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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Peaceful Place Meditation


By C. Roy Hunter, M.S., CHI

How often do you wish you could take just a few minutes to be somewhere peaceful, and get away from the stress of the day?

One of the amazing things about the subconscious is that imagination is the language of the inner mind. Your imagination is like the rehearsal room of your mind, where you have the ability to practice being the person you wish to be! You can imagine what you plan on doing tomorrow, or you can replay what happened yesterday by re-living those experiences in the imagination.

It is our own private place, where we can travel through time and space. You can BE anywhere you wish, and DO anything you wish...in your imagination. You can re-live any memory (happy or sad), or you can experience any fantasy. Although many of our parents taught us not to daydream, we can't avoid daydreaming occasionally. The question is whether you control your daydreams, or vice versa.

The following exercise is one that I have taught clients for a number of years, and many have reported being able to sleep better at night after learning and using this technique. Naturally, results may vary from person to person.

Here is what to do:

Find a comfortable place to recline or lie down. Background music is optional - but recommended if you meditate in an area where there may be distracting outside noise. If you wear hard contact lenses, remove them. If you chew gum, throw it away. Also, be certain that your clothing feels comfortable. If possible, unplug your phone or turn on your answering machine - and make certain to put your pets in another room.

Now that you're comfortable, take several deep breaths, preferably with your eyes closed. Imagine yourself letting go of all of your cares and tensions as easily as you let go of the air from your lungs.

Fantasize yourself being in a peaceful place. That peaceful place can be a beach, the woods, a waterfall, lake, stream, meadow, etc. While doing so, think (or whisper) to yourself words similar to what is in the italics below. Note the grammar is often imperfect, because the words are intended for the subconscious rather than the conscious mind. Three dots indicate a pause...

As I now imagine a relaxing sensation entering my toes, my breathing continues to be free and easy - just as when I sleep. The relaxation becomes more and more real with each breath I take, moving up into my feet...

It feels soooooo good to relax that it becomes easy, comfortable, and automatic for the relaxation to move up into my ankles... The relaxing sensation becomes more and more real with each breath I take. It now moves up into my calves. All my nerves and muscles just let go, responding to my desire to relax... The relaxation moves right on through my knees, going up into my thighs... all the nerves and muscles letting go into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation.

My hips relax. It feels soooooo good to relax, that the feeling continues right on into my stomach muscles and up around my rib cage.
With each breath I go deeper and deeper relaxed. The relaxation moves on into my lower back, going right up into my shoulders - just as though gentle fingers have just given me a soothing back rub. The soothing feeling of relaxation moves down through my elbows, going right on out through my hands and fingers... With each breath I take, I just go deeper and deeper...

The back of my neck relaxes... My scalp relaxes... It feels soooooo good to relax that the feeling of soothing comfort moves into my forehead and temples. With each breath I just go deeper and deeper. My cheeks relax. My jaw muscles relax... My entire body now feels completely relaxed...

At this point you may very well be in a light or medium meditation state (or alpha, a state of self-hypnosis). If you practice this technique at night before going to sleep, you may find yourself sound asleep long before you finish the exercise. Some of my clients tend to fall asleep before getting past their knees. If you still feel considerable awareness, however, you may wish to deepen the relaxation by using additional self-talk as follows:

I'm going to count backwards now from ten to one. As I do, it becomes easier and easier for me to imagine sights, sounds and feelings in my beautiful peaceful place...

Number Ten - deeper and deeper, relaxing physically... With each breath, it's easier to imagine my peaceful place...

Number Nine - deeper and deeper, relaxing mentally... With each sound, it's easier to imagine pleasant sights, sounds and feelings...

Number Eight - deeper and deeper, relaxing emotionally... The deeper I go, the better I feel, and the deeper I want to go...

Number Seven - deeper and deeper, relaxing totally... The deeper I go, the easier it is to go even deeper, imagining my peaceful place...

Number Six - every nerve and muscle relaxes completely... as if I'm becoming a part of the peace that I imagine...

Number Five - each number making it easier and easier to go deeper and deeper... and it feels SO good to just relax...

Number Four - as I go deeper, it becomes easier and easier to imagine sights, sounds and feelings that are so calm, and so peaceful...

Number Three - just drifting into total relaxation... into my place of total peace... where I can enjoy being anywhere I wish now...

Number Two - just relaxing at my ideal peaceful place now...

Number One - way down deep... Relaxing into a very deep, inner peace... a very deep, inner peace...

As I touch my finger to my thumb, or take a deep breath and think the word RELAX, it's an automatic reminder of my inner peace. [Touch a finger to your thumb, and take a deep breath.] Whenever I do this in the waking state, I feel calm and composed, free to think with a clear mind... but for now, I can just enjoy going even deeper into relaxation... deeper and deeper...

With each breath I take, it's easier and easier to enjoy my freedom of imagination, to go to a favorite vacation spot now... and imagine my IDEAL vacation... doing what I enjoy doing, and relaxing as well...

In my mind, as much time as I wish can pass... and I feel as though I've enjoyed an hour's nap... I feel like I enjoyed an hour's nap...

During the above meditation, you may experience time distortion - finding that time seems to condense or expand (ten minutes seems like two - or twenty). Also, you may notice that your mind tends to wander. In fact, your thoughts may wander considerably as you go deeper into the alpha state. You may have to keep bringing yourself back to each new number, sometimes forgetting the last number counted. If this happens, just go on with the first number that comes to your mind. Some of you may have to count down twice to get deeper, or count from a higher number. Many people start the countdown with 20 - and some even start with 100. You make the choice.

If you can visualize easily, imagine seeing beautiful scenes, such as a waterfall or trees. If you imagine sounds better than sights, imagine hearing a waterfall or the sound of a breeze blowing gently through the trees...or perhaps you might imagine feeling a gentle breeze blowing across your face, etc.

When ready, you may return to full conscious awareness by simply telling yourself that you feel wonderful and wide-awake at the count of five. Then count slowly from one to five either mentally or out loud.

Most clients find their ability to do this exercise improves with practice. Results will vary from person to person. Good luck!

My book, Master the Power of Self-Hypnosis (Sterling Publishing, 1998), contains numerous self-hypnosis exercises that may help you improve your life. Look for a copy in your local bookstore, or order it online. Also, be sure to visit my website at: http://www.royhunter.com

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Roy Hunter, M.S., CHI, is the published author of several books, including two hypnosis texts that are used in hypnosis schools around the world. He became a hypnotherapist in 1983, and started teaching professional hypnosis at a college in 1987. He has facilitated training workshops both in self-hypnosis techniques for the general public as well as advanced hypnotherapy workshops for experienced hypnotherapists. Roy is also the recipient of numerous national awards.

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