The Progressive Relaxation Induction

The progressive relaxation technique is still the hallmark of thousands of hypnotherapists all over the world.

Though very slow and often ineffective, it allows those who have not been been trained in faster and more effective inductions to achieve some success with a portion of the people who come to them. It’s one of the simplest ways to hypnotize someone and very easy to learn.

This induction is made much easier by a quality pre-induction talk. In order for most people to allow themselves to become hypnotized you must dispel the myths and misconceptions about hypnosis. In order for them to believe they were hypnotized they need to know what the experience of hypnosis might be like for them. That’s what a good pre-talk will do for you.

If you’d like to learn the secrets of inducing trance powerful, quickly and effectively; how to deliver a powerful pre-induction talk, and how to deliver suggestions targeted to people’s specific needs, get our hypnosis course.

Here’s how to do a progressive relaxation induction. This can also be a good tool for teaching someone how to use progressive relaxation to go to sleep at night.

Progressive Relaxation in a Nutshell

1. Have the person you’re working with sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
2. Talk slowly in a soothing voice (it doesn’t have to be monotone).
3. Say “Take a deep breath and as you let it out, close your eyes and begin to feel yourself relaxing.” (If their eyes are already closed, leave the eye closing out)
4. Have your subject put their awareness on different parts of their body and relax them. You can use language such as “Now become aware of your arms… now relax your arms… let them grow more and more comfortable… let the muscles become loose and limp and even more relaxed.” Repeat this type of instruction for all areas of the body.
5. Sprinkle your language with plenty of positive reinforcements such as – “That’s right, good, you’re doing just fine.”
6. Repeat if necessary: Depending on the person, you may have to repeat the whole procedure a few times. For most people 25 or 30 minutes is enough.
7. When you’re ready to emerge them just say “I’m going to count to five, when I reach five or before, your eyes will open and you’ll feel relaxed and refreshed.” Count up to five slowly with your voice getting a little less soothing and a little more awake with each number. When you reach four, if their eyes aren’t open say “On the next number your eyes will open and you’ll feel relaxed and refreshed. Five, eyes open, feeling relaxed and refreshed.”