The Hypnotic Feeling?  

You are aware and awake, aware of everything that is said and therefore have the ability to go along with the therapists' words or to reject them. 

That decision is yours and, because you are aware of everything, it is always yours no matter how deeply relaxed you become. 

To achieve this state of relaxation it is necessary for you to accept what the therapist says, to go along with the words. It is only common sense that no one can force you into relaxation  your automatic reaction to being forced is to reject it, which is in no way relaxing. A therapist cannot force you to become relaxed; he can only guide you into relaxation. You have the choice as to whether you follow the suggestion and guidance or not.  

If having been prepared to accept and become relaxed, how do you feel? You feel relaxed. You are in that halfway stage between being asleep and being awake. A drowsy, and dream like state. It is a natural state in which you know everything that is going on, you hear and understand everything that is being said but you would only bother about it if it is really important to you. 

It is a state we all go through every time you go to sleep and again every time you wake up. So if you are reading this you have experienced this state thousands of times before and the only difference on this occasion is that you will achieve it by following the suggestions of someone else, your therapist and that by continuing to follow their suggestions you will stay in this state long enough to really enjoy it whereas, when you are going to sleep in the normal way (or waking up normally), you usually pass through this relaxation too quickly to really appreciate it. The way I explain it is similar to waking up on a Sunday morning it is blowing a gale outside and raining and you think to yourself “oh work!” and then you realise its Sunday and it is not work today so you turn over with that lovely contented feeling. We have all shared that feeling at sometime. 

So forget about being taken over, of being controlled (if only I could! I would be in the lap of luxury by this weekend). Forget about the therapist's taking control of your mind. You are just accepting, any suggestion the therapist puts to you or you have the ability to reject it. 

Knowing that you can and will reject anything that does not suit you the therapist will, naturally, only ask you to go along with things that they know are acceptable to you. You are in control. The important thing is that because you have control and just knowing that means that you do not have to exercise it. You will just let go.