DAY ONE: IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

Many health problems have their root cause in one thing: stress. NLP recognises that there is a mind / body connection which means that the two are inextricably linked. Unfortunately these day’s people are more stressed out than ever before. Thanks to modern communications and the internet we are accessible at all times and the expectations placed on us can feel insurmountable. We also seem to have an ever increasing amount of responsibilities to deal with and only a fixed amount of hours in the day to get things done. Chronic fatigue and stress can have serious effects on your health. Fatigue can weaken your body’s immunity system and leave you susceptible to disease and illness.

NLP provides a variety of tools to help you reduce or remove stress and any fears you may have of becoming ill. Y use NLP to condition a new set of healthier behaviours to overcome any unhealthy patterns you may have had in the past. Here is an exercise you can use next time that you are feeling stressed. You can do this exercise standing, lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair.

Step One: First start to relax your muscles. While you are doing this smile. Even if you don’t feel like smiling just smile. Hold the smile for at least twenty seconds. It is important to remember that your physiology is connected to your internal mood. By mimicking a happy unstressed physical state we can help put ourselves into that state.

Step Two: Now imagine a place where you feel happy, or perhaps a place you have felt happy in the past. Possibly it will be somewhere that you vacation. Or maybe it is the favourite room of your house. Remember that place vividly now in your mind. See the colors of that place. If you are at the beach, hear the sound of the water gently lapping on the beach. Try and picture this place as vividly as possible.

Step Three: Next you will concentrate on your breathing. Take a deep breath, bring the air all the way down, and then hold for a count of five seconds. One of the best ways to release tension is to concentrate on your breathing.

Step Four: Now say the words “I feel incredibly relaxed and I feel fantastic” Keep thinking about the place that makes you happy.

Step Five: Now breathe out and let the stress flow from your body. While you do this tap a certain part of your body. This could be your hip for example. Each time you repeat this process tap the same body part. This technique is known as anchoring. Now whenever you are feeling stressed. Just simply tap your hip and you will be returned to the relaxed state that you feel now.

Step six: Repeat the process above for about five repetitions or until you are no longer feeling stressed. Neuro Linguistic Programming is really about creating new patterns, and you can achieve this through repetition.

One of the key tenets of NLP is that we have the ability to choose between our internal states. While we have no control over what happens to us in the external world. For example you cannot help being hit by another car. You can choose the mental state that is associated with that external event. If you want to live a life that is less stressed and is healthier then you need to learn how to deal with your stressors. Much of the stress that we experience is essentially self generated. We tell ourselves that we are unable to cope with a particular situation, or we are unable to achieve a certain target. More often than not we are the reason for our increased level of stresses. You are in a sense hypnotising yourself into a stressful state. While this may sound overwhelmingly negative it is important to understand that is in fact quite empowering. You have complete control over your own mental states and you can decide how you feel.

NLP can be combined with the power of hypnosis to open up your mind to the possibilities of a stress free life. Once you are in a relaxed state of mind it will be possible to make positive suggestions in order to reframe your current mind set. You are the creator of your current stressed out mindset. But this can be replaced with a more empowering set of thoughts and behaviours. You will find that you can create a sense of appreciation where you are grateful for the things that you have and the opportunities that are available to you. You will also be able to find greater pleasure in the more simple aspects of your day to day life. Overall by combining NLP with the power of hypnosis you can live a healthier and more fulfilling life.

If you are suffering from high stress levels the best treatment is often hypnotherapy combined with the principles of NLP. When you are in hypnotic trance you will be able to be treated with regression or recall strategies. These can help to identify and treat subconscious and pervasive reasons for your stress. The principles of hypnotherapy are derived from Milton Erikson. Erickson’s teachings are some of the foundational principles of NLP. He was an American Psychiatrist why was known for his ability to cure psychological and behavioural problems using unconventional psychotherapy techniques. This is now known as Erickson Hypnosis.

Erikson identified a series of conversational techniques which could induce a hypnotic trance in the patient while conducting a normal conversation. This is a very light state of hypnotic induction; however it is adequate to reframe the mind so that the person is not stressed by the same external triggers.

Remember that the overall health of your body is inextricably linked to the way that you think. By using NLP techniques such as hypnosis, reframing and anchoring it is possible to install a new set of more positive mental frames. This will allow you to live a healthier and stress free life.