Consciously probing, doubting, worrying, questioning and examining—these are the only things that can keep you from reaching a state of self-hypnosis and its benefits.

Let me repeat—for emphasis, and with the sincere hope that from the evidence you've received so far you will accept it—that all you need to do to induce self-hypnosis to the degree necessary to influence yourself with self-suggestions is to take deep, deep breaths and relax your body. Breathe deeply, counting to yourself: "One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five six . . ." Exhale, as you tell yourself you are relaxing all over, counting, "one . . . two . . . three . . ."

For the next few nights, when you go to sleep, make yourself comfortable and then go through a "countdown" that will blast away the cigarette habit. With words that fit you, your needs and your personality, offer yourself suggestions like these:

"Ten . . . I'm relaxed, limp . . . comfortable . . . relaxed ... breathing deeply . .. relaxed.. . . Nine . . . I'm going to take three deep breaths . . . they make me feel better.... Eight... Now I feel more relaxed ... no tensions ... body is limp.... Seven . .. They clear my head, relax my arms and hands and legs and feet... good ... limp ... relaxed ... head is clear. . . . Six . . . three deep breaths. . . . Five ... I see myself relaxed,    and   I    no   longer     have to smoke . . . feel better that way . . . breathe better, see better . . . not in knots . . . relaxed . . . limp ... no tensions.... Four ... have something better to do than smoking . . . breathing deeply ... clearing my head ... wiping out tension ... relaxed . . . sleep better tonight . . . feel better tomorrow . . . limp . . . relaxed. . . . Three ... no need to smoke. . . . Two . . . limp . .. relaxed . . . feel better . . . taking deep breaths . . . body feels cleaner. . . . One . . . relaxed . . . limp . . . muscles resting... breathing deeply ... soothing.... Zero ... breathing deeply ... limp .. . limp . .. limp."

What if you can't do this?

"But I can't relax," you may say after your first effort. "I feel all tied up and jittery."

That's because you are trying too hard. Relaxation is the result of no effort. Just let yourself go. If you are expecting something to happen, you are going to hold yourself tense, waiting for it to happen.

Expectation has a powerful influence on the conscious mind. If you expect something to happen, you don't question it when it does happen because it takes place as expected. If you expect to achieve self-hypnosis and its benefits, you will surely receive them. If you concentrate your expectation upon receiving "sensations," then your expectation is being focused in the wrong direction.

When you flop on the davenport to watch television, you relax. You are only expecting to be relaxed and entertained. Nevertheless, the suggestions in the commercials get through to you. Expect to relax, and nothing more.

Many of us have been preconditioned to the idea that we can only be successful in an effort if we "will" ourselves to do it. This, of course, is a fallacy.

The more skillful a person becomes in any endeavor, the more automatic it is and the less conscious attention is needed to direct it. Conscious effort (will power) is applied only in the initial stage to practice imitation.

Proof of this can be had from almost any effort from using a typewriter or playing golf to the surgeon's skill with a scalpel. When skill is acquired, conscious attention to the actions involved are no longer required. The conscious mind only directs the skill along the line desired.

If you can examine any of your personal skills— such as dancing, playing golf or driving a car—you will recall that as long as you were "trying hard" (exerting will power) you were tense and possibly nervous.

Make a direct application of this to self-hypnosis and you will see that there is no way you can "will" yourself to relax. The use of will power requires conscious attention and creates muscle tension.

If you are probing, doubting, worrying, questioning and examining—you will defeat yourself in achieving self-hypnosis, just as the tense golfer fails and just as the self-conscious dancer has difficulty following the rhythm of the music.

Some people have trouble relaxing

If you're one of those folks who can't loosen up ever, odds are that you're also a very heavy smoker. The chances also are that you mentally chastise yourself for excessive smoking, and that this too is just another one of the many things that acts to make you increasingly tense and increasingly unable to relax.

Your case, you will be glad to know, is far from hopeless. All it means is that you'll have to do a little more work than the next fellow. You'll have to talk yourself to sleep, so to speak, for several nights in a row; you'll have to learn almost muscle by muscle to relax your body. Most of us don't need to do this. For most of us, the instructions you'll have to read will be unnecessary.

And so your short course in relaxation appears in the Appendix. If you "just can't relax," read the Appendix now, please, and practice the suggestions in it. Then come back and join the rest of us. Now use visual imagery to implant new, helpful, powerful images in your subconscious mind.