Once we can do it, this process is really quite effortless. The idea is in our mind, then we experience the effects of the idea. It just happens. We do not do anything to bring it about. In fact, once we make an effort to bring it about, the whole thing goes wrong, and we are immediately aware that we are not relaxed.
We use the trains of thought for the relief of symptoms in exactly the same way. The regression is the all-important factor. There is nothing new for us in this next step. We have already learned to present the idea of relaxation and then to experience relaxation. We can do this if we are tense, and our tension goes, because the positive feeling of relaxation will inhibit the negative feeling of tension by the process which we have already described as reciprocal inhibition.
I have mentioned the method of letting ourselves go as we breathe out. We let go our breath, and we let go ourselves. With each breath we will drift a little deeper into regression. This approach can be used very successfully by some people to enhance the effect of their sequences of thought. We are very relaxed and comfortable. The ideas of the train of thought come to us slowly and leisurely. An idea comes each time we breathe out, and we dwell on it a little. With the next breath follows the next idea. And all the time we are so relaxed that we are hardly aware of the things around us.
The trains of thought, which I have set out in relation to various symptoms, are intended merely as a guide. They are only suggestions. Each individual will modify them according to his own inner needs. Only the principle is constant for us all. The details, the approach, and the attitude are varied to suit the unique individuality which makes each of us different from anyone else.
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