NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is a way to describe precisely how people perceive experiences, represent them to themselves, communicate them to others, and encode them within their brain. Understanding this process makes it possible to change an experience or replicate someone else’s experience.
NLP was developed in the early 1970’s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. “Neuro” refers to the way information is processed by the mind through the senses; “linguistic” refers to the way we use language to communicate our experiences to ourselves and others; and “programming” describes how the brain codes experiences to create personal programs that determine our ways of being and behaving in the world.
NLP is extremely effective in changing subconscious programming whether that is eliminating a belief and installing a new belief, disrupting old disempowering patterns or programs and installing more empowering patterns or programs, turning on and off emotional states at will and eliminating conflict within yourself.
The downside with NLP is that it does require training in order for you to be truly effective in using many of the processes and, because much of what we say and do is out of conscious awareness, it can be more difficult to use NLP on yourself.
The key to success or failure then is often unknown at the conscious level. That’s why an athlete can be sensational one time and fail the next, even though their preparation was, on the surface, exactly the same. Dig a little deeper, however, using NLP, and the differences start to emerge that explain the contrast in results. Eliciting these unknown pieces of the puzzle is sometimes referred to as the ‘magic of NLP’ although, of course, it’s not magic at all. Once elicited, you can ‘interrupt’ the sabotaging program that was running and change the end result.
The brain processes information and stores our life experiences using our five senses. When we later remember those experiences we do so using our five senses again. That is why, if you remember or imagine biting into a lemon, you ‘see’, ‘smell’ and ‘taste’ the lemon even though it’s only happening in your mind.