A Ten-Minute Relaxation Hypnosis Script

This is an original, general-purpose relaxation script written for this library. Its only aim is rest and calm, which makes it a useful first session, a demonstration piece for trainees or a short break in a demanding day. Read the preparation notes first; usage notes, variations and scope follow the script.

About this script

• Purpose: general relaxation and a gentle introduction to hypnosis
• Length: about ten minutes read slowly with the marked pauses
• Audience: practitioners reading to a client, trainees practising delivery, individuals recording it for personal use
• Structure: settling, induction, countdown deepener, resting-place imagery, suggestion, re-alerting
• Experience level: beginner-friendly for both reader and listener

Before you read

• Pace. Speak more slowly than feels natural, and lower your volume slightly as the script progresses. Each [pause] marks roughly five to ten seconds of silence; a [longer pause] can run thirty seconds or more.
• Agreement. If you are working with a client, agree beforehand that they can open their eyes, move or speak at any point, and how they will signal if they want to stop.
• Screening. Ask whether relaxation exercises have ever made them feel worse. For some people, relaxing triggers a spike in anxiety rather than calm; a laboratory study found this relaxation-induced anxiety was linked to generalized anxiety disorder and major depression [1]. For those clients, use the eyes-open option and keep the body section brief.
• Resting place. Ask in advance what kind of place feels calm to them, or let it be their choice in the moment. Do not impose a beach or forest; for some people these carry unwanted associations.

The script

Settling

Take a moment to find a position that feels comfortable… and when you’re ready, let your eyes close, or simply rest your gaze on one spot in front of you. [pause]

There’s nothing you need to do right now, and nothing you need to get right. Just listen, and let my voice keep you company. [pause]

Breathe in a little more slowly than usual… and let the breath go… and again, in… and out… letting each out-breath last a little longer than the one before. [pause]

Induction

Now notice the weight of your body… the places where you are supported… your feet on the floor, your back against the chair, your hands resting where they are. [pause]

With every breath out, let some of that weight sink a little further into the support beneath you… legs heavy… hips and back heavy… shoulders dropping, just slightly. [pause]

And the face can join in… the jaw loose… the eyelids comfortable… the forehead wide and smooth. [pause]

Deepener

In a moment I’ll count down from ten to one. With each number, let yourself drift a little further into rest, carried by your breath.

Ten… letting go. Nine… heavier and calmer. Eight… drifting down. Seven… [pause] Six… nothing to do, nowhere to be. Five… halfway now, and still settling. Four… three… so comfortable. Two… and one… resting. [pause]

Resting place

Now let your mind find a place where you feel completely at ease. It might be somewhere you have been, somewhere you would like to go or somewhere that exists only in your imagination. Whatever comes is fine. [pause]

Notice what you can see there… the colours, the light… [pause] Notice what you can hear, or the quality of the quiet… [pause] Notice the air on your skin, the temperature, the ground beneath you… [pause]

This is your place. Nothing here asks anything of you. Take a little time just to be here. [longer pause]

Suggestion

As you rest, you might notice that your body already knows how to relax… and that this calm is something you can find again… with a few slow breaths, a softening of the shoulders, a moment of turning inward. Each time you practise, it can become a little more familiar and a little easier to reach. [pause]

And whatever the rest of your day holds, you can carry some of this steadiness with you. [pause]

Re-alerting

In a moment I’ll count from one to five. With each number you’ll become more alert, and at five you can open your eyes, aware of your surroundings and ready to continue your day.

One… beginning to return, bringing the calm with you. Two… noticing the chair beneath you and the room around you. Three… energy flowing back into your arms and legs. Four… taking a deeper breath, perhaps moving your fingers and toes. Five… eyes open, alert and awake. [pause]

Usage notes

After the script

Give the listener a minute before they stand, and ask how the experience was. If someone still seems drowsy or slow to speak, repeat the count from one to five with more energy in your voice, and have them stand and move before they leave or drive.

How the script is built

Each section has a job. The settling phase gives permission and slows the breath. The induction uses weight and support rather than a full body scan, which keeps it short. The countdown pairs each number with a single idea, so the listener can lose count without losing the thread. The resting place moves through sight, sound and touch in turn, which gives people who do not picture things easily other ways in. The suggestion is deliberately modest: it frames calm as a skill that becomes easier with practice, not a promise of transformation.

Variations

• No imagery. Some people have little or no visual imagery. In two samples totalling over a thousand people, 3.9% met criteria for aphantasia [2], and many others find images faint. Replace the resting place with attention to the sound of the breath, the feeling of the hands or a slow count of breaths, or invite the listener to simply know what the place is like without seeing it.
• Longer session. Replace the short induction with the fuller sequence in Progressive Relaxation Induction: Walkthrough and Sample Wording.
• Before sleep. For bedtime use, replace the re-alerting with: “And now there’s nothing more you need to do… you can let sleep come in its own time.” Use this with care. In a lab study of healthy young adults with low hypnotizability, a suggestion to sleep more deeply reduced slow-wave sleep, even when it was presented as guided imagery with a breathing relaxation instead of hypnosis; subjective sleep quality was unaffected [3]. Keep the bedtime version about rest, not about forcing deeper sleep, and stop if sleep worsens.
• Group delivery. Keep the resting place open-ended and avoid any detail that assumes a particular body, background or ability.

What the evidence does and doesn’t support

Structured relaxation-focused hypnosis has some evidence for stress. In a randomized trial of 95 healthy adults with elevated stress, five weekly two-hour group sessions plus home recordings reduced stress ratings more than an educational booklet alone: 41.8 versus 62.9 on a 100-mm scale at five weeks, with a smaller difference still present at twelve weeks [4]. That was a full programme compared with a booklet, not a single script compared with an equally credible alternative. Do not present this script as having been tested.

Personal recordings

If you record this script for yourself, never listen while driving, operating machinery or doing anything that needs your full attention.

Scope

This script is intended for general relaxation only. It is not a treatment for anxiety, insomnia or any other condition, and it is no substitute for medical or psychological care. Imagery can occasionally surface unexpected memories or feelings, so keep the resting place client-chosen and be ready to bring someone back gently.

When to refer. If a listener’s stress is persistent, disrupts daily life, or comes with panic attacks, low mood, thoughts of self-harm or trauma symptoms, refer them to an appropriate medical or mental health professional. Relaxation scripts can be a useful addition to care, not a replacement for it.

To see where a script like this fits within a full appointment, read How to Structure a Hypnosis Session.