SELF HYPNOSIS LESSON 10
------------------------------------

MIND ROOM
   
A mind room is a place of many functions, a safety zone to which you can 
retreat to catch your breath, to restore your spirit, or to gear yourself
for action.  It is a place in which your mind, in its altered state of
consciousness, can deal with a problem that might seem insurmountable in 
the reality state.

Let it become a familiar place which you can find easily even under stress
and in which you feel completely at home.

PREPARATION

It is very easily reached: just sit in a comfortable chair or lie in bed, and
close your eyes.  (Once you know the way, you'll also be able to find it with
your eyes open.)  Relax every muscle in your body, from the top of your head
to the tips of your toes, and count slowly from ten to zero.  Tell yourself 
that on reaching zero, you will be in a very deep state of relaxation, on the 
threshold of your altered state of consciousness.

You may feel a tingling in your fingers and a fluttering in your eyelids.  You
are now passing through the door into the state of heightened awareness, in 
which you can tap the dormant powers of your mind.

Now the fluttering of the transition has passed, as you penetrate deeper and
deeper into the recesses of your mind.


THE EXERCISE

You are now in a very pleasant, deeply relaxed state now, basking in a drowsy
sense of semi-reality, even though you are perfectly aware of the world around
you - the muted noise from the house, or snow-covered ground, and the ticking 
of your clock.  You know that you can return to this world at any moment you
wish by simply opening your eyes.

But you don't wish to return just yet.  You continue to allow the half-formed 
thoughts and images to drift around in your head, until you come to a small,
cozy, comfortable room where you feel completely safe and secure.  This room
is your safety zone, your retreat.  Whenever you enter this room, you will at
once feel secure and content; all fears and apprehensions are securely locked
outside, once you have entered this island of safety and closed the door.  The
very creak of the hinges heralds this, the click of the lock which you bolt 
against intrusion confirms it. Any problem that seemed overwhelming before will
be easily solved here.

The room is small and intimate, furnished exactly to your taste.  It contains
your favorite armchair - its deeply upholstered shape supportive, its sturdy 
bulk protective.  The floor is softly carpeted, so that you can walk or pace
in relaxed comfort.

The drawn drapes that cover the windows deaden the noise of the outside world
and allow only a soft light to filter through.  Though you are alone in your
room, this calm solitude is filled with an exhilarating sense of space and 
freedom.  Fears, cares, discomfort have no place here.  Your room is the home
of well-being, where you breathe in a security free from all uncertainty.  
Your room is the home of your real, your best self.

Here you can safely settle down and rest until you are strong enough to emerge
and confront the outside world again.  Here you can let your expanded mind
range over any problem you have.  The room will coax your mind toward a
solution, gently, slowly, surely, inevitably.  You may return to here whenever
you wish by saying to your self, "Back to my room".  All you have to say to 
yourself is, "Back to my room", and you will return here.

All that you need to return to ordinary consciousness is to tell yourself that
you will now count slowly from one to three.  At the count of three you will
open your eyes.  As soon as you do, you will be fully awake, and completely 
relaxed and unafraid, capable of dealing efficiently with whatever problem confronts you.