Aspire Therapy

How to Anchor Good Feelings

All of us have times when we find ourselves feeling stressed, anxious, panicky, nervous or just drained of energy.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to control those feelings - or even better swap them for a more positive feeling?

Well an ‘anchor’ is a means of helping us to do this. It allows us to counteract an unpleasant feeling with a feeling of calm, confidence, vitality or any other feeling we may wish to access.

Step Into a More Confident You

Try this simple technique if you feel you're in need of a confidence boost.

Imagine a more confident you - not out of this world confident - but more confident than you may have been feeling lately.

See this more confident version of yourself sitting or standing in front of you. What does this more confident you look like? How is your body positioned? What expression do you have on your face?

How would your voice sound if you were to speak? What kind of thoughts might be passing through your head? Notice what it is about this other you that makes you seem more confident.

Now step into this more confident you. See through their eyes, hear with their ears and feel what they are feeling. And as you do so become aware of another you, an even more confident version of yourself there in front of you.

The Energy Bubble

The mind very often does not distinguish between reality and imagination.

This is why we can so easily feel anxiety or fear, even when there is no real ‘threat’. Just thinking of a scary situation is enough to bring on the feelings associated with it!

But while the imagination can work in ways which are unhelpful, we can also use it to bring about positive effects.

For a demonstration of the power of your imagination try The Lemon Test in our NLP section.

Many NLP techniques teach us how to harness our imagination in order to take control of our moods and emotions and so remove barriers and achieve success.

The Energy Bubble is one such technique. It is a simple exercise, which can be especially useful for stressful situations, anger management and increasing feelings of detachment. Use it if you want to feel calm and unaffected by what is going on around you.

An Exercise in Self-Acceptance

If you’re feeling down about yourself and unappreciated try the following NLP exercise. It’s a simple but effective way to help you regain a sense of self-acceptance, self-love and self-respect.

Marks out of 10?

Have you heard the story about the skydiver...?

We have a good friend called David Hodgson, an NLP expert and trainer. He is also an excellent story-teller.

In his new book, 'The Buzz', he describes the inspiring experience of a skydiver whose parachute failed to open and who was hurtling to almost certain death.

Amazingly, he survived, but the experience changed his life forever...

The Lemon Test

Imagine that it is a hot summer’s day. You go home at the end of the day and stand in your kitchen. You take a lemon out of the fridge and hold it in front of you.

Look at the outside of the lemon’s skin – it is yellow and waxy, with green marks at the ends.

Feel how cold it is in your hand.

Raise it to your nose and smell it. Mmmm.

Press it gently and notice the weight of the lemon in the palm of your hand.

Now take a knife and cut it in half. Hear the juices start to run and notice the smell is stronger now.

Bite deeply into the lemon and allow the juice to swirl around in your mouth.

Simply imagining the lemon is enough to trigger your saliva glands!

Even hearing the word ‘lemon’ can kick your brain into action – you do not have to actually taste the lemon to get the physical response.

So, words and thoughts do not just describe meaning, they actually create your reality.

Go back to ‘What is NLP?’ to find out more.
http://www.aspiretherapyonline.com/2006/10/what_is_nlp.htmlThe Lemon Test was taken from ‘NLP for Dummies’ by Romilla Ready and Kate Burton.

What is NLP?

Have you ever questioned the way you actually think about something?

Have you ever wondered where your innermost thoughts and beliefs come from?

Most of us take these things for granted – simply believing that we are who we are!

NLP, (or Nuero-Linguistic Programming) takes a different view. It has been described as a ‘manual for the brain’ and as a ‘toolkit’ for personal change and development.

According to NLP, we can change the very way we think, feel and behave. We can actually change the way we experience our lives and relationships.

NLP is all about how we experience the world through our senses, and how this in turn, affects our neurological systems, physiology, emotions and behaviour.

Put simply, our thoughts directly affect the way we feel and ultimately, the way we behave.

Try this simple exercise to see what we mean:
http://www.aspiretherapyonline.com/2006/10/the_lemon_test.html

So, think of your brain as a very sophisticated computer. Like a computer, it can be re-programmed or recoded to improve the way it thinks.

By using NLP techniques, it is possible to re-programme your thoughts and beliefs so that you can completely change the way you approach a particular situation, person or problem.

There is obviously no need to interfere with a thought or belief which is making a positive contribution to your life – but most of us also have thoughts which are irrational, negative or which hold us back in some way.

This is when NLP can be extremely useful.

So, if you ever have thoughts which hold you back, or stop you from doing something you really want to do – NLP may be the way forward for you.

Contact us if you would like to discuss NLP in more detail and see whether it is the best approach for you.
aspiretherapy@btinternet.com