have disturbed or bothered you… You start to imagine how it feels to be calm and in control… In fact, a curious thing starts to happen… as it goes longer and longer between your experiences of anxiety… your unconscious mind starts to prune away the connections… so it becomes more difficult to become anxious… and easier to be calm… In fact, there is a part of your mind… your unconscious mind… that has always known how to be in those situations and to recognize that you do have power… power to remove yourself from the situation… You do have power… to feel, think and act differently… you do have power to say something and change the way the events play out… You have control… And in these moments you have choice… and you can consciously make the choice to be calm… and tell your unconscious mind that is how you wish to be… And once you’ve done this… a curious thing starts to happen… You feel better… supported… not so alone… And the fact is… when you consciously engage your unconscious mind in making change… you can do anything… positive changes will occur… It’s time to believe in yourself… you are in control…

And in a few moments in time… in a few moments in time, you will hear me count from 1 to 10 and at the count of 8 your eyes will naturally and easily open… and at the count of 10 you’ll be fully wide awake… you’ll feel much calmer… more relaxed… more able to think clearly… So ready… 1… 2… 3… more aware… 4… 5… 6… more alert… 7… 8… eyes open… wide open… 9 and 10… have a really good stretch.

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