Would you like to be able to enter a deeply relaxed state at will, to allow your conscious mind to get out of the way so that your unconscious mind can absorb positive suggestions, or just to start to investigate altered states without having to resort to dubious drugs?

If you are curious about the wonderful and mysterious world of hypnosis, making your own self-hypnosis audio to assist you into trance is a very good place to start. You can use the script below to make up a audio for yourself. The script is based on the one I use for my own relaxation audios which I give to clients.

The audio will work best if you speak in a tone which is quiet and soothing, and which also feels natural and unforced to you. The dots (…) are used to indicate pauses. You should make the rhythm of your speech match the rhythm of your breathing when you are in a relaxed state. You may find it helps to slow down a little as you get into the relaxation, and speed up a little when you are giving the "wake-up" instructions at the end.

You can just record your voice with a quiet background and that will work fine. If you have mixing software like Audacity (which you can download for free) or Garageband (that comes pre-installed on new Macs) , you might want to consider using a background of quiet, relaxing music, nature sounds, or waves to enhance the experience.

WARNING: Trance is a natural state, that you pass through at least twice a day - once when you wake up, and once when you go to sleep. If you feel at all nervous at the thought of entering the trance state, you should read my What Is Trance? article on this site. If after that you are still worried about "what might come to the surface", you may want to consider consulting a professional hypnotherapist or NLP practitioner to help you to resolve whatever issues you think you have before you go any further.

Now here's the script. Read through it a couple of times before you record it, so you know what to expect. I've put some instructions to the listener, just in case someone else picks the audio up and decides to go for a Darwin Award by doing something dumb like listening to the audio while they're driving. I suggest that you include these for safety reasons.

The audio is in four stages: induction, deepening, imagery to help relaxation, and awakening. I have put the headings for each section and the "stage directions" in bold type and [square brackets] - don't say them out loud!

[induction]

Welcome to this relaxation audio. To listen to this audio, find a safe, quiet, comfortable place where you can sit or lie down, with your head supported and your eyes closed, in a place where you won't be disturbed. Never play this audio when driving. This is… your time to begin… to relax… just close your eyes… and become aware of your breathing… and you don't have to change your breathing in any way at all… just imagine that you're breathing in… calm… and peace… and relaxation… breathing out… stress… and tension… and worry… breathing in… calm… peace… and relaxation… breathing out… stress… tension… and worry… now become aware… of the temperature of the air… on the surface of your skin… and relax you scalp and forehead… so that your forehead… becomes smooth… untroubled… and comfortably relaxed… now relax you r jaw… let your teeth part slightly… as all the tension drains away from your jaw.. let that relaxation spread up… to the muscles of your temples… releasing any pressure… any tension that's held there… and now relax all the muscles of your face… and as all the tension drains out of your face… your whole face… becomes smooth… untroubled… and comfortably relaxed…now relax your throat… and you may feel that you want to swallow… and that's OK… you can swallow any time you like… and each time you swallow… you drift deeper… into relaxation.

Now relax your neck… your head is supported, so you can just… let go with your neck muscles… and as all the tension drains out of your neck… and the muscles of your neck… become soft and limp… a soothing feeling of warmth and relaxation… spreads down through your neck… and into your shoulders… as you relax your shoulders… let them become soft and limp… as all the tension drains out of your shoulders… let this wonderful feeling of relaxation… spread all the way down your back… just imagine all the muscles of your back relaxing… in a long… slow… easy wave… all the way down to your lower back…

Now let this wonderful feeling of relaxation… spread all the way down your arms… as all the muscles of your arms… relax… all the way down… through your elbows… as all the tension drains away… down through your wrists… relax your hands… all the way down… to the tips of your fingertips… you may have tingling in your fingertips… or you may find that your fingers want to twitch… and that's fine… as you silently repeat to yourself… the word relax… each time you breathe out… and each time… you breathe out… you become more… and more… relaxed… and this wonderful feeling of relaxation spreads down… through your chest… and through your stomach…

[pause 30 seconds]

Now let this wonderful feeling… of relaxation… spread down through your legs… covering your legs like a warm… heavy… relaxing blanket… as all the muscles in your legs… relax… become soft and limp… as a soothing feeling… of warmth and heaviness… spreads down… through your knees… and all the tension drains away… through your ankles… and down into your feet… as you relax your feet… all the way down. to the tips of your toes… and once again… you may feel… a tingling in your toes… or warmth in your feet… and that's fine… so that now… your whole body… every muscle… every cell… is drifting… and floating… in a warm feeling… of total relaxation…

[deepening]

And as you drift… like a leaf… drifting and spiralling downwards… a golden leaf… against a blue sky… and you can let yourself… drift downwards… just like that leaf… deeper and deeper… into relaxation… as I count down… from ten down to one… let yourself drift down… to deeper and deeper levels… of relaxation… in a slow… easy… controlled descent… down to your favourite… relaxing place… where it's so calm… so peaceful… ten… nine… eight… drifting down…. deeper and deeper… seven… six… five… deeper and deeper relaxed… four… three… two… deeper… deeper… deeper relaxed… one… all the way deep down relaxed…

[imagery]

And as you relax… in your favourite place… to relax.. noticing the beautiful sights… nearing the peaceful.. relaxing sounds… maybe you can feel… the temperature of the air on your face… or smell some wonderful fragrance… just take some time… to enjoy the experience… of this relaxing place… where nothing is demanded of you… nothing is required of you… except to relax… and enjoy being… in this wonderful… relaxing place… where it's so calm… so peaceful.. and you can absorb this peace… this serenity.. deep within you… so that the longer you stay here… the more peaceful… calm… and centred you feel… and a deep sense of contentment… spreads through you… feeling calm… and peaceful… and confident… and these feelings… of calm… and peace… and confidence… will stay with you… for the rest of the day.. the rest of the evening… tomorrow… and all the days to come… growing stronger and stronger… as each day passes… these good feelings… are good for you… and everyone around you… you deserve these good feelings… and each time you … take the time for yourself.. to play this audio… you'll reach a deeper state of relaxation… and you'll relax more quickly… more easily… each time you play this audio… as you… continue to relax…

[pause two minutes, or five minutes if you are using backing music]

[awakening]

And now… it's time to leave… your wonderful relaxing place… and you can return here any time you need to… just by playing this audio… or simply… relaxing… in a moment I'm going to count up… from one up to ten… with each number that I count up… you'll drift back up to full waking consciousness… so that when I reach ten… you'll be fully wide awake… full of energy… full of confidence… deeply refreshed… and ready for anything… as if you've just had a deep, refreshing sleep…and you can count up with me… one… two… three… waking up… four… five…six… wider and wider awake… seven… eight… nine… fully awake now… ten… open your eyes… full of energy… clear-headed and alert… ready for anything… and make sure that you're completely wide awake.

[fade out music, if any]

Listen to this audio once or twice a day, and pretty soon you'll be so used to relaxing that you can take yourself through the stages of relaxing without needing the audio at all. That's self-hypnosis!