In the quiet time during relaxation imagine you are holding on to the string of a large balloon. There is a basket on the bottom of the balloon. Without straining to remember everything, put into the basket anything that has ever hurt you since before your birth: lack of love, rejection, failure, hurtful things people have said and done, grief, pain, frustration, anger, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, shame, or anything else lurking around. Now raise your hand briefly in a conscious attempt to let go of the string, and watch the balloon float out of sight. It may take several weeks to get some particularly hurtful things into the basket, but when you have managed it you will feel the release.
Sharing the ‘basket’ experience at the end of the session is helpful in two ways. Fellow feeling in the group is cemented by the realization that we all have similar hurts and insecurities, and also the person who is unwilling to relinquish the past hurts can use the group as a ’sounding board’ to reflect his or her own thoughts in order to discover why there should be reluctance to let go. Often there is laughter during this sharing time. One man amused a group by saying, ‘It was a struggle, but I got my mother-in-law in the basket this week.’
If you are a private person and do not want to share your feelings it is still a useful exercise.
Be patient with yourself if you suffered a bereavement or other sad experience whilst you were on tranquillizers. You may have to work through those feelings again as you withdraw, even if you feel rationally that the experience is in the past.
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