Contract Or Expand by Mary Elizabeth Raines Author and Director of the Academy for Professional Hypnosis Training In every situation life offers us, we have the choice of responding in one of two ways: we can CONTRACT or we can EXPAND. Remember the last time you fell in love? Or achieved a goal? Or something really good happened? Chances are that you were in a state of expansion. Conversely, our knee-jerk response when things aren’t going so well is to contract. The contraction or expansion we choose happens on all levels: physical, spiritual, mental and emotional. Here is what contracting is like: Imagine that you are entering the bathroom of an airplane near the end of a long, uncomfortable flight. Far too many people have already used this bathroom. The door locks behind you like a prison door, as a harsh artificial light comes on. The loud sound of the airplane engine seems magnified in this tiny metallic space, and the ride is frighteningly turbulent. This bathroom is smelly and nasty. You have to be careful where you step, and you try not to touch any surfaces, or even brush against them accidentally. You squeeze your arms in closely against your body, clench rigidly, and don't even dare breathe too deeply. Here is what expansion is like: Imagine that you are standing on a welcoming plateau, with the temperature just the way you like it. Mountains, far in the distance, stand watch, ringing the edge of this plateau. A few birds fly overhead in the vast blue sky. There is no traffic, and there are no buildings nearby. You are completely in nature, totally safe, and you can see for miles in every direction. You breathe in the cleanest air on the planet, and hear only the peaceful, gentle sounds of a warm breeze passing by like a good friend. Standing firmly on the earth, you open your arms and spread them wide in joy, taking up all the space you want, smiling, and feeling good! Many of our sufferings are due to resisting what is. We clench when we resist, just as we did when we were in that bathroom on the airplane. Sometimes we even hold our breath. When we are in our power, however, we expand. How about making the choice to step into your power, regardless of what is occurring in your life?! Here’s an experiment that will make it easy: Bring to mind any life situation at all that is troubling to you. Now imagine clenching as a response, just as if you were in that bathroom on the airplane. Hold still, hunch your shoulders up to your ears, squeeze your back and hips and arms in tightly, take in only shallow breaths, and see how that makes you feel. Yuck. Next, still thinking of your life situation, imagine expanding your energy as though you were back on that plateau. You are free to take up all the room you want, balanced and secure. Loosen and unlock your body, let your shoulders and back ease, hold your head a little higher, and experiment by stretching your aura. Fill the area around you with bright, luminous energy - YOUR energy, even expanding it beyond the boundaries of the room or space you occupy. Take in a good deep breath. Feels better, doesn’t it?! (c) 2011, M.E. Raines Mary Elizabeth Raines is an internationally recognized author and teacher from Sedona, AZ who offers her students advanced skills along with personal transformation. She developed the Guided Imagery Certification program for the National Guild of Hypnotists, with whom she has been an adjunct faculty member for 14 years, and she also trains people to become hypnotherapists and past-life regression counselors. Owner of the Academy for Professional Hypnosis Training and Laughing Cherub Unlimited, Raines is a columnist for The Journal of Hypnotism, and is the author of The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-life Regression. OMPLACE HOME