3. Çalışma Hayal Kurarak Derinleşme

Now that you have learned to relax, you will find that your body and mind relax more quickly and more easily than ever before . . . as you focus your attention on each part of your body, you can invite it to release and relax any tension that may be there, and then merely allow it to release in its own way. . . . Focus your awareness on your left foot, and invite your left foot to release and relax any tension it may be holding . . . notice the beginning sensations of relaxation in that foot . . . in the same way, invite your right foot to release and relax any tension that might be there . . . invite the muscles of your left calf and shin to release . . . and your right calf and shin . . . just notice and allow your lower legs to relax in their own way, becoming more comfortable and at ease all the while. . . .

Remember, as each part of you relaxes, all of you relaxes more deeply, and as you relax more deeply, each part can relax even more easily. . . . Invite your left thigh and hamstrings to release and relax . . . and your right thigh and hamstrings . . . allow your hips and pelvis to join in this letting go and releasing of tension . . . allow your entire lower body to release and relax . . . and notice the relaxing sensations . . . allow it be a comfortable and pleasant experience . . . invite your lower back and buttocks to join in releasing and relaxing any tension that may be there . . . and your genital area. . . .

Remember, as each part of you relaxes, all of you relaxes more deeply, and as you relax more deeply, each part can relax even more easily. . . . Invite your left thigh and hamstrings to release and relax . . . and your right thigh and hamstrings . . . allow your hips and pelvis to join in this letting go and releasing of tension . . . allow your entire lower body to release and relax . . . and notice the relaxing sensations . . . allow it be a comfortable and pleasant experience . . . invite your lower back and buttocks to join in releasing and relaxing any tension that may be there . . . and your genital area. . . .

Invite your abdomen to relax Invite your abdomen to relax . . . the muscles of your abdomen and your midback . . . to join in this deeper, more comfortable state of relaxation . . . invite the organs in your abdominal cavity to also join in this letting go, this release . . . and just allow that whole lower half of your body to let go and become even more deeply comfortable and at ease . . . invite your chest muscles and the muscles in your shoulder blades to release and relax . . . becoming soft and at ease . . . the organs in your chest joining in this deeper, more comfortable state. . . .

Imagine your shoulders and neck muscles becoming soft, releasing any tension that may be there . . . allowing them to take a well- deserved rest . . . and this relaxation flowing down over your shoulders into your upper arms . . . elbows . . . forearms . . . wrists . . . and hands. . . . Invite all the small muscles of your hands . . . in between your fingers . . . to release and relax and become very comfortable and deeply relaxed . . . your index fingers . . . middle fingers . . . ring fingers . . . little fingers . . . and your thumbs . . . deeply relaxed . . . all the way to the very tips. . . .

little fingers. and your thumbs. deeply relaxed . . . little fingers . . . and your thumbs . . . deeply relaxed . . . all the way to the very tips. . . . Allow your scalp and forehead to release and relax any tension that may be there . . . becoming soft and smooth and at ease . . . the muscles of your face soft and at ease . . . and allowing a very pleasant sense of relaxation to come into the small muscles all around your eyes . . . inviting those muscles to release any tension and to feel that sense of letting go flowing through your face and jaws . . . neck and shoulders . . . and all the way down. . . . And as your body relaxes more deeply, your mind becomes quiet and peaceful as well. . . .

Now to deepen this comfortable state of relaxation and concentration, imagine yourself at the top of a stairway that has ten steps leading down from where you stand . . . let it be any kind of stairway . . . one you’ve seen before or one you just make up . . . and take some time to observe it in detail . . . notice what the stairs are made of . . . how steep or shallow they are . . . how wide or how narrow . . . do they go straight down, do they spiral, or is there a landing halfway down?. . . Are the stairs covered with anything? . . . What is the texture beneath your feet? . . . Is there a banister or handrail to hold as you go down?

When you are ready, begin to descend the staircase one step at a time, counting backward from ten to one as you go, one number per step . . . allowing yourself to feel more deeply, more comfortably relaxed with each step you descend . . . let this imaginary staircase help you reach an even deeper, more comfortable level of body and mind with each step down . . . ten . . . nine . . . deeper and more comfortably relaxed . . . eight . . . each step takes you deeper. . . seven . . . and six . . . easily and naturally . . . five . . . halfway down . . . with nothing to worry . . . nothing to bother . . . four . . . deeper . . . more comfortably relaxed . . . three . . . no need to worry about exactly how deeply or how comfortably you go . . . two . . . and one . . . at the bottom of the stairs . . . very comfortable and deeply relaxed in body and mind. . . .

To further deepen your relaxation, imagine yourself now in a very beautiful, peaceful place. . . .This might be somewhere you’ve visited before or somewhere you make up in your imagination . . . just let the image of the place come to you. . . .It really doesn’t matter what kind of place you imagine as long as it’s beautiful, quiet, peaceful, and serene. . . .Let this be a special inner place for you . . . some-where that you feel particularly at ease . . . a place where you feel secure and at one with your surroundings . . . maybe you’ve had a place like this in your life . . . some- where you go to be quiet and reflective . . . somewhere special and healing for you . . . or it could be a place you’ve seen in a movie . . . or read about . . . or just dreamed of . . . it could be a real place, like a meadow, or a beach . . . or an imaginary place like floating on a soft cloud. . . .

Let yourself explore whatever quiet imaginary place you go to as if you were there now . . . notice what you see there . . . what sounds you hear . . . even the smells or aromas that you sense there . . . notice especially what it feels like to be there, and immerse yourself in the beauty, the feelings of peacefulness . . . of being secure and at ease. . . . As you explore this special inner place, find a spot that feels particularly good to be in . . . a spot where you feel especially calm . . . centered . . . and at ease . . . let yourself become comfortable and centered in this spot . . . let this be your “power spot” — a place in which you draw from the deep sense of peacefulness you feel here . . . a place of healing . . . and of rest . . . and a place where you can explore and use the power of your imagination to best effect. . . .

Take some time to relax into the deep feelings of peacefulness, quiet, and healing you can sense in this spot . . . take as much time as you need. . . . When you are ready, prepare yourself to come back to your waking state . . . remember, this is your special inner place, a place you can return to at any time of your own choosing . . . a place within where rest, healing, and peace are always available . . . a place that is always with you . . . and a place you can draw from when these qualities are needed. . . .

To return to waking, but bringing back with you the sense of peacefulness and healing you have experienced here . . . all you need to do is to recall the imaginary staircase you descended . . . imagine yourself at the bottom of the stairs . . . with ten steps up . . . as you ascend the stairs, you become more and more wide-awake, alert, and aware of your surroundings . . . when you reach ten, the top of the stairs, let yourself come wide-awake, alert, and refreshed . . . feeling better than before. . . .

one. two. coming up, coming more awake. three. four . . . one . . . two . . . coming up, coming more awake . . . three . . . four . . . bringing back with you a sense of peace, of relaxation . . . five . . . when you reach ten you may open your eyes, stretch, and come all the way wide-awake . . . six . . . feeling refreshed as if you had a very good nap . . . seven . . . at ten you will be wide-awake and alert, feeling very good and refreshed . . . eight . . . your eyes may start to feel like they want to open . . . nine . . . and ten . . . at the top of the stairs and wide-awake. . . . Open your eyes . . . stretch . . . smile . . . and come alert, refreshed, and wide-awake again.