After the relaxation procedure, you will feel totally relaxed, but you can go even deeper into the trance-like state, which will help reach your subconscious. This part is called deepening. The staircase is a common approach to deepening.
See yourself standing at the top of a staircase. As you descend the staircase, you will relax even more. Let's count backward. You are standing on the top, or tenth, step and step down to the ninth. Nine, relaxing more and more. Eight, every muscle and nerve is completely relaxed. Seven, you go deeper and deeper into this wonderful state of relaxation. Six, your mind is clear and calm. Five, deeper and deeper. Four, you are feeling wonderfully calm and serene. Three, you relax more and more. Two, nearing the bottom, you are totally relaxed. One, you have finished descending the staircase. You find yourself in a beautiful meadow with your body fully relaxed and your mind calm and open to beneficial suggestions. You can enjoy yourself knowing you can return to this wonderful state of relaxation whenever you wish.
If you don't want to use the imagery of a staircase, there are many other ways to do the deepening. You can see yourself slowly descending to a landing in a hot air balloon. A good one is to use a sky writer. Imagine the sky writer writing the numbers 10, 9, 8, etc., and see each one fade away as you go deeper into the hypnotic trance.
Here's another option. See yourself walking deeper and deeper into a beautiful forest. This can also be used as an induction, and is given in more detail in the induction section.
