Straight on from the induction
1 min[Come in with no gap and no new settling instructions. Drop your volume slightly below where it was at the end of the induction and keep the same rhythm you have already established.]
You are already comfortable. Nothing to change, nothing to fix. We are only going to go a little further from here. [pause for 10 seconds]
In a moment I will describe a staircase. Ten steps going gently down, a handrail on your right, and something soft underfoot. Some people see it clearly. Some people only have a sense of it. Either is fine, and neither is better. [pause for 15 seconds]
The descent, ten to one
2 min 30[One number per out-breath. Watch the client's chest and speak the number as it falls. Rushing the count is the commonest error in this script. If their breathing is very slow, speak on every second out-breath rather than hurrying them.]
Ten. Stepping down onto the first step, with your hand on the rail. There is no hurry at all. [pause for 10 seconds]
Nine. Down one more. Eight. Further down. Seven. Each step easier than the one before it. [pause for 20 seconds]
Six. Five. Halfway down now. Four. Letting the rail take a little of your weight. [pause for 20 seconds]
Three. Two. And one. Down onto the floor at the bottom, where you can stay for as long as we need. [pause for 20 seconds]
If there is no staircase
1 min[Use this instead of the previous segment when the client signals that they cannot picture the stairs — a frown, a head shake, or a report in a previous session. A great many people form no mental images at all, and asking them to try harder simply pulls them out. Drop the image and keep the count: the descending numbers do the work, not the picture.]
You do not need to see anything. Some people never do, and it makes no difference here. Just let the numbers come down with me, and let each one mean a little further down. [pause for 10 seconds]
Ten. Nine. Eight. Each number lower than the one before it. Seven. Six. Five. [pause for 20 seconds]
Four. Three. Two. One. All the way down, and comfortable there. [pause for 15 seconds]
Fractionation, handover and return
1 min 30[Fractionation — bringing the client part of the way up and taking them down again — tends to deepen more reliably than a second staircase and takes about forty seconds. Use it once, not repeatedly. Then either read the handover line and move into your planned work, or, if you are finishing here, go straight to the count up. Never leave a client without the count up, and tell them that a recording of this is not for use while driving or operating machinery.]
In a moment I will ask you to open your eyes for just a second and then let them close again. And as they close, you can settle further down than you are now. Open your eyes now. And close them. All the way down. [pause for 20 seconds]
You can stay right here while we begin the work we talked about. Comfortable, and easy to reach. [pause for 10 seconds]
And to finish, I will count from one to five. One. Feeling returning to your hands and feet. Two. The room coming back around you. Three. Moving your fingers and your toes. Four. Ready to open your eyes. Five. Eyes open, wide awake, fully alert. Stay sitting a moment before you stand. [pause for 10 seconds]