Imagine you’re an eagle flying over the Alps. You’re flying in the direction of the midday sun, towards the place where the land known to humans as Italy lies far behind vast mountain ranges. You can see towering mountain peaks and cavernous valleys. You pass through a storm, with flashes of lightning electrifying the air and squalls of wind making you flap your wings more vigorously. There is no question of coasting on air currents here – you need to use your wings, and you also need to use them to make it safely over the summit of the Bernina Pass. Once you are over the summit, the mountain peaks gradually get lower, and the weather gets calmer and more pleasant. As you fly onwards, the landscape turns into a patchwork of hills and then into a series of gentle undulations, before finally levelling out almost entirely. You reach the sea. Its waves are smooth and flat, and it stretches out before you like a giant mirror. You fly out over the open sea. For a long time you fly towards the rising sun, then again towards the midday sun, until you reach land again – the Sinai Peninsula, which is a desert. Once again you fly towards the rising sun, before finally catching sight of a broad and smooth expanse to your left – the Dead Sea, the calm surface of which is completely unbroken by waves. You fly there, towards an oasis you have spotted behind it. The Jordan River is small and surrounded by green trees and bushes. You alight on its bank and take a drink from its water, finding a shady branch to sit on if you like. Take a minute to look around. You are at the lowest point in the world. The calm, smooth mirror of the Dead Sea lies four hundred metres below sea level. Enjoy the peace and quiet as you sit on your branch, and take anything which has proved useful with you when you fly back home.

The following story was designed and tested for the purpose of reducing and stabilising the pulse and blood pressure, and can also be used to stabilise a patient’s breathing rate at a low level and reduce the frequency, duration and intensity of muscle contractions, for example during premature labour. It is also suitable for reducing panic attacks; when used in this connection, the start of the story must be told in a flustered or panicky manner (principle of pacing and leading). In slightly modified form, the story can also be used for dental treatment, for example in connection with a dental phobia, in which case the eagle should see a chain of snow-capped mountains a long way off which might bear a vague resemblance to a row of teeth for some people, but the eagle has a sharp beak and is not worried about such things…

(From: Stefan Hammel: Handbook of Therapeutic Storytelling. Sories and Metaphors in Psychotherapy, Child and Family Therapy, Medical Treatment, Coaching and Supervision, Routledge 2019)