The way a suggestion is structured will often determine how deeply it engages the client’s mind. One particularly elegant form uses contrast. It sets one experience against another and allows change to emerge in the space between the two.
Apposition of opposites is the deliberate balancing of polarities within a single suggestion. You invite one part of the experience to move in one direction, while another part moves in the opposite direction.
For example:
- “As that right arm becomes more tense and rigid, the rest of your body becomes more and more relaxed.”
- “As your right arm floats up, your left floats down.”
- “As your forehead feels cooler, you’ll feel your hands getting warmer.”
Notice the structure.
One element increases, while another decreases. One sensation intensifies, while another softens. The mind is gently directed into a dynamic contrast, and the nervous system follows.
You can also pair a physical metaphor with a psychological response. For instance, you might suggest that as the body grows heavier and more supported, the mind becomes lighter and freer. The physical shift becomes the doorway to an internal transformation.
On the face of it, this is a simple linguistic pattern. In practice, it creates a very powerful dual focus in your client’s experience: one thing is happening here, while something quite different is happening there. That duality of experience gives you leverage for change.
Phrasing
When you are formulating this kind of suggestion, it is useful to think in terms of opposites. You are not just describing one sensation; you are placing it in contrast with another. The following polarities can be particularly effective:
- Warmth – Coolness
- Tension – Relaxation
- Anaesthesia – Hypersensitivity
- Wet – Dry
- Floating – Heaviness
- Light – Heavy
- Full – Empty
- More – Less
- Difficult (Hard) – Easy
- Older – Younger
Each of these pairs offers you a spectrum to guide your client’s experience.
For example, you might say:
“As the tension in those shoulders gently drains away, the sense of relaxation in your breathing becomes more noticeable.”
“As your hands begin to feel lighter, almost as if they could float, the rest of your body can become pleasantly heavy and supported.”
“As that old, difficult way of responding begins to feel more distant, a newer, easier response can begin to feel closer and more natural.”
The key is to frame the suggestion so that one side of the polarity evolves in one direction while the other side evolves in the opposite direction. The contrast sharpens awareness and helps the client track change.
In using apposition of opposites you are, in effect, inviting the unconscious mind to organise experience: this becomes more, that becomes less; this part cools, that part warms; this grows quieter, that grows clearer. Simply by playing with these polarities, you create a structured, hypnotic pathway from where the client is to where they need to be.