Hypnosis - I can’t imagine a ‘safe, relaxing place’

[Chilka]

I have downloaded a couple of hypnosis tracks and I really like them but at the beginning of both she tells me to imagine or remember a place when I felt safe and relaxed and I get really distracted trying to think of somewhere. I don’t have the best imagination, or memory for that matter, and I don’t have a go-to warm and cosy memory of a time when I felt safe and secure etc. The place that best fits that description is my current home, and it just feels a bit weird to be lying in bed listening to a hypnosis track and just thinking, well I feel safe and relaxed here, will that do?

If you use hypnosis tracks that ask for that kind of thing, how do you find it?

I remember being asked for that in a psychotherapy context, and I had a hillside with a sheep that made me laugh that I'd encountered on a walk! You just reminded me of it, and using the sheep in therapy has made it into a really strong memory. Something about the sheep was so kind and benevolent and so non-human and non-threatening and funny too, and the hillside was by the sea and peaceful. It still works for me. Have you got anywhere like that in your memory bank @Chilka ?

I just do what I usually do when I'm reclining in the dentist chair and he puts the overhead bright light on and I shut my eyes.
I imagine myself with my eyes closed, lying on the hot sand of a beach with the bright sun ( lamp) on my face and I picture the blue water dappled by sunlight that stretches out in front of me.
Visualisation is very useful in stressful situations, such as being in the dentist chair.

Being in bed ready to fall asleep

If where you are fits the bill then yes, use that.

I tried hypnotherapy once. I got asked to picture myself sitting under a tree and have my inner child walk towards me. I couldn't keep a straight face.

Nothing is standing out, but I suppose I could work on finding something before trying again!
I have tried imagining a walk through the woods, where I do feel relaxed, but it seems too active somehow, and still requires a sort of generative effort to follow the path in my mind, rather than allowing me to switch off.

That’s usually where I actually am when I’m listening! Would feel very meta.

Picture yourself lying on a blanket in the woods staring straight up at the sky that is mostly obscured by the tops of the trees and their green leaves.

I imagine bed too. Can’t really imagine relaxing fully anywhere in public eg a beach!

You have to imagine that there is no one on the beach, you do have to use your imagination.