Colin Martin: NLP Explained
Posted by Colin Martin on June 4, 2009
We’re all born with the same basic neurology. Our ability to do anything in life, whether it’s swimming the length of a pool, cooking a meal, or reading a book, depends on how we control our nervous system. So, much of NLP is devoted to learning how to think more effectively and communicate more effectively with yourself and others.
NLP believes that most of our behavior is learnt, for example you don’t see small babies with phobias of flying or self esteem issues. We learn our behaviour from our experiences and the people around us as we grow up, and this programs our brain to perceive things and to react to the world in a certain way. NLP allows you to understand what these programs are, and then reprogram them. Because our behaviour is learnt, we are able to unlearn it!
Your brain stores all it’s experiences as pictures, sounds and feelings, if you change how your brain recognizes these experiences you can change how you respond to them. Your unconscious mind does not know the difference between what is real and what happens in your head. This means your imagination is always more powerful than your willpower. Richard Bandler himself, professes that NLP is not just about therapy. It is about education and teaching people to run their own brains.
To many people the range of applications for NLP is surprising. It seems strange that the same process can help you relate better to your loved ones, enhance your professional performance, improve your golf or tennis score, and enable you to teach your child to spell or study. When you become acquainted with this ‘technology’, there are no limits to the range of applications for NLP or the areas in your life which can benefit.
