What is NLP?
What is NLP, or neuro linguistic programing? NLP explores people’s experience of the world and how they interact with the world based on that experience.
Model of the World
In NLP, we all have a “model of the world”. The model that NLP proposes is that each of us has sensory inputs (sight, hearing, etc.) and each of us interpret those inputs differently in our brain. How we think of the world is our model of the world it is unique to each of us. NLP examines our models of the world and allows us to adjust our models of the world which can result in different experiences and behaviors that can serve us even better now.
Our sensory systems take in billions of bits of information every day. We don’t consciously process all those bits of information. Our brains are designed to filter that information so that we are not overwhelmed by all the information. We experience not only the external cues, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and sensation, but also our internal cues, all of thoughts, feelings and emotions. Our brain pares down what it is paying attention to in order to make sense of the world and respond appropriately.
Expand awareness
Sometimes, we can expand our awareness to include more or different cues that can give us access to changing how we see the world and respond to it. For example, when I used to speak in front of people, I used to find that I would fall over my words. I would get frustrated that I couldn’t speak clearly in front of other people. I decided that it was hard speaking in front of people. Once I examined how my body was before I started to speak, I realized that being nervous meant that my stomach muscles tensed, affecting my breathing and hence my speaking. Becoming aware of the muscles tensing in my stomach, I could relax them prior to speaking. It became easier to speak in front of people. Now my model of the world does not include “speaking in front of people is hard.”
NLP, or neuro linguistic programing, uses our experiences of both our external cues and our internal cues to examine our model of the world. By paying attention to different cues or inputs, because our brain is not used to “the way it is” using the different cues, we can shift those or manipulate them more easily, or with less resistance that trying to change the cues we usually rely on. Our brains are enormously elastic and respond very well to new pathways that support us if we can find a pathway that is sufficiently different from the previous pathway. Think of driving down a rutted road. It’s easy to keep going in that one rut, but if you need to get out of that rut, you need to go in a different direction. (It’s all due to the myelination in your brain, but that’s another topic!)
Create Choice
When we give ourselves different options, we become more flexible. NLP creates choice where it seemed like there was none before. When we have choice, we have the flexibility to choose a way of behaving or responding that is most supportive of ourselves, others around us and indeed, our entire environment.
What is NLP? It is something we can use to be more resourceful, create supportive behaviors and change our lives for the better!