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I sat nervously in the chair, my palms were sweating and I was breathing heavily. Carol Henderson, owner of New Day Hypnotherapy in Roeland Park, told me to relax and look at a blue glass mobile hanging from the ceiling. She counted to 10 and with each number I was instructed to slowly close my eyes and open them again. There's no way this is going to work, I thought to myself. But when she got to eight my eyes were so heavy I could barely open them. After 10, I kept my eyes closed. Henderson visually took me through a garden filled with small ponds, stone statues and orange tiger lilies. I walked down a path that led me to the ocean. I took off my shoes
and waded through the cool water, the sand sticking in between my toes. My body was completely relaxed and it felt like there were 10-pound weights tied to my arms and legs. I could have moved them if I wanted to, but I had never felt a relaxation quite like this.
Henderson's voice asked me to go back to a happy time when I was 5. I heard Henderson ring a chime in the distance and my head started to spin. Slowly I saw an image of my best friend in kindergarten. We were neighbors. It was the first time that we ever met. She stood on her side of the fence and I stood on mine. It seemed like I was really there. I could see her crooked teeth, her tomboy haircut, her yellow and white striped shirt and jean shorts, all details that I couldn't remember for the life of me before this session. Henderson told me to turn around and face my house. I saw the back porch. Funny, I thought. My dad tore that porch down not that long after I finished kindergarten. Henderson's voice came back, instructing me to go back to a past-life. Another chime rang and I was whisked away to a scene that was filled with swirling dust. A covered wagon was off in the distance. I was told to explain what I looked like. I somehow traveled outside of my body and stood face-