Bloganuary Day 3: Write about the last time you left your comfort zone.

Quite frankly the decor wasn’t what she expected. Saffie looked around, almost disappointed at the absence of incense, colourful scarves and whale-song music. It looked like any professional’s office. The side door slid open and a woman in a crisp blouse and tailored skirt strode in.

‘Hello Saffron, I’m Anne. Welcome to your first session.’

First and only session, thought Saffie. She was here under sufferance. Her girlfriends had presented her with the voucher last weekend and had organised lunch afterwards for the debrief. Saffie flushed at the memory. She knew she had been hard to be around since Brad left. It wasn’t her fault. It just hurt so much. Her heart felt like a glowering lump of coal, singeing her every breath.

‘Have you been hypnotised before?’

‘Not that I know of.’ Saffie snapped, regretting the words. That was another side effect of her hardened heart; her inner voice had free rein.

‘I’ll talk you through the process. Please relax in the chair, recline it back as far as you feel comfortable.’

Saffie closed her eyes, letting out a surly sigh. Her inner voice chattered on, stuck on the same old track. It’s your fault he left. You should have seen it coming.

Anne’s voice seemed to fill the room, its cadences bouncing gently off the walls. Saffie tuned in, just in time to hear the instruction to take a long, deep breath. She sucked the air in, holding it, holding it as instructed. She let it go. Then repeated the action as instructed. Calm flooded her body, blocking the nasty inner voice. All she could hear now was Anne, talking softly to her, creating word pictures which flickered like images in Saffie’s mind until she was aware of nothing else.

‘Saffron, you are now wide awake.’

Saffie looked around the room with a sense of wonder. She looked at her watch. Midday. How was that possible? She breathed deeply; the ache was translucent and incrementally lighter.

‘Anne, can we book in the same time next week?’

I’m participating in this blogging challenge for the month of January which supports starting the year on the “write” track. You can find out more about the challenge, join in and read other posts here.

Photo: circle of friends