What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?
NLP is a
powerful and practical technology to help people overcome fears,
strengthen health, enrich relationships, increase self confidence, and
support success in reaching goals. NLP is an acronym for
"
Neuro-Linguistic Programming." "Neuro" refers to our nervous system,
the mental pathways of our five senses by which we see, feel, hear,
taste, and smell. "Linguistics" refers to our ability to use words and
the nonverbal communication of body language. "Programming" comes from
the idea that our minds are like computers that store our thoughts,
feelings, beliefs, attitudes and habits. By understanding how these
aspects of your life influence your life outcomes, you can learn how to
change your thoughts from what they ARE into what you WANT them to be.
As you bring more awareness to your life experience you can gently step
back and be the witness, realizing you are not your story, who you are
is awareness.
Where did NLP come from?
In the early 1970's Richard Bandler met with Dr. John
Grinder at the University of California, in Santa Cruz, CA. They began
the discipline of modeling human excellence. They studied the work of
Dr. Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy) Virginia Satir (founder of family
therapy) and Gregory Bateson (philosopher.) They researched how people
think about something makes the crucial difference in how they will
experience it. Co-founders Bandler and Grinder met with Dr. Milton H.
Erickson, M.D. (founder of the American Society of
Clinical Hypnosis.)
The combination of Dr. Erickson's hypnotic skills with Bandler and
Grinder's modeling skills is the foundation of NLP. Bandler and Grinder
taught classes and students such as Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Judith
DeLozier, Robert Dilts, David Gordon, Steve and Connirae Andreas, Tim
Hallbom, Suzie Smith and others all bring to NLP their unique
contributions.
How you can use NLP right now! Try these 4 easy exercises:
The techniques are quick and easy to learn. It is empowering to be
able to get yourself out of a "stuck place." Experiment with these 4
simple processes to change the way you perceive your inner self and the
external world:
1. Gain perspective on "The Roller Coaster Of Your Life"
Imagine you are standing at an amusement park. In the distance
you see a roller coaster ride. Watching from a distance, you are
detached, observing and "disassociated" from that experience. Now
imagine you can get into the seat of the ride, feel your hands on the
guardrail, look down and see the tracks, hear the sounds of the people
and feel the wind on your face as the car picks up speed. As you are in
the experience you are "associated" and engaged.
Once you become conscious of how those two experiences affect your
life, "disassociated" or "associated", then you can choose from those
perspectives. You can "step into" any life experience (mentally and
physically) to enjoy them more. Or, you can "step out" of your
experiences, giving yourself a way to have some distance, to be more
relaxed. It becomes your choice and you do not have to simply
automatically react to situations based on your past patterns of thought
and behavior.
2. Re-envision your experiences
Reflect over your life and think of a very enjoyable experience
you had, a specific time you enjoy thinking about. Close your eyes, take
a few deep and relaxing breaths and imagine you are there.
Notice how you feel "being there." Allow the experience to become
larger and brighter and more colorful. Notice your feelings. Now, move
your experience farther away, smaller, dimmer, move it far away. Notice
how you feel now. Go ahead and close your eyes and experience that.
Most people experience stronger, pleasant experiences "closer" -
and experiences are "weaker" when they are further away. If you want
challenging memories to be less intense, just "move them further" away
from you. Put them way out there on the horizon. Then you can be more
neutral to your experience and make clearer choices. When you want to
enjoy life more, bring your pleasant experiences "closer." Make them
more colorful and breathe into the good feelings. You can even say to
your subconscious, "thank you for this good feeling -- and more,
please." Realize with this exercise that you own the power of choice.
3. Choose what to create
Your subconscious does not know how to think in negative language.
When you say to yourself "I won't eat cookies at night" your
subconscious hears "eat cookies at night." It does not understand
double negatives. As a way of changing your thoughts, tell yourself what
you DO want, not what you do not want. Rather than saying to yourself,
"don't worry"... say, "be open to possibilities." Rather than saying,
"Don't do that"... say, "what DO you choose to do?" Rather than saying,
"Don't make me angry" ... say, "how would you like to feel?" As you
focus on what you do choose to create, it is easier to move in that
direction.
4. The "Circle Of Excellence" process
NLP is about how the mind works. It follows certain principles we
call "presuppositions." One presupposition is "if one person can do
something, anyone can learn to do it." Confidence, self esteem, the "I
can do it" mind-set are all skills you can learn, just as you learned to
cook a meal, play a musical instrument or drive a car. NLP
systematically analyzed behaviors that successful people have excelled
in and offers you that information about "how to" also achieve
excellence.
Stand up and think of a time when you were very confident. Recall a
specific time. See what you saw, hear what you heard. If that feeling
of confidence were a color, what color would it be? Imagine you could
draw a circle in front of you with that color. Go ahead and step into
the circle. Pretend you are back in that situation of confidence. If
this experience were a sound, what sound would it be? (a hum, a sizzle,
an ahhh?) Hear it. Now, breathe into that confident feeling, really be
in that experience. Now, leave that "self" you just recalled in the
circle, and step outside of the circle. Get a good look at that "self"
standing in the circle. Notice that self's posture, gestures, facial
expression. Remember that confident experience. Step back into your
circle again, really feel this resource of confidence. Breathe into it.
Let the experience fill every cell of your body. Let the color flow over
you. Leave the feeling in the circle and step out.
Now think of a time in your future when you will want to have this
feeling of confidence again. See and hear what will be there in the
environment just before you want to feel that confidence, something that
will serve as a "cue" to recall the confidence you want. (The cue could
be turning your computer on, your phone ringing or reaching out to open
your front door.) Make sure you choose a cue that will occur in the
environment just before you want that feeling of confidence to become
available to you. When you have decided that cue, imagine you are there
in that future situation and step into your circle with these confident
feelings. Imagine the situation unfolding just the confident way you
want to experience it. Step out of the circle again, leaving those
confident feelings there in the circle. Naturally the confident feelings
are there. Think of that situation in the future whenever you want to
recall confidence. You can add to your circle additional experiences of
confidence if you want a very robust state of confidence.
