What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and how can it help with relaxation?
Neuro – Refers to our nervous system. The nervous system is the part of us that coordinates our actions by transmitting electrical signals to and from different parts of our body. This is how our body responds to our life experiences.
Linguistic – Refers to language and how symbols, words, pictures and metaphors, affect us. When we work to change our behaviour, we use words and images to affect our nervous system in order to create change.
Programming – Through NLP we use, words, images, pictures, symbols and experiences to reprogram the subconscious mind to help us achieve the things we want in life.
In summary; we use language to reprogram the electrical automatic responses in our body to produce a different outcome.
You can see how NLP effectively helps us to change our thoughts and our behaviours. It can help us to understand why we do what we do. It can help us to make changes to the things we currently do that no longer serve us in our life.
It is extremely popular in many areas of life for many people. It is used in education, coaching, therapy, sports, performance and the corporate world. It can help anyone if they want to change. It helps to grow the neural networks in our brain.
What does that mean? Think of your subconscious mind as a record. Think about the grooves going around on that record (for the younger people reading this who have never seen a record – Google it ☺).
As we go about our daily lives, the record keeps on going round and round. Every time we do something the grooves on the record get deeper and deeper. (Our neural pathways to these behaviours get stronger and stronger).
We don’t think about most of the things we do, the subconscious mind just does them for us. The subconscious mind is the record that drives our day to day life.
But think about this. We all do things that we don’t want to do. Some may overeat, some may say negative things about themselves, some may bite their nails, pick their nose, (you get the idea).
These are behaviours that don’t serve us in life. A learnt behaviour from years ago that we are doing daily, driven by the old record. These things can be changed using NLP.
This is where I bring in hypnotherapy. We have all heard the self-hypnosis CD’s with the ‘relaxing music’ to help reprogram our behaviours, so we can live the life we want, rather than the life we don’t want.
Relaxation is a part of hypnotherapy. The brain is unable to be reprogrammed to make positive changes while in a state of stress.
So when your brain is in a relaxed state using hypnotherapy, it is easier to reprogram your subconscious thoughts and behaviours using NLP. This makes sense right?
So what does this have to do with relaxation? Well, many of us have not programmed ourselves to relax when we need to.
When you read my article opening this magazine you will see how our body reacts to the stress response and why we need to relax after the adrenaline is released, to return our body into a healing state.
Relaxation supports a state of healing. When your body is relaxed and calm, it is responsive to positive things in life coming towards you as well as being in a state where your body is able self-heal. So if you want to create a more positive, healthy life, relaxation is key.
It is important that you find some time each day to relax, as not doing so can have serious consequences on your well-being.
Just 5 or 10 minutes of relaxation per day can have a positive impact on your overall level of health, happiness & performance. Your mind and body both need time to regenerate, so give yourself that gift!
I want to give you a couple of simple ways to start reprogramming your own subconscious mind to help you to get into a relaxed state.
Ways To Help You To Relax
- The words you tell yourself through affirmations is one key.
Relaxation is made easier with the help of these positive affirmations. They will help you to unwind, let go of stress, and naturally calm your body & mind. Make sure you are somewhere quiet and able to relax while saying these affirmations to yourself. Make sure you feel what you are saying in your body to make this process more powerful.
- I am relaxed right now
- I release stress from my body
- My muscles are letting go of the stress from the day (feel them letting go)
- My mind is calm
- My thoughts are relaxed and calm
- I am at peace
- Relaxing my body is easy
- I am calm and balanced
- I am letting go of my thoughts effortlessly and easily
- I feel a deep relaxation throughout my body right now
- My deep breaths mean I am getting calmer and calmer
- I feel at peace right now
- The images you show yourself through visualisation is another key.
Relaxation is made easier with the help of this positive visualisation. It will help you to unwind, let go of stress, and naturally calm your body & mind.
Make sure you are somewhere quiet and able to relax while doing this visualisation. Make sure you feel what you are seeing in your body to make this process more powerful.
Find a comfortable position. Close your eyes and let’s take a journey inside of you right now. Take a deep breath and concentrate on your breathing, taking in a nice deep breath, holding it for a second, and letting a big breath out.
Noticed how relaxed you feel on each out breathe. Do this 10 times, focusing your attention on how much deeper your breathing becomes when you start focusing on it.
Now you are feeling more and more relaxed with every breath you take, start to notice your thoughts. You may notice that they are there with you for a while before they start drifting off out of focus.
They may come back into focus for a few seconds and then they go again, in and out with every breath you take. In and out and getting lighter and lighter with every breath.
As your thoughts drift away, allow them to leave, knowing you can pick them up again any time you like.
Leave them here for now and you can pick them back up again if you choose after your relaxation time is over and you are ready to step back into life again.
Now turn your attention to your body. Look at your feet. Feel them relaxed on the floor or on the bed, wherever they are resting right now. Feel them get heavier and heavier, more and more relaxed.
The heavier they feel, the more the tension from your day just melts away. You begin to feel lighter and lighter as the stress and tension seem to be lifting from your body, right now.
Now take your attention to your calves, feel the heaviness in them where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Now take your attention to your thighs, feel the heaviness in them where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Now take your attention to your hips and bum, feel the heaviness in them where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Now take your attention to your back and abdomen, feel the heaviness in them where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Now take your attention to your arms, feel the heaviness in them where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Now take your attention to your head, feel the heaviness in it where you are resting and feel the tension melting away. As your body is feeling heavier and heavier into relaxation the tension is lifting up out of your body and floating away…..
Feel and see your body now, relaxed and heavy, heavy and relaxed. Feel the sensation of this all over your body. Feel this feeling of calm and relaxation in every cell and know you can come back to this feeling whenever you like.
Lay here in this relaxed state for as long as your body needs and just rest here…….
You can bring your breathing back into focus now. Taking deep, relaxed breaths, knowing that you can choose to take these breaths daily. Notice how relaxed your mind has become, while focusing on your breathing.
Relaxation is this simple. Practise this daily and you will be surprised how easy and second nature this becomes.
The more you practise this, the faster you grow your new neural pathways to relaxation. It will become your new way of being.
If you want come back to your thoughts, you can pick them up, or you may choose to leave them, knowing that your subconscious mind is there to take care of them for you.
Come back into the present knowing you can take this journey into relaxation whenever you like.
You can find much more information on living a holistic lifestyle in these free magazines and on our YouTube channel.
Sharon White – Subconscious Mind Expert
