What is NLP?
NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of success, excellence and “being your best more often”. NLP can be used to determine how excellent sports people win competitions, how high achieving managers create winning teams, how people can heal from illness quickly. Every activity of human life can be done in a variety of ways. Some ways are quick, effective and fun; it’s these ways that NLP strives to model and teach. NLP helps us identify and use the more effective strategies that the winners use.
What do the terms mean?
Let’s break NLP down and see what it means. The “Neuro” part refers to the brain and nervous system. “Linguistic” refers to the language and communication, both verbal and non verbal, that the brain uses. “Programming” refers to the fact that each brain has its own ways of doing business, such as our daily habits, phobias and success strategies etc, and most importantly that they can be changed.
Do you know how yours works?
How did it start?
NLP as a field of research developed in the 1970’s. At that time the ideas put forward were based on observation and experience. The last 5 years have seen explosive growth in the area due to modern science being able to peer inside the brain and see what is really going on and it has validated the original research. The two central developers of NLP in the 1970’s were Dr John Grindler, a professor of linguistics and Dr Richard Bandler, a mathematician. Their initial work focused on Dr Virginia Satir, a psychtherapist and Dr Milton Erickson a medical doctor, both at the leading edge of their fields. Since that time many have broadened the field so that it encompasses almost every aspect of life today. There are thousands of internationally certified NLP Practitioners and they practice in virtually every country.
It sounds familiar, does it go by other names?
You may have already come across NLP in one of its many forms. For example in personal development it is the basis of what world class motivator Tony Robbins uses to help people literally walk on fire in bare feet. My personal first experience of Tony was at one of his seminars were 12,000 people took off their shoes and walked on fire just to get started on the first day. In education, NLP is sometimes referred to as “accelerated learning”. It is the basis of Tony Buzan’s work in speed reading, mind mapping and memory. Stage hypnotist Paul McKenna uses NLP. Closer to home Dr Richard Bolstad, with whom I trained, specialises in “transforming communication” and thus uses NLP in conflict resolution. Steve Gurney of Coast to Coast fame has used NLP extensively and together we now provide training in NLP here in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Would you like the key to unlock the power of your mind?
I’ve heard of VAK and NLP. What is that?
VAK stands for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic. The brain processes information using 6 main systems. VAK are the 3 most commonly known ones. The others are Gustatory (G), Olfactory (O) and Auditry Digital (AD).
Superior performance can be achieved by combining all processing systems versus relying on just one or two. It’s like replacing a standard computer with a parallel processing one! That’s why an athlete for example will:
- Make a picture of themselves winning a race, we call this visualisation.
- Hear the crowd celebrate as they win.
- Feel what it’s like to actually win.
- Taste success!
- Smell what they might smell in the process of winning.
- Imagine the internal voice and what it will be saying as they win.
Goal setting is about creating it in the mind first and then in reality. For most cases the VAK and the AD are all we use as they are easy and very practical.
On this website, which is mainly visual, we have also provided an auditory component. The “funky pages” are as close as we can come to giving you a kinesthetic feeling of what NLP is about over the web. We’ll largely leave gustatory and olfactory up to your imagination although one of the auditory component exercises will activate them through a process that you’ll learn about on a more in-depth NLP course.
What do people use NLP for?
People use NLP to tackle phobias, relax, overcome allergies, banish eating desires, overcome fear, manage stress, control chronic pain, deal with trauma, increase self confidence, deal with anxiety or depression, manage addictions, improve sleeping quality, enhance goal setting etc. Essentially anything over which their brain has control and yet they are not experiencing satisfaction with in their day to day life. Read More …
Want details of studies?
Health care: A one year study in 1994 with the approval of the Department of Health in Denmark studied the results of NLP methods to reverse the physical effects of asthma.
Counselling: Medical doctor David Muss reported in the British Journal of Counselling Psychology the effectiveness of NLP in treating phobias and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. In 1998 NLP Trainer Dr Richard Bolstad worked in Sarajevo to bring an end to the suffering of survivors of the war using NLP techniques.
Self Development: In 1990 and 1992, Psychological Reports magazine published research on the effects of NLP training, showing that those attending increased a sense of being in control of their lives, reduced anxiety and demonstrated higher self actualisation.
Sales and Management: A 1981 study at the University of Oregon examined highly successful sales people and found that their success was based on their use of precise language patters codified in NLP. Scott Degarmo, editor-in-chief of Success Magazine says of NLP “I have never seen a more powerful technology.”
Sports: Ian Woosman MBE, world Number 1 Ranking Golfer in 1991 says simply “NLP helped my game. It will help yours too.” The number of sports people using NLP is perhaps greater than in any other field due to the nature of the game that coming first is what matters. They really do have to be at the top of their game like our very own local icon, Steve Gurney.
For further studies please check out a catalogue of research kept on the internet by the University of Bielefeld in Germany. www.nlp.de/research/
How do I learn more about NLP?
That’s easy. Take a look at the courses page of the website to see when the next NLP training is happening here in Christchurch.
