Bridging from the induction
1 min[This is a suggestion sequence, not an induction — the client must already be in hypnosis before you open your mouth. Run your own induction and deepener first, then begin here. Read it slower than feels natural and leave the pauses whole. Not for use while driving or operating machinery.]
You are settled now, and there is nothing you need to do but listen. Some of what I say you will take in fully. Some will drift past. Both are fine — you do not have to hold on to any of it. [pause for 20 seconds]
What follows is a set of plain statements. Take the ones that fit you. Leave the ones that do not. [pause for 20 seconds]
Physical steadiness
2 min[Hartland had this as “you will feel physically stronger and fitter, more alert, more wide awake”. Said flat out to someone who is exhausted it simply does not land. Keep the ground it covers — sleep, appetite, energy — and soften the certainty, as here.]
Over the coming days you may find you sleep a little more easily. Not perfectly, and not every night. But more often than you have been. [pause for 25 seconds]
You may notice you feel a little more rested when you wake. That food is more appealing than it was. That there is a bit more left in the tank by the end of the day. [pause for 30 seconds]
None of this has to be dramatic. Small changes hold better than large ones, and they tend to stay. [pause for 30 seconds]
Steadier nerves
2 min[The original promised “you will become less easily upset, less easily disturbed”. Absolutes here invite the client to test them against their worst day and find the whole sequence wanting. Aim instead at recovery time — it is smaller, it is noticeable, and it is honest.]
Day by day you may find your nerves are a little steadier. Less easily startled. Less easily rattled by the small things that used to catch you out. [pause for 25 seconds]
And when something does upset you, you may find it passes sooner than it used to. You notice it. You feel it. And then it moves through, rather than settling in for the day. [pause for 30 seconds]
You do not have to be calm all the time. Nobody is. It is enough to come back to steady a little quicker each time. [pause for 30 seconds]
Steadier in yourself
2 min[Hartland's line ran “you will feel more independent, more able to stand on your own feet, to hold your own no matter how difficult things may be”. Delivered whole it lands as a demand rather than a suggestion. Use the hedges — you may find, a little, more often than not — and where you know the client's own words for what steadiness looks like to them, use theirs in place of these.]
As the days go on you may find you are a little clearer in your own mind. That decisions take less agonising over. That you know what you think sooner than you used to. [pause for 25 seconds]
You may find it easier to say what you mean, plainly, to the people whose opinion matters to you. Not louder. Just plainer. [pause for 30 seconds]
And when something difficult comes along, you may find you meet it more on your own feet. Asking for help where you want it. Holding your ground where you would rather. [pause for 30 seconds]
Letting it settle
1 min[Resist the pull to summarise or to add one more suggestion at the end. The point of this segment is that nothing is asked of the client, and any extra effort you introduce here undoes it.]
You do not need to remember any of this. It is not a list to revise. The parts that fit you will stay of their own accord, and the rest can go. [pause for 25 seconds]
Some of it may come back to you later in the week, at odd moments. Usually the moments where it is of some use. [pause for 25 seconds]
Return to full alertness
1 min[Non-negotiable, however the session has run and however settled the client looks. Lift your voice and pick up the pace across the count. Wait until their eyes are open and you have had a word back from them before closing the session, and do not let anyone leave to drive or operate machinery until they are plainly alert.]
In a moment I am going to count from one up to five, and at five you will be all the way back — eyes open, wide awake, clear headed and comfortable. Any heaviness clears completely as I count. [pause for 5 seconds]
One — beginning to come back. Two — feeling returning to your hands and your feet. Three — a fuller breath, the room coming back around you. [pause for 5 seconds]
Four — nearly there, eyelids light and ready. And five — eyes open. Wide awake, clear and alert. [pause for 15 seconds while they open their eyes and get their bearings]
Have a stretch. Take your time before you stand, and have a sip of water.