Wouldn’t it be great to be able to choose your emotional and physical state?
For example when you know a situation requires you to be calm and composed or conversely when you need to find some additional energy and focus?
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) provides amongst other things techniques to help do just that. The mind and the body are one system, yet traditionally they have been treated as separate entities. We all have the ability to conjure up emotions at will, yet rarely consciously use this to our advantage.
To demonstrate this take a few moments to think of the last time you experienced raw EXCITEMENT and AWE.... Get a sense of the situation you were in. See the things you saw as if you are back in the situation right now, hear the sounds around you and experience the feelings you had in that moment of exhilaration, sense the energy pulsating around your body and notice the changes in your physiology and posture as you relive the memory with all its’ vibrancy. It is likely that one of the following... visual, auditory or kinaesthetic (feeling based) information will hold more influence within your memory in relation to changing your current state and that is fine, you are simply identifying triggers from a past experience which allow you to access a positive state in the here and now.
Through fully exploring this NLP activity you will have seen a shift in your breathing,
increased your heart rate and feel more alert, even though in reality you have simply
experienced the mind-
We experience unintentional shifts in state often. Can you remember telling somebody about a sad film and feeling gloomy? Maybe you have seen somebody yawning and looking tired and suddenly realised you too are feeling sleepy almost as though their energy dip has rubbed off on you? How about recounting a tale of the last time you had the giggles, quite often sharing memories of situations like this will evoke laughter. For some memories of fingernails on a chalk board can cause a certain discomfort, or the smell of fresh bread can result in a sense of wellbeing.
Anchors
Attached to our memories are anchors for state changes and learning to work with our state can be very empowering. A couple of situations this can be useful in are as follows...
Resilience -
Increased Choice – The ability to invoke states such as: calmness under pressure, curiosity, enthusiasm, confidence etc, could be really useful. The existence of the anchoring phenomenon suggests (and is proven through NLP techniques) that once we have experienced a state it becomes a “resource” we can call on again in the future. So if for example I have a presentation to deliver and I need an element of “composure”, I can track back to the last time I excelled at being composed to get a real sense of it. Through using this approach it is likely I will begin to experience greater calm both within my mind and body taking on elements of this previous example of composure in the here and now.
NLP approaches such as modelling could also help me fully understand “how do I do
composed” and I might like to use the NLP technique “Circle of resources” to create
a new anchor for composed which allows me to re-
Try it...
How often do you actively set your state? You may wake up and think about all the things you have to do in a day, how about waking up in the morning and deciding how you are going to be today? You will be amazed at how setting your intention and finding the emotional resources you need; can help you be prepared for whatever the day brings. State management enables you to be “in control of”, not “controlled by” your emotions, thus allowing you to fully enjoy the fabulous things in life and manage those less than desirable situations...
