I wonder if you will find it comfortable to find yourself adjusting in the chair so that you can find yourself relaxing

you may notice, once again how little seems to be happening how it may seem as though nothing is happening at all

although you may enjoy noticing how easy it is to hear all the sounds around you the sounds of the .....

how easy it is to hear the sound of my voice and to go on relaxing

it might please you to notice how easy it is to listen to my voice as you relax even more

when you were a child perhaps you remember your mother or perhaps your father or a favorite teacher or a (priest, minister, rabbi) reading

reading to you from the Bible the seventh verse of the second chapter of the book of Genesis

it says something like this When God shaped man in his own image out of the dust he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

you might enjoy thinking just thinking that every breath you take is God's God's own breath the living breath of God

when Bruce Lee a beautiful nearly perfect physical specimen of man expired there was nothing wrong with him that perfect body simply had no breath

when you breathe you are breathing the very breath of God God's own breath

When you inhale you inspire the divine effluvium the spirit and breath of God

all the word's in English which speak of spirit, inspire, ghost all once meant breath

When you inhale you inspire the living breath of God,

and when you exhale, expiring, you exhalt. you exhult you lift up you breathe out a happy pride knowing he will give you your next breath

it may be that you have heard of the General who before a battle prayed "Lord, forget me not today for I shall be busy and shall surely forget thee."

It may seem pleasant to you to know that every exhalation everytime you breathe out you are saying thank you thank you, God, for the gift of life for the miracle of love for the privilege of freedom, even when you are busy your unconscious mind believes in the next breath and you breath thanking him.

It might be pleasant for you to remember "I will lift mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help and my salvation.

I will breath in the living breath of God.

Filled with the bouyant light and assurance of his love.

I will throw myself into the ocean of his limitless love.

As I swim deep beneath the surface of the sea

myself swimming deeper and deeper

Use this phrase I will know that God only with Christians. cannot see my sins through the blood of the lamb.

I am surrounded by a cloud a host of saints who protect me above me beneath me before me behind me beside me.

As I emerge into the light I will walk on the shore of the sea in the light of his understanding and love.

You may find yourself listening to these words

I wonder if you will enjoy hearing my voice as it goes with you through the week and turns into the voices of those known to you near to you dear to you.

And changes.

As you change.

You breathe and there are trillions of molecules of Oxygen Oh two the single atom is too active too corrosive

vegetable life combines the oxygen so that we breathing God's breath are breathing the breath of roses

the tetracycline mold in the soil the bacteria the algae in the lake the plankton in the ocean the pine the oak, the roses down the steet all breathe and give us the free gift of oxygen for our lives,

as you breathe it is a statistical inevitability that some of the molecules of oxygen entering your lungs were last released by a pine tree in Maine

I read once that the largest block of land in the 48 states without a single road through it is in Maine

all green with conifers breathing you are breathing oxygen given to you by a field of corn in Mexico, a spreading banyan tree in the Amazon Valley a towering redwood, an acacia tree in the Kalahari a kapok tree in the Serengeti, a rubber tree in Java

and as you breathe it is not waste you breathe out it is the very breath of life for the roses

you exhale thanking God and breath carbon dioxide your body has fixed carbon to the oxygen molecule splitting it

and so you return for the Oh two you receive See Oh Two which you give to the roses.

You are afloat in the river of life inevitably a part of all those parts of being a part of those pleasant feelings I wonder if you enjoy being a part of all those feelings your body can permit you to be a part of being a part you can be a part of all those comfortable pleasant feelings knowing that whenever you come into my reception room or just sit in this chair or into the reception room of any professional whom you choose to assist you you will be ready to experience a feeling.

I don't know what the feeling will seem like to you.

I only know as you also know that the feeling will be right for you

perhaps a feeling of being ready to experience something even more appropriate for you than even now; perhaps just a feeling of being ready to go to sleep,

I wonder if it will please you to feel that special feeling whenever I or any other doctor you choose to help you touches your right shoulder like this or touches your right hand like this

you will be ready to experience a feeling

I don't know what that feeling will seem like to you I only know as you also know that the feeling will be right for you

perhaps a feeling of being ready to be even more relaxed and comfortable than even now to learn

And you may notice all through the week how you think notice breathing

it seems important that all of the religions of the world have some way of slowing and deepening of calming and making rhythmic our breathing

The Buddhists meditate upon the lotus a beautiful water flower and hum "oommmmmmmmmmmm"

which is shorthand for "Om mane padme hum" the jewel is in the heart of the lotus.

The jewel in the lotus is not a crystalline piece of carbon not even glass

the jewel is the spirit of an idea the breath of an idea

the lotus is rooted deep in the mud of a pond and grows toward the sun, leaping

living one day at a time growing

It bursts into blossom radiant golden moment of beauty in the sun withers drops off, sinks rots is taken up and grows up the stalk again to blossom, gloriously again, wilt and wither, sink blossom, die, blossom end less- ly.

Perhaps you will find it pleasant simply to hummm

humming a syllable a word aaaaah

mmmmmmm

perhaps even practicing to hold a single sound for an entire minute of time mmmmmmm

I wonder if you will find it pleasant simply to remember reciting the Lord's Prayer and permit yourself to learn to pray

the entire prayer with a single breath of life

Our Father, which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever amen.

You may find yourself repeating this prayer and it may please you when you learn to pray it in one long breath

Breathing is the basis for everything else you breath in hold and breath out.

When you are angry or stressed you suck the air in and hold it.

A bunny in the brier patch hears a fox and gasps holding its breath waiting to run or kick.

Paul Goodman, one of my teachers, wrote in a book that anxiety is nothing more and nothing less than holding your breath.

When you relax you breath with an easy inhalation relaxedly pause and slowly oh so slowly ex hale.

Health can be enhanced by breathing slowly deliberately through your nose and singing a syllable as you exhale even more slowly, slowly, slowly.

You may find yourself practicing the breathing exercises we have learned together.

I wonder, too, if you will find yourself remembering the things we have talked about today and other days

It may be another day altogether will be the day for you to remember all at once or trickling slowly back into your mind.

I wonder if you can notice a feeling in your right middle finger and notice perhaps that it is your left finger which you feel and which can easily and readily form a circle with your thumb perhaps both sets of fingers forming a ring with the thumb and just go ahead and do it now.

As you count silently to yourself the number ONE slowly press the finger and thumb together and TWO even more firmly together

THREE

squeezing, squeezing even more firmly together

FOUR

squeezing as hard as possible squeeze squeeze

and on FIVE

let everything go just let it go

and you may recall as you think of these things that relief is never more than a count of five away.

You may find yourself repeating these movement these thoughts and even though it does not happen today in the office, you may find yourself falling into a deep and relaxed and profound sleep a slumber so deep and so comfortable that you awaken

relaxed, alert, full of a sense of well being and confidence.

You may remember walking down the stairs,

swimming through the clouds of many colored tropical fishes the white porpoises guarding you and guiding you

you may remember the stones the three stones and as they fly away everything flies away which is inimicable which is negative which is encumbering and the soft infinitely deep comforting and safe feather mattress catches you as you fall deep into a dreamless and restorative sleep awakening to a twilight full of beautiful and restoring visions of health and power.

It may be that you can remember a room a room where the darkness is relieved by lights by five lights blue green yellow orange red five glowing soft comfortable lights and you find yourself alone with the lights and slowly deliberately strongly turn them out noticing as you extinguish them how everything fades away.

Four lights remain. Three lights remain. Two lights remain. One light only.

And focused on the blackness the dark you may enjoy the sensation of simply fading away.

It may please you to notice that as you think of the lights remembering individual items of each color, and lights, how interesting and profund how important the sensations

and you may remember, yes, that.....

You may notice how very pleasant it is to recall how comfortably you can enter that special place I will lift mine eyes unto the hills, from which cometh my help and my salvation.

I will throw myself into the ocean of God's limitless love.

Deep, swimming ever deeper clouds of his saints surrounding me, porpoises out of the deep many colored tropical fishes safely I will remember God cannot see my sins through the blood of the lamb.

They are invisible, I am invisible, I can emerge in the light of his understanding and love.

You may want to awaken in the morning, naturally and slowly, it may be, that if you listen to my voice on a tape, or in your memory that you will need to return

instantly to your normal feelings of perception and control

You will find, always, in a trance or relaxedly poised, in another state you will more effectively perform any task when you are relaxed

when Buster Douglas surprised Killer Tyson in the ring the commentator repeated and repeated Buster Douglas is really relaxed in there

Imagine there was the most ferocious boxer of our time trying to knock his head off and he is relaxed and winning

relaxed means winning.

You can enjoy your sense of purposive relaxation of relaxed purposiveness and any task you will complete more perfectly relaxed.

It may be that it will be pleasant for you to regain your normal feelings of perception and control when we reach the number one

even though you will be wide awake and even though your normal perceptions and sense of control will return, you may notice

how these pleasant feelings of relaxation and ease continue to go with you every minute

even deepening and strenghthening even more pleasantly than even now