Look into my eyes: Claire Cohen with holistic hypnotherapist Hannah Apperley for the class at Gymbox in Elephant and Castle
(Picture: Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures L)I’m lying under a blanket in a dark room, my eyes closed, trying to imagine walking along a beach. “You’re following the coastline as the waves trickle up to the shore,” says holistic hypnotherapist Hannah Apperley in a slow voice, to the 10 of us arranged in a circle on gym mats. “You are calm, peaceful, and you can smell the fresh air.”
It’s only when she starts speaking about the bright blue sky and the sun’s warm rays that I realise I’ve not been on the sort of tropical sands clearly expected of my subconscious, but strolling along the pebble beach in wintry Dungeness. I’m not sure what that says about my state of mind.
