Nandini Travels Back In Time

                                    

                                          
            
                          
  
                          
The next week, Nandini was back in Dr. Dhawan's office for her second session.

                          
She took a deep breath and leaned back on to the large, white, reclining chair.
                          
"So. How did it go with the tape?" asked Dr. Dhawan. He had given her a relaxation tape to play at home during the week between her appointments with him. He had recorded this tape to help his patients practice the techniques of self-hypnosis. He found that the more they practiced at home, the deeper they seemed to go in his office. The tape also helped patients to relax, and it often helped them to fall asleep. 
                          
Nandini grew uncomfortable at his question. Guilty. More like how a student would when questioned about his homework or project. "I tried listening to it," she began. "But I don't know why. I couldn't get myself to relax. It was like I had this feeling that something weird was going to happen. And maybe... what if I couldn't wake from my trance?"
                          
Dr. Dhawan listened patiently as she narrated her concerns. It was natural for patients to get worried about the consequences of falling into a trance when alone. What if something happened? Just like Nandini, most patients worried that if something were to go wrong, there would be no one to help them. 
                          
"No problem at all," Dr. Dhawan concluded with a pleasant smile. "Just –uh- sit forward on your chair. Come on. Easy." He sat down before her and put out his hand, the palm facing up. "Keep your eyes on mine," he continued gently. "Good. Focus. Now press down on my hand with your right."
                          
Nandini followed his instructions perfectly while he continued to talk to her softly. 
                          
Suddenly, without warning, he pulled his hand away which was underneath hers. Her body, now unsupported, lurched forward. At this precise moment, he said "Sleep!" very loudly.
                          
Instantly, Nandini's body collapsed back onto the chair. She was already in a deep hypnotic trance. 
                          
"You can remember everything, every experience you have ever had," he told her. "Now. Go back to your last pleasant meal. Use all of your senses as you remember the meal."
                          
She remembered the smell, the taste, the sight and the feeling of a recent dinner. Dr. Dhawan knew that she had the ability for vivid recall. 
                          
He took her back to her childhood. She smiled contentedly, just like a little girl. 
                          
"I'm in the kitchen with my mother. She looks very young. I'm young, too. I'm little. I'm about five. And we're cooking. We're making pies . . . and cookies. It's fun. My mother's happy. I can see it all, the apron, her hair up. I can smell the smells. They're wonderful."  
                          
"Walk into another room and tell me what you see," he instructed her.
                          
She walked into the living room. She described the large dark wood furniture, the well-worn floors. And then a portrait of her mother, a photograph that was on a dark wooden table next to a big comfortable chair. 
                          
"I see my mother in the picture," Nandini went on. "She's beautiful ... so young. I see the pearls around her neck. She loves those pearls. They're for special occasions. The beautiful white dress . . . her dark hair . . . her eyes are so bright and so healthy." 
                          
"Good," he said, "I'm glad you remember her and that you can see her so clearly."
                          
"Now we will go even further back. Don't worry what is imagination, what is fantasy, what is metaphor or symbol, actual memory or some combination of all of these," he told her. "Just let yourself experience. Try not to let your mind judge or criticize or even comment on the material you are experiencing. Just experience it. This is only for the experience. You can critique it afterward. You can analyse it later. But for now just let yourself experience.