"It's not always easy to go into trance, is it? I know the stories all make it seem inevitable, but sometimes it just seems like there are too many thoughts bouncing around your brain to really focus. Everyone always expects to stare at a spiral or watch a sparkly pendant and just drift off to the sound of my voice, but sometimes you're so busy thinking about what I'm doing to you that you can't quite switch it off no matter how hard you try.
"What you need is a way to keep track of all those stray thoughts, something that you can use to get them all under control so that you can focus your mind on the important task of...well, focusing your mind. A pocket watch or a crystal isn't going to help you, not with so many distractions--you need advanced assistance for your brain. You need an encephalograph.
"Not a real encephalograph, of course. All those little wires and patches aren't exactly soothing, are they? No, you're going to make an encephalograph in your imagination. It's going to be very easy to do, so long as you let me guide you. Just relax and allow me to help you create the machine in your mind. We'll start with the stylus.
"You can picture that stylus now, if you try. It's the simplest part--a little pen at the end of a metal arm, tracing an arc up and down as it traces the energy of your thoughts. Of course, that arm has to be tracing on something, so you can imagine a roll of paper moving smoothly and evenly as it unwinds from one roller and winds onto the next one. That paper never speeds up, and it never slows down. It follows the sound of my voice and keeps unrolling steadily and easily in front of your eyes. Keep that mental picture in front of you now, and you'll see how it helps you.
"Because as you watch that stylus, tracing an unbroken line along the endless roll of graph paper, you'll notice that already the arm is moving a little less. The peaks and the valleys are growing a little bit more shallow as you center your attention on the device itself and focus your mind on watching the arc it traces along the smooth, flowing paper. The line on the paper is tracing the shape of your thoughts, after all, and the more attention you pay to that line, the less you think about other thoughts and the smoother the line becomes. And the more you notice the line smoothing out, the less you think about anything else.
"You may notice a few spikes every now and again, as you find yourself excited by the anticipation of going into a deep, hypnotic trance for me. But those spikes aren't things you're feeling anymore. They're things you're watching. You can observe your thoughts with calm, peaceful detachment and allow them to pass by, rolling along until they're curled up in the nested loops of the drum. Captured and held and out of sight, the same way your attention is captured by the slow and steady motion of the stylus.
"And it is slow and steady now, the peaks and valleys smoothing out into gentle, sinuous curves as you watch and relax further. The stylus is moving regularly now as your thoughts settle into a pattern, a pattern of watching and relaxing and focusing your attention on keeping the line even and steady. My words don't even make a bump in the ebb and flow of your thoughts anymore; your mind easily and effortlessly enfolds my voice into your mind and incorporates everything I say without thinking. It's so peaceful just to watch and let go.
"And as those curves become regular and even, tracing just like a sine wave as the stylus moves in time with each slow, steady breath, you find your own thoughts moving in that same even, relaxed rhythm. Your mind's eye follows the stylus, watching it trace a calm, soothing line that keeps flowing smoothly along the paper that rolls around and around and around. Those curves are nothing more than your awareness of the stylus itself now. You're watching the stylus, and the stylus shows you that you're watching the stylus. You're listening to my words, and the line shows you how easy it is to accept my words. You're relaxing, and the peaceful and steady scritch of pen on paper tells you exactly how to relax deeper.
"And the more you relax, the more those curves flatten out. The more you relax, the less you think. It's easier and easier as you think less and watch more, to watch more and think less. The line of ink on paper becomes more and more effortless to watch without being aware of watching, to watch without being aware of anything. My words and the slow, easy march of the pen on the paper has turned your thoughts from a chaotic quake to a gentle quiver, and you can feel how wonderfully relaxing that is. Just nod for me now, and feel how good it feels to act at my direction without stirring that line even a little bit.
"There you go. When you listen to my words and act at my direction, it feels so good. It doesn't mean you have to think at all. Your mind's eye can continue watching that smooth, steady, unbroken line, barely even the tiniest curve now as your thoughts flatten out into perfect and unbroken trance, and let me direct you and it's so nice. It's so wonderful. It's so perfect. You love to be blank and smooth just like the line, just like the expanse of paper rolling past and curling up into itself.
