Relaxation and Guided Imagery Sessions

You want to relax but don’t want a bodywork treatment. You do though want a way to relax and take some time out that is also  effective as a means to bodily and mental relaxation and supportive of your health.

My relaxation and guided imagery sessions are a wonderful option.  I will guide you to relax your body and take you through a guided imagery session that is tailored to you.  You might have an idea of the kind of imagery you want included in your session or I will discuss ideas with you.  This means you get a very unique session each time. 

The Consultation

There are a number of things I will ask you before we start the session, particularly the initial one, so that I can be sure what I do is appropriate for you and to get an idea of what would work well for you.  Please take a few minutes to review these before we meet

Why Guided Imagery?

You have many ways of regulating your nervous system and the discomforts of things like stress. When we use imagery to relax, we tap into what is often referred to as the right side of the brain and through this, we can affect the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, often referred to as “rest and digest”. 

We spend a good amount of our time connected to the sympathetic branch of the nervous system through a great deal of activity, stress, demands placed on us, worrying and giving ourselves little time to recuperate. 

 Guided imagery enables you to disconnect from what may be troubling you as well as pent-up bodily states.  The fight/flight mode that keeps us in a state of high alert can be switched off. 

What Is Guided Imagery?

Guided imagery taps into your five senses.  You are guided to imagine a scene in as full a way as your senses will allow.  Not everyone experiences images in full technicolour.  It doesn’t matter.  Connecting to ideas and images through vague impressions and feelings is just as powerful.  In fact, everyone seems to have a dominant sense and for many, it might be hearing or smell.

The act of imagining a desirable scene, can have almost the same effect on your body and mind as actually being in the chosen environment, invoking the relaxation response.  This is the power of your mind.  And when you have been guided through a bodily relaxation in preparation, the effect is even more powerful. 

When you realise that there are those that use guided imagery to relax when having medical procedures for example, you can get an idea of its power and effectiveness.

A Typical Session of 45 Minutes

Everyone I work with must complete a short intake form.  This is so I can be sure that such work is right for you.

At the start of the session, we will have a short discussion about why you want the session, any imagery you have in mind that you would like to incorporate and any ways of relaxing you already have that work well for you, if any.

Then in a comfortable place where you can sit or lie down, I will guide you to relax your body for several minutes until I feel you are in enough of a state of ease to respond to the guided imagery. As I speak the guided imagery, you have the opportunity to engage with it in the way that feels right for you at that time. You may simply allow it to wash over you, you may find yourself connecting with particular images, you may find yourself drifting in and out of the imagery.

I will then bring you out of the relaxation and we will have a brief feedback.  I will make any suggestions I think will help you to take forward more relaxation into your daily life.

Why Use a Practitioner?

You can find any number of relaxation and guided imagery recordings online.  I have some myself which you can buy here.

When I am in the room with you however, I can accommodate your particular needs.  I can see which areas of your body are particularly tense.  I can see how you are breathing.  Then I can guide you paying particular attention to your unique situation.  I can bring in imagery and analogies as I think would be appropriate to open up a particular area of your body or your breathing.  The guided imagery is more specifically directed at you and any requests you might have as to what you want included.

You also hear my voice in a way and at a pace that I deem to be right for you to achieve the desired relaxation response.  

In this way, you get a much more tailored session and potential advice on how to manage your relaxation going forward. 

My Skills

As a hypnotherapist, I am working with imagery and facilitating relaxation all the time.  I have though made use of these skills working specifically with those who had had a cancer diagnosis when working as the Practitioner of Relaxation and Visualisation at a cancer support centre for four years.  Here I helped clients manage their stress in relation to the diagnosis and subsequent treatment as well as using imagery in an exploratory and remedial way to work with any number of life issues.   

N.B. Please note, this is not a therapy session in any way.  The therapeutic benefits are those of allowing your body and mind to rest as fully as you are able.

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