What is NLP?
Neuro Linguistic Programming

NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, a name that encompasses the three most influential components involved in producing human experience:

• Neurology - the neurological system regulates how our bodies function
• Language - determines how we interact and communicate with other people
• Programming - determines the kinds of models of the world (our perceptions, beliefs and attitudes) we create and live in

Interestingly, NLP is not concerned with why people do what they do (theory). The founders of NLP wanted to know how people did what they did, and that curiosity led to the development of NLP.

Neuro Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay affects our body and behaviour (programming).

NLP is a pragmatic school of thought that addresses the many levels involved in being human. NLP is a multi-dimensional process that involves the development of behavioural competence and flexibility, but also involves strategic thinking and an understanding of the mental and cognitive processes behind behaviour.

NLP provides tools and skills for the development of states of individual excellence, but it also establishes a system of empowering beliefs and presuppositions about what human beings are, what communication is, and what the process of change is all about. At another level, NLP is about self-discovery, exploring identity, and mission. It also provides a framework for understanding and relating to the "spiritual" part of human experience that reaches beyond us as individuals to our family, community and global systems.

NLP is not only about competence and excellence, it is about wisdom and vision.

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Now that you are beginning to understand what NLP is, and that learning it can make quite a difference, let's continue.

The secret is in mastering the Heart of Delivery, and mastering the Heart of Delivery is actually much simpler than you might think.

Learning how to gather the necessary information from the client so you know when to start tapping, is crucial. The heart of delivering EFT masterfully is listening to your clients. Really listening and hearing. They will tell you what you need to know to help them. You will spend a lot of time in small groups doing role-play exercises. This is where the theory is put into practise and you get first-hand experience of using a variety of different NLP techniques.

After the first practise session you will notice the difference these skills will make in your application of EFT. In fact, many students have been delightfully surprised at the results they're able to achieve after applying only one or two of the NLP techniques you'll be learning over the course of the weekend.

We will be teaching you four powerful NLP techniques over the course of the weekend. We thought long and hard about the topics and content we wanted to teach you, and feel that learning the following four NLP techniques, and combining them with EFT, will really help you to achieve the level of success with your clients that you desire.

We'll Start With The NLP Technique Called Reframing...

A very old Chinese Taoist story describes a farmer in a poor country village. He was considered very well-to-do, because he owned a horse which he used for plowing and for transportation. One day his horse ran away. All his neighbors exclaimed how terrible this was, but the farmer simply said, "Maybe."

A few days later the horse returned and brought two wild horses with it. The neighbors all rejoiced at his good fortune, but the farmer just said, "Maybe."

The next day the farmer's son tried to ride one of the wild horses; the horse threw him and broke his leg. The neighbors all offered their sympathy for his misfortune, but the farmer again said, "Maybe."

The next week conscription officers came to the village to take young men for the army. They rejected the farmer's son because of his broken leg. When the neighbors told him how lucky he was, the farmer replied, "Maybe."

The meaning that any event has depends upon the "frame" in which we perceive it. When we change the frame, we change the meaning. Having two wild horses is a good thing until it is seen in the context of the son's broken leg. The broken leg seems to be bad in the context of peaceful village life; but in the context of conscription and war, it suddenly becomes good. This is called reframing: changing the frame in which a person perceives events in order to change the meaning. When the meaning changes, the person's responses and behaviors also change.

Reframing appears widely in the therapeutic context. When a therapist tries to get a client to "think about things differently" or "see a new point of view" or to "take other factors into consideration," these are attempts to reframe events in order to get the client to respond differently to them. You will learn the 'road map' for this concept.

Client: "My mother is such a drama queen. She drives me nuts. People say I'm too sensitive." (Meaning: being sensitive is a bad thing.)

Practitioner: Now, we could simply have tapped on "This sensitivity to my drama queen mother," but instead chose to do a reframe first. This is what I said to the client:

"Congratulations! Being sensitive is an evolutionary step. I just wonder if you're ready to take the next step in your own personal evolution."

Client: "Which is?"

Practitioner: "Selective sensitivity." (New meaning: Sensitivity is a positive thing.)

Client: "Oh yes!"

In this case, the reframing of "being sensitive" (a negative) to an evolutionary process, produced a more positive, therefore acceptable meaning. Interestingly, the client mentioned during this session that she had tapped on her sensitivity to her mother herself, but found no change. It would seem reframing her sensitivity did the trick.

Now, remember when we said there are really only two reasons to attend this workshop - for yourself and for your clients - learning the following will provide you with some clues to your own mental programming, thinking styles and behaviour traits, as well as those of your clients. This new knowledge and understanding will enable you to help your clients even more effectively, and is a powerful way to achieve success.

Learning about Meta Programs will help you to identify your key sensory systems and major preferences in how you sort information. Based on your preferences, your mind selects the information that is important to you. Most of the sensory information is deleted because we receive millions of bits of information at any given moment in time. Unconscious mental processes sift through this data for the important information, because the unconscious mind can handle only 5 to 9 bits at any moment in time. Once your preferences have reduced the amount of information available, various meta-programs (internal programs that operate unconsciously) help you to further reduce the information and decide on a response.