Self-Hynopsis or Relaxed Comfortable Dental Visits--

Try this for a more relaxed dental visit:

Self Relaxation

                     

Our lives are frequently stressful and driven. Having a tool to reduce anxiety immediately is very valuable. It can eliminate both the discomfort we feel and the roadblocks to success we often set up by feeling anxious.

                     

1. Sit in a chair in a quiet place and picture yourself in a stressful dental or non-dental situation. A dental situation can be either an anticipated dental experience or a difficult past dental experience. A non-dental situation may be speaking in front of an audience. First, stand outside yourself and watch yourself in the difficult situation. Next, experience being in the difficult situation by looking at it though your eyes. As soon as you feel physical discomfort, go on to the next step.
                           
2. Close your eyes. Travel inside your body with your mind and find the area that feels especially stressed. This may be in the stomach, chest, head, shoulders, hands or arms. This area feels different and separate from the rest of your body. Think of the degree of discomfort as a "10" on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst.
                              
3. Because the area feels isolated, you will be aware that it has borders and a shape. Explore its borders, shape and the surrounding areas with your mind. Is it round, oval or square? Is it a large area or small? Is the border very defined or loosely defined? How deep does it go? Does it go all the way to your back? Halfway? Or is it shallow and just under the surface? Does it feel solid, mushy or fluttery? Now that you are familiar with it, let's complete the following steps to manipulate it.
                              
4. Open up the border of the area and let it spread out into a wider area. Take as long as necessary. Once you do it, you'll know the value of it. When successful, check the degree of discomfort on a scale of 1 to 10. Most likely, it will be lower than 10.
                              
5. Make the area smaller, to the size of a ping-pong ball. Visualize a space opening in front of the area and move the ping-pong ball into that space. Now, move it back and check out how it feels on a scale of 1 to 10. You're getting control over your anxiety.
                              
6. To accomplish complete control, open a pathway 'like the Red Sea parting' from wherever the discomfort is to your throat. Now move the ball into your throat. Take a deep breath and blow the ball out through your mouth. Once again, check to see where you are on the 1 to 10 scale. Is there any discomfort left? Take another deep breath and blow out the rest of it.