WEDNESDAY EVENING GROUP HYPNOTHERAPY SESSION
Forgiveness & Letting Go
Releasing Emotional Weight and Creating Inner Peace
ONLINE SESSION PREPARATION AND PARTICIPANT ORIENTATION
Good evening, everyone, and welcome.
Before we begin tonight’s group hypnotherapy session, I would like to explain a few important things about how our online session will work.
This is a guided group hypnotherapy experience, but you will experience the session individually within the group.
You will not be able to hear the other participants.
During the hypnotherapy exercise, your microphone will be switched off.
This means that you will only hear my voice and your own voice.
You will not hear other participants speaking, breathing, counting, or moving around.
This is intentional.
It allows you to remain focused on your own experience without being distracted by what anyone else in the group is doing.
When we reach the interactive part of the session at the end, we will open the session for questions, discussion, and sharing of experiences.
Until then, your microphone will remain muted.
YOUR AUDIO AND INTERNET SETUP
You can participate using the speaker on your mobile phone, tablet, computer, or other suitable device.
Alternatively, you may use earphones or headphones if you prefer.
If you are using wireless earphones or headphones, please make sure that they are fully charged before the session begins.
If your earphones run out of power during the session, you may lose the sound of the hypnotherapy guidance.
Please also make sure that you have:
- A reliable and stable internet connection.
- A stable connection to the online session.
- Sufficient battery power on your device, or your device connected to a charger.
- Your phone or device placed somewhere comfortable and secure.
- A quiet environment where you are unlikely to be disturbed.
- Notifications and incoming calls silenced where possible.
Please do not participate while driving, walking in an unsafe environment, operating machinery, or doing anything that requires your full attention.
Ideally, give yourself this full hour simply for yourself.
COMFORTABLE POSITION
Find a comfortable place where you can sit or lie down safely.
Make sure your head, neck, back, and body are adequately supported.
Your hands can rest comfortably.
Your feet can rest naturally.
You don’t need to maintain any particular position throughout the session.
If you become physically uncomfortable, you may adjust your position.
You remain in control throughout the entire experience.
CONSULTATION, INFORMATION AND INFORMED CONSENT
Before participating in tonight’s exercise, each participant must have completed and signed the required consultation, information, and informed-consent form.
Participation in the hypnotherapy exercise is only permitted once the required documentation has been completed.
Hypnosis does not mean losing control.
You remain aware.
You remain capable of hearing my voice.
You remain capable of making decisions.
And you are free to open your eyes, move your body, or discontinue the exercise at any time.
You do not have to force yourself to forgive anyone tonight.
You do not have to forget what happened.
You do not have to excuse harmful behaviour.
And you do not have to reconcile with anyone as a result of this exercise.
Tonight’s session is about your emotional freedom and your relationship with what you have been carrying.
This group session is intended as a guided relaxation and hypnotherapy experience focused on forgiveness, emotional release, letting go, self-compassion, and inner peace.
It is not a substitute for individual medical, psychological, or psychiatric assessment or treatment where such care is required.
If you have any concerns about whether this type of session is appropriate for you, please discuss those concerns with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional before participating.
IMPORTANT AUDIO INSTRUCTION
And one final thing before we begin.
Once the hypnosis exercise starts, your microphone will be switched off.
You will not hear the other participants.
You will only hear my voice and your own voice when I specifically ask you to respond.
So if I ask you to count…
you will hear your own counting.
If I ask you to speak…
you will hear your own voice.
And you may notice that your own voice begins to sound different as you relax.
You may become slower…
softer…
quieter…
or you may find yourself pausing between words.
That’s perfectly fine.
You don’t need to monitor yourself.
You don’t need to perform.
Simply follow the instructions and allow yourself to experience whatever naturally occurs.
The other participants are having their own individual experience.
You don’t need to compare yourself with anyone else.
There is no competition.
There is no right or wrong way to experience hypnosis.
Your experience belongs entirely to you.
So now…
make sure you are comfortable…
make sure your device is secure…
make sure your headphones or earphones are charged if you’re using them…
and make sure you have a reliable internet connection.
Take a final moment to settle yourself.
And when you’re ready…
we will begin.
OPENING AND WELCOME
Good evening, everyone.
Welcome to tonight’s Wednesday evening group hypnotherapy session.
I’m very pleased to have each of you here.
Tonight’s session is called:
Forgiveness & Letting Go.
Tonight is not about pretending that the past didn’t happen.
It is not about saying that what happened was acceptable.
It is not about forgetting.
And it is not about forcing yourself to forgive someone before you are ready.
Tonight is about something much more personal:
What are you still carrying?
Sometimes we carry anger.
Sometimes resentment.
Sometimes disappointment.
Sometimes betrayal.
Sometimes guilt.
Sometimes regret.
Sometimes words that were spoken to us many years ago.
Sometimes we carry the emotional presence of a person who isn’t even part of our lives anymore.
And sometimes the person we need to forgive most…
is ourselves.
Holding onto pain can sometimes feel like holding onto the evidence that something mattered.
But letting go does not mean that it didn’t matter.
Letting go means:
“I no longer want this pain to have control over my present.”
Forgiveness can be a gift to yourself.
Not necessarily a gift to the person who hurt you.
You can forgive without forgetting.
You can forgive without reconnecting.
You can forgive without excusing.
And you can let go without denying your experience.
Tonight, we are going to gently create space for that possibility.
You don’t have to release everything.
You don’t have to forgive everyone.
Simply allow yourself to become aware of what you may be ready to loosen your grip on.
You are simply listening to my voice…
and experiencing your own experience.
So allow yourself to become comfortable…
and allow us to begin.
SETTLING INTO THE SESSION
And now, make yourself comfortable.
Allow your feet to rest comfortably…
your hands to rest naturally…
and allow your body to be supported by whatever is beneath you.
If your eyes are open, you may gently allow them to close.
And if your eyes are already closed, simply continue listening to the sound of my voice.
There is nowhere else you need to be right now.
Nothing else you need to attend to.
Just this moment…
and the sound of my voice.
Take a comfortable breath in…
and slowly breathe out.
Again…
breathing in gently…
and breathing out slowly.
And one more time…
breathing in…
and letting the breath leave the body naturally.
You don’t have to control your breathing.
Simply allow your breathing to find its own comfortable rhythm.
INDUCTION
And now begin to notice the points where your body is being supported.
Notice the chair beneath you…
the floor beneath your feet…
the surface beneath your body.
Allow yourself to become aware of the physical sensations around you.
Perhaps you can notice the temperature of the room…
the sounds around you…
and the sound of my voice.
You don’t have to block anything out.
Simply allow every sound to become part of your relaxation.
Sounds in the room…
sounds outside the room…
and the sound of my voice…
can simply remind you that you are here…
safe…
supported…
and becoming more relaxed.
And now bring your attention gently to your forehead.
Allow the muscles around your forehead to soften.
Let the space between your eyebrows become smooth.
Allow your eyes to become comfortably relaxed.
Relax your cheeks…
your jaw…
your mouth…
your tongue.
There is nothing you need to say.
Nothing you need to explain.
Just relax.
Allow that relaxation to move down through your neck…
your shoulders…
and into your arms.
Let your shoulders become heavier.
Let your arms become comfortable.
Allow your hands and fingers to relax.
And now allow that feeling of relaxation to move into your chest…
your upper back…
your stomach…
and your lower back.
With every breath…
allow the body to release a little more unnecessary tension.
Moving down through your hips…
your thighs…
your knees…
your calves…
your ankles…
and finally into your feet.
From the top of your head…
all the way down to your feet…
allow yourself to become comfortably relaxed.
DEEPENER
And now we’re going to allow that relaxation to deepen.
Imagine yourself standing at the top of a beautiful staircase.
There are ten comfortable steps leading downward.
You don’t need to physically move.
Simply imagine yourself becoming more relaxed with every step.
Ten…
beginning to let go.
Nine…
allowing the body to become heavier and more comfortable.
Eight…
letting the mind become quieter.
Seven…
breathing naturally…
relaxing more deeply.
Six…
allowing yourself to become increasingly inwardly focused.
Five…
halfway down…
and perhaps noticing that you don’t need to do anything at all.
Four…
deeper and calmer.
Three…
allowing the outside world to become less important for a while.
Two…
almost completely settled.
And one…
deeply comfortable…
calm…
and relaxed.
And now…
simply remain there.
DEPTH TEST — THE DISAPPEARING NUMBERS
And now, as you continue to relax, I’d like you to do something very simple for me.
In a moment, I want you to count slowly from one to ten, aloud.
But this time, don’t simply count the numbers.
As you move from one toward ten, allow each number to become a little slower…
a little softer…
and a little more distant.
So perhaps one is spoken normally…
two a little slower…
three a little softer…
and as you continue, allow your voice to gradually become quieter…
until eventually you’re almost whispering.
And as your voice becomes softer…
allow your attention to become softer too.
You don’t have to make anything happen.
Simply allow yourself to notice what happens to the numbers.
Perhaps the numbers begin to feel less important…
Perhaps the spaces between them become longer…
Perhaps you become more interested in the silence between the numbers than in the numbers themselves.
And somewhere along the way, you may discover something interesting…
You may reach a point where the next number simply doesn’t seem important anymore.
Perhaps you remember the number…
Perhaps you don’t.
Perhaps you continue counting…
or perhaps the counting simply disappears into the background.
There is nothing you need to force.
Just allow it to happen naturally.
And you don’t need to decide beforehand whether you’ll reach ten.
Don’t try to reach ten.
Simply begin at one…
and allow each number to take care of the next.
And somewhere between one and ten, you may discover that you’re no longer interested in counting at all.
And if that happens, that’s perfectly fine.
And if you continue all the way to ten, that’s perfectly fine too.
There is nothing to achieve.
We’re simply allowing your mind to discover how deeply it can become absorbed.
And now…
when you’re ready…
begin counting from one to ten…
slowly…
softly…
allowing each number to take you deeper inward.
[PAUSE — ALLOW THE GROUP TO COUNT]
And now…
enjoy the quiet.
Just allow the counting to disappear completely…
and allow yourself to remain comfortably absorbed in this peaceful state.
There is nothing else you need to do.
Simply breathe…
simply relax…
and enjoy the quiet.
[PAUSE]
And now, without analysing anything, simply notice where your awareness is right now…
More aware of my voice…
or more aware of your own inner experience…
And whatever you notice is perfectly fine.
Just allow yourself to remain there…
comfortable…
quiet…
and deeply relaxed.
UNDERSTANDING FORGIVENESS
And now…
allow yourself to consider what forgiveness really means.
Forgiveness does not mean:
“What happened was okay.”
Forgiveness does not mean:
“It didn’t hurt me.”
Forgiveness does not mean:
“I have to trust this person again.”
Forgiveness does not mean:
“I have to allow this person back into my life.”
Forgiveness can simply mean:
“I am choosing not to allow this experience to continue controlling my emotional life.”
It is a decision about your freedom.
And you don’t have to make that decision all at once.
Tonight, simply allow yourself to become open to the possibility.
RECOGNISING WHAT YOU ARE CARRYING
And now…
without searching for painful memories…
allow your mind to become aware of something you may still be carrying.
Perhaps anger.
Perhaps resentment.
Perhaps disappointment.
Perhaps betrayal.
Perhaps guilt.
Perhaps regret.
Perhaps sadness.
Perhaps something you have never had the opportunity to say.
You don’t have to identify a person.
You don’t have to see their face.
You don’t have to revisit the event.
Simply notice the emotional weight.
And acknowledge:
“I have been carrying this.”
There is no judgement.
You have carried it for reasons.
Perhaps it once protected you.
Perhaps anger helped you survive.
Perhaps resentment reminded you not to trust again.
Perhaps guilt kept you connected to something you wished you could change.
Whatever its origin…
you can now begin to ask:
“Do I still need to carry this in the same way?”
LETTING GO OF RESENTMENT
And now…
imagine the resentment as something you have been holding tightly.
Perhaps it is a stone in your hand.
Notice what it feels like to hold it.
Notice the weight.
Notice the effort required to keep holding it.
And now…
without forcing yourself…
imagine gently opening your hand.
You don’t have to throw the stone away.
Simply stop gripping it.
And perhaps you notice something important:
The moment you stop gripping something, it begins to have less power over you.
And as you breathe out…
allow yourself to say:
“I am ready to loosen my grip.”
Again…
“I am ready to loosen my grip.”
And perhaps you can allow some of that resentment to become lighter.
LETTING GO OF ANGER
And now…
if anger is present…
you don’t have to suppress it.
You don’t have to pretend you weren’t angry.
You can acknowledge:
“I was hurt.”
“I was angry.”
“Something mattered to me.”
And then you can choose:
“I don’t want to remain trapped in this anger forever.”
Allow the anger to become information rather than identity.
It may have told you that a boundary was crossed.
It may have told you that something wasn’t right.
You can learn from that information…
without carrying the emotional intensity forever.
Breathe in…
and breathe out.
Allow the intensity to soften.
LETTING GO OF REGRET AND GUILT
And now…
perhaps there are things you regret.
Things you wish you had done differently.
Things you wish you had said.
Things you wish you had known.
And allow yourself to remember:
You made decisions with the awareness you had at the time.
You know more now.
You have experienced more now.
You have learned.
And perhaps you can say:
“I forgive myself for not knowing then what I know now.”
“I allow myself to learn from my past.”
“I don’t have to punish myself forever.”
Taking responsibility is different from continually punishing yourself.
You can learn.
You can repair where appropriate.
You can make different choices.
And then…
you can let yourself move forward.
SELF-FORGIVENESS
And now…
bring your attention toward yourself.
Perhaps there is something about yourself that you have struggled to forgive.
A mistake.
A choice.
A relationship.
A reaction.
A missed opportunity.
Something you said.
Something you didn’t say.
And imagine speaking to yourself as you would speak to someone you genuinely care about.
Say quietly:
“I am human.”
“I have made mistakes.”
“I have learned.”
“I am allowed to grow.”
“I am allowed to forgive myself.”
And perhaps:
“I release myself from the need to remain the person I was at that time.”
You are allowed to become someone new.
FORGIVING WITHOUT RECONCILING
And now…
allow yourself to understand something very important.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same thing.
You can forgive someone…
and still maintain a boundary.
You can release resentment…
and still choose distance.
You can wish someone well…
without inviting them back into your life.
You can stop carrying hatred…
without returning to a harmful situation.
Forgiveness belongs to your inner world.
Boundaries belong to your external world.
And both can exist together.
You can be free…
and still protect yourself.
THE RELEASE
And now imagine standing beside a calm river.
In your hands are small pieces of paper.
Each piece represents something you are ready to release.
Perhaps:
anger…
resentment…
regret…
guilt…
hurt…
disappointment…
or an old story about yourself.
You don’t need to release everything.
Choose only what feels appropriate.
And one by one…
place those pieces of paper into the river.
Watch them move away.
You don’t need to chase them.
You don’t need to retrieve them.
Simply allow the water to carry them onward.
And as each one moves away…
breathe.
And say:
“I release this.”
“I no longer need to carry this in the same way.”
And allow yourself to become lighter.
MAKING PEACE WITH THE PAST
And now…
imagine the past behind you.
It is part of your story.
But it does not have to be the place where you live.
You can look back…
acknowledge what happened…
learn what you need to learn…
and then turn toward the future.
The past can remain where it belongs:
behind you.
And the present is here.
This breath.
This moment.
This life.
And perhaps you can say:
“I choose to live here.”
Not yesterday.
Not in what could have been.
Not in what should have happened.
But here.
Now.
INNER PEACE
And now…
notice what happens when you imagine carrying less.
Perhaps the body feels slightly lighter.
Perhaps the shoulders relax.
Perhaps the breathing becomes easier.
Perhaps the mind becomes quieter.
And allow yourself to experience the possibility of peace.
Not because everything in your life is perfect…
but because you no longer need to fight the past every moment.
You can allow the past to be the past.
And you can give yourself permission to live.
INSTALLING A FORGIVENESS AND LETTING-GO ANCHOR
And now take a comfortable breath in…
and as you slowly breathe out…
gently press your thumb and finger together.
Just lightly.
And allow this simple gesture to become associated with:
forgiveness…
release…
freedom…
and peace.
Whenever you notice yourself returning to an old resentment…
gently bring those fingers together…
slow your breathing…
and remind yourself:
“I don’t have to carry this right now.”
“The past is behind me.”
“I can choose peace.”
“I can let go.”
And remember…
letting go doesn’t mean forgetting.
It means choosing not to carry the emotional weight in the same way.
CONSOLIDATION
And allow these ideas to settle comfortably into your mind.
You are learning that forgiveness is not weakness.
Forgiveness is not approval.
Forgiveness is not surrender.
Forgiveness can be freedom.
You can release resentment without denying what happened.
You can forgive without forgetting.
You can forgive without reconciling.
You can establish boundaries while still choosing peace.
And you can forgive yourself.
You can learn from the past…
without continually punishing yourself for it.
You can say:
I release what I am ready to release.
I forgive what I am ready to forgive.
I accept what I cannot change.
I learn from what I have experienced.
I choose peace where peace is possible.
I choose freedom from unnecessary emotional weight.
And if you’re not ready to forgive something completely…
that’s okay.
Perhaps tonight you simply become willing to become willing.
That is enough.
Healing does not have to be forced.
Letting go can happen gradually.
One breath…
one moment…
one layer…
one step at a time.
RETURNING TO THE PRESENT
And now, in a moment, we’re going to begin returning to the room.
But you don’t have to leave this sense of freedom behind.
You can bring it back with you.
The ability to pause can remain available to you.
The ability to choose peace can remain with you.
The ability to loosen your grip can remain with you.
And as I count from one to five, allow yourself to gradually become more alert and aware of your surroundings.
One…
slowly returning…
bringing awareness back into the body.
Two…
feeling the surface beneath you…
noticing your hands and feet.
Three…
breathing a little more deeply…
allowing energy to return naturally.
Four…
becoming more aware of the room…
the sounds around you…
and the people around you.
And five…
eyes open when you’re ready…
fully awake…
alert…
comfortable…
and present.
Take a comfortable breath.
Move your fingers and toes.
Stretch gently if you wish.
And take a moment before you speak.
There is no need to rush.
Welcome back.
Take a moment to notice how you feel.
And remember…
you don’t have to carry everything you have experienced.
You can choose what remains part of your story…
and what you are ready to release.
You can forgive without forgetting.
You can let go without denying.
You can protect yourself without carrying hatred.
And you can move forward.
One breath…
one moment…
one act of release…
one step at a time.
GROUP CLOSING, Q&A AND SHARING
And before we finish tonight, I want to sincerely thank every one of you for participating.
Thank you for giving yourself this time.
Thank you for allowing yourself to be open to the experience.
And thank you for sharing this space with the rest of the group.
Remember, even though we have been together as a group, each of you has experienced this session individually.
You have not been listening to the other participants.
Your microphone has been muted.
You have only been listening to my voice and, when invited to respond, your own voice.
Everyone experiences hypnosis differently.
There is no right or wrong experience.
Some people may have felt deeply relaxed.
Some may have experienced physical sensations.
Some may have noticed thoughts becoming quieter.
Some may have experienced memories, images, emotions, or simply a sense of peace.
And some people may not have noticed very much at all.
Every experience is individual.
So now we’re going to open the session.
Your microphones can now be unmuted.
You are welcome to ask questions about the experience, the process of hypnosis, forgiveness, letting go, resentment, self-forgiveness, emotional release, or anything that came up for you during the session.
If you would like to share your experience with the group, you are also welcome to do so.
You don’t have to share anything personal that you don’t want to share.
Simply share what you feel comfortable sharing.
So let’s open the floor now.
What did you notice?
How did the experience feel for you?
Did anything surprise you?
Did you notice something you may be ready to let go of?
Did you experience any change in how you feel about forgiveness?
Did you find it easier to consider forgiving yourself?
And is there anything you’d like to ask?
[ALLOW TIME FOR Q&A AND GROUP INTERACTION]
Thank you to everyone who participated and shared tonight.
Remember that the purpose of this session is not to expect yourself to forgive everything in one hour.
It is to begin creating freedom from the emotional weight you have been carrying.
Every time you choose peace instead of resentment…
every time you release the need to continually revisit the past…
every time you show yourself compassion…
you create more space for emotional freedom.
And I invite you to join us again next Wednesday evening.
Our group sessions take place every Wednesday evening from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
Each week we will work with different themes and different therapeutic approaches designed to support greater self-awareness, emotional wellbeing, relaxation, confidence, resilience, healing, and personal growth.
So if tonight’s session was helpful to you…
come back next Wednesday.
And if you know someone who could benefit from experiencing a guided group hypnotherapy session, you are welcome to invite them to join us, provided they complete the required consultation, information, and consent process before participating.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for giving yourself this hour.
And most importantly…
thank yourself for being willing to look at what you have been carrying…
to loosen your grip…
to choose compassion…
and to take another step toward freedom.
You don’t have to carry yesterday into tomorrow.
You can learn from it.
You can honour what it taught you.
And then…
you can let it go.
Have a peaceful evening.
And I look forward to seeing you again next Wednesday evening…
at 8:00 PM.
Good night, everyone.