What is NLP?

 

Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP, was developed in the early 1970s by a linguist, John Grinder, and a mathematician, Richard Bandler.  They posed the question:

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“What is the difference between somebody who is merely competent and somebody who excels at the same skill?” and the answers produced NLP: The Science of Excellence…The Art of Change.

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They began by modelling world-class therapists Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, and renowned hypnotherapist Milton Erickson.  By closely studying and modelling the beliefs, behaviours and strategies of these models of excellence, they formalised their modelling techniques, and their own individual contributions, under the name ‘Neuro Linguistic Programming’ to symbolise the relationship between the brain, language and how these generate our habits, thoughts and choices.

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For most people things happen and they react. NLP offers a better way. It gives you tools to enable you to react differently by choice, to be more aware of your thoughts, feelings and behaviour.  As the Greek philospoher Epictetus said "People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them".  NLP offers you the tools to view the events of life differently leaving you ready to take responsibility for your results in all areas of your life.

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NLP provides a set of tools and techniques to help you deal with unhelpful patterns of thought and behaviours. Although there are many techniques in NLP you can make amazing changes by using just one technique. Let’s look at each part of NLP in turn:

 

Neuro is all about what we THINK.

 

We receive a vast amount of information through our senses every second, and our mind, both conscious and unconscious mind, processes this, leaving us with the things we notice, and think.  As I sit here looking out of the window, I can see the grey clouds, and hear the rain, and I could feel gloomy about the day.  Or I could notice the sunlight breaking through in the distance, and the rainbow forming, and feel optimistic about the afternoon to come.

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Linguistic is all about what we SAY, both verbally and non-verbally

 

Language is how we communicate with other people and ourselves. It is how we label our experience and much more. It is estimated that 93% of face to face communication is non-verbal, so linguistics in NLP is about more than just words. And the words themselves are really important, some of our smallest words can have the greatest impact. How you use your body (gestures, facial expressions, posture) is even more influential. As our thoughts and feelings literally ‘leak’ out of us through our bodies, consider what yours says about you? 

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Programming is all about what we DO.

 

We can think of programming as the habits we have, and the strategies we have for doing what we do.  We have learnt what we like, and what we don't.  We know how to react and behave in different situations.  Mostly we don't have to think about how to react, it just happens.  The techniques of NLP allow us to change those reactions on purpose.  Ever wished you didn't like chocolate as much as you do?  That you didn't have to run out the room whenever there was a spider?  That you didn't bite your nails?

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If you want to learn more about how to use your conscious and unconscious mind in harmony to consistently achieve the results you want, then come along and join us on one of our NLP courses.  Or check out more on our Resources pages until you are ready to decide.

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