Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Mind Your Thoughts and Language: Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Ever heard of the slip of the tongue theory? It means that out of the blue words or phrases that a person suddenly blurts out provide a clue as to what really goes on in one’s inner mind.

Do you remember the law of attraction which promotes affirmative thinking and encourages people to write down what they want to happen in their lives and claim it by saying it to themselves repeatedly for a certain period until the goal or dream is realized? This is the technique taught by Napolean Hill in the book, Think and Grow Rich in the 1920’s.

Do you believe that a lie told repeatedly becomes the truth? Consider this piece of fiction: a young woman can’t accept the fact that her husband has died so she went to another town where no one knew her and there she spread the lie that her husband is still alive. She spread the rumor that her husband is not with her because he has to work somewhere far. Would you believe that after some time of spreading these lies and with all the townspeople believing her, signs that her husband is indeed alive starts to manifest. The story may sound impossible but it simply demonstrates the power of the mind and language in shaping peoples thoughts and creating their reality.

All the above examples emphasize the relationship between the mind and language. Language and mind are two entities that cannot be separated because what one thinks comes out in the form of communication and what one say affects one’s mindset or attitude. This basic truth is the principle behind the Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) theory.

What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

The Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a method developed during the 70’s by an information scientist, John Grinder and a linguist, Richard Bandler in an attempt to offer a way for people to get rid of unwanted behaviors and achieve success in life. They did this by observing the way successful people communicates verbally and non-verbally.

According to NLP, the nerve cells in the human brain sends information to the brain and language which moves through the nerve cells has a big influence in these pathways. As the name of this principle suggests, we can program our minds to generate desired action by manipulating our words and way of thinking.

The NLP said that the way a person reacts to a certain situation is affected by his or her experiences. That is the reason why different people react to similar situations differently. For example a person may look at the idea of public speaking a scary one because he had suffered embarrassment while speaking in front of a crowd as a child. On the other hand, the other person may look at public speaking a rewarding experience because he received an award on speech before.

How Can NLP Help People Reach Success

Based on their study of successful people’s behavior and communication patterns, Grinder and Bandler were able to identify patterns of thinking that contributes to ones success. They found out that successful people share similarities in the way they think, speak, act and respond to certain events.

Using the neuro-lingustic programming, the developers believe that they can help an individual learn healthy behaviors and thinking that would pave the way to greatness.

They explained that this is possible since the experiences of humans are stored in the brain, it can be manipulated to change thoughts that are stunting one’s growth and development. These can be done by closely looking at the words and feelings that one use and associates with a certain situations, people events, etc. Apparently a person’s subconscious or inner feelings can be revealed by studying ones facial expressions, body movements and the words or phrases he used to describe a situation. A trained neuro-linguist therapist is needed to guide the individual in this goal.

Once the trained therapist saw the problem that needs to be fixed and its underlying cause, the individual would then be guided to understand it. By using various tools such as Milton model, meta model, sensory acuity, submodalities and system representation, the therapist would then try to remodel one’s thoughts and mental associations to gradually erase preconceived notions that are causing the problems in one’s life. These can be then replaced by healthy attitudes and behaviors that would help one overcome fears and reach their dreams.

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