Hypnosisglobal

The mind learns fast. A very powerful way to view life is to
experience everything as a learning experience. I think it
was Dr. Richard Bandler (co-creator of NLP) who first made
me realise that Phobias are in fact a learned response. The
mind of the Phobic has learned to associate a stimulus (eg a
Wasp) to a response (eg Panic!)
The more you ponder this idea the more profound you will
realise the implications.
And here’s the deal. Does a person develop a phobia of wasps
over time? You know, do they see a wasp one day and then the
next week they see another and decide they don’t like them
and get more and more afraid of them?
No. Phobias are ‘learned’ very, very fast. Out of
consciousness, in less than half a second!
They have an intense emotional response which becomes
associated/anchored to the stimulus in such a way that that
state is AUTOMATICALLY triggered whenever they
see/hear/feel/smell/taste the stimulus again!
This is incredible! The persons mind will from then on
automatically go into a very altered state, within half a
second of experiencing the stimulus.
Now I think you’d agree, phobias aren’t exactly useful,
right?
But, what if you could use that same Stimulus/Response
mechanism to create automatic states of Joy, Ecstasy, Fun
and Bliss.
Would that be useful to you in any area of you life?

Now for sure they are many other ways of creating effective
change. Some methods use different concepts and are slower
to implement. With this article I wanted to introduce you
to the half-second rule concepts because they are less well
known than other “change-technologies” and they lend
themselves well to generating more fun because they are
playful by design.
The following technique is a really fascinating NLP tool
because it makes great use of your unconscious resources.
I only discovered it recently and was surprised to learn
that many ‘NLP veterans’ didn’t know about it either!
Merging Metaphors
(Adapted from a technique called ‘Spinning Icons’ developed
by Joe Munshaw and Nelson Zink.)
1. Select a problem state.
2. As you think about your problem state what visual image
comes to mind? Notice where it is located in space.
3. Break your current state: eg) Remember you phone number
backwards or look up and notice the patterns on the ceiling.
Now think about the desired resource state (or outcome, or
goal) you would like instead. Notice how you represent this
as a visual image. Pay attention to where it is located in
space.
4. Now allow your mind to turn the first picture (problem
state) into a metaphorical symbol or icon. Keep it in the
same location in space. (This visual metaphor could be quite
complex or it may be as simple as a colour. Just trust your
unconscious.)
TOP TIP: It can be useful to ask yourself, “What is this
problem state like?” This often allows a metaphorical
representation to arise.
5. Do the same thing with the desired resource state you
selected in step 3, making sure to place the new metaphor
symbol in the same location in space as the original image.
6. Now see the two metaphor symbols at the same time
noticing their locations in space. Next slowly rotate them
around each other. Keep rotating them around each other and
do so faster and faster. Do this spinning for about 10
seconds allowing the rotation to be so fast that you can no
longer track the images and you may even feel a little
confused.
7. Now allow the images to merge together, that’s right. And
push this merged image out in front of you where you can
view it easily. Describe the new image briefly, quickly
moving to step 8.
8. Immediately begin telling WHATEVER story comes to mind.
Just allow yourself to start telling a story. It doesn’t
matter what it is. It could be a real memory, a story or
just simply made up ramblings. The point being is that this
process taps into your vast unconscious resources.
9. Now ask yourself, “How is this story relevant to my
problem/challenge?” or “How can this story help resolve my
problem?” (This step can help to give you conscious insight
into how the previous steps have made some useful changes.)

Isn’t that a great technique! You know it’s got that
magical spirit of curious wonder to it hasn’t it?
So I wonder how else could you use a tool like that to
add more magical sparkles to your life?

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

I don’t know about you but these days I often hear people
using the word ‘enlightenment’ as if it’s a common
experience. According to Buddhism enlightenment is the
complete cessation of all sufferings and a permanent state
of peace and happiness.

Not many people there yet then!

Everyone wants more freedom. And as you know real freedom
comes from within. Our sense of the external reality around
us is strongly influenced by our internal ‘maps’ of reality.
From time to time we have certain thoughts that restrict our
sense of freedom. These thoughts are sometimes beliefs that
were formed earlier in our life and are now out of date!
Other times our thoughts are clouded by impaired perception.

One of the amazing facts about the time we find ourselves in
now is that there is an absolute abundance of methods,
techniques and tools available to us for re-modeling our
realities in a way that enables us to experience much more
freedom!

So as we find ourselves on this journey, this journey on the
road to freedom what changes start to arise in your minds
eye? Because even just a small change can generate new
feelings of freedom.

Have you ever seen one of those optical illusion drawings?
You know the ones where there is a picture and at first
glance you can just see one face. But as you continue
looking and change your focus ever so slightly you get a
surprise when another image in the picture appears!

You can relate this to your perspectives on things in your
life. New perspectives can be very powerful and you don’t
necessarily need to view things from a radically different
viewpoint. Just a small shift in perspective can bring about
profound changes.

If you were to recall a recent situation where you would
have preferred to act in a more resourceful manner, could
you imagine reviewing the situation from a different
perspective? How about looking at it as if it were a movie.
And what new information would arise if you viewed it from
the perspective of a giant eagle? Or a field mouse? Or what
about from the viewpoint of a fly with it’s one hundred eye
vision.

Give it a go because this kind of visualisation exercise can
free-up you creative mind and allow you to make new
realisations as your unconscious reveals previously hidden
information!

As you continue to use your mind more you build faith in
your own ability. And when that faith builds you find
yourself able to make the changes you desire more easily.
Your self-esteem begins to build and you will inspire others
with your new sense of freedom.

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You get more of what you focus
on.” In the Hawaiian shamanism system, known as Huna, they
teach the principle of blessing. For instance if you want to
become a more creative individual every time you come across
something that represents ‘creativity’ you would bless it.
Let’s say you were walking down the street and you saw an
artist painting. You could verbally compliment him or you
could simply mentally bless his creativity with your
intention which could be something like, “This is
creativity, I bless him for it.”

By doing this regularly you condition your mind to go in a
certain direction: “Look for examples of creativity in the
world that I can bless.” An interesting effect of this
practice is that the more you focus on finding positive
qualities to bless, the more you discover!

In therapeutic settings clients often come along complaining
of behaviours they don’t like and want to get rid of. Now if
the therapist were to have the focus of believing that the
clients behaviour was indeed unnecessary he may focus on
this aspect and have the client discover where this
behaviour started. Discovering why he has chosen to adopt
this behaviour and so on.

But what if the therapist had the focus of, “Every behaviour
has a positive intention behind it.” Just with this shift in
direction could result in a much more pleasant and useful
change in the client. By discovering the positive intention
behind behaviours, adding in new behaviours, choices and
flexibility would more likely create a generative,
positively focused direction for the clients mind to go in.

This kind of generative change-work tends to create a more
pervasive shift in the clients model of the world because
they have made a change that has added more choice and
flexibility and so they think, “ahhh if I can add choices to
this area of my life, why not get more flexible in other
areas?!”

Another interesting point about directions is that it’s more
powerful to setup a direction that is flowing, a process,
rather than a static change. Think about the following and
notice which statement is more powerful, “I am confident”,
or “I am becoming more confident.”

Because one of the minds natural functions is to go in a
direction, change-work becomes more powerful if you set up a
process as the direction. “I am confident” is static,
whereas, “I am becoming more confident” is a process that
re-enforces itself.

Knowing this ‘master key’ can make your use of change
technologies, such as the tools of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP) work all the more effectively.

So as you begin to think about the directions you want your
mind to go in, doesn’t it just make sense to use tools that
re-program your mind to *automatically* go in the direction
you want to go in?

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

OK, so you want to improve your persuasion power right?

Why? What’s your intention?

As you know your intent directs the flow of energy in your
interactions with others. So doesn’t it just make sense to
have in mind a really clear and strong intent before you
engage in your powerful persuasion mission.

If you were to think about the person(s) you want to
persuade what comes to mind in regards to the benefits they
will gain from your persuasion?

Of course your ‘persuasive pitch’ will be received much more
receptively if your intent is strongly biased to their
benefits.

So stepping into their shoes what benefits can you perceive
from their angle and looking at the situation as if you were
watching a movie what other ideas come to mind?

Having some idea of what the other person(s) want and
keeping that positive intention nice and strong in mind when
interacting with the person(s) will automatically create a
‘good vibe’ between you, thus creating that well known
fundamental persuasion skill - Rapport!

Now in your interaction with the other party you would
increase your persuasion parlance greatly by asking well
focused questions. Basically you want to ask questions that
get the other person to open up so that you can discover one
of the very powerful motivators-to-action in humans known as
‘values.’

This is another aspect of the very fascinating way in which
the human mind works because you find yourself becoming
increasingly curious about people’s values as your
persuasion power increases, doesn’t it.

Now an important point to remember in this curious adventure
is when you have got them talking: You Shut Up! AND Listen!

Isn’t that cool, you just sit there and listen as they give
you loads of high quality information that you can then use
to powerfully persuade and guide them!

By paying attention you will notice that people use certain
words which have a lot of emotional value for them
personally. You could call these words their personal trance
words.

Let me give you an example to clarify what we are talking
about. Let’s say you are helping someone make a change in
their life. Now presuming the person has asked you to help
them you can make the change process happen even more
smoothly by asking them certain questions

So during conversation with this person you could ask them,
“Why exactly do you want to make this change?” And, “What
would having made this change, give you?” And also you could
ask, “Why is that important to you?”

As you ask these questions you will notice that they have to
access deeper parts of their minds. So by paying attention
and listening carefully you will discover some of their
personal trance words.

Some possible examples of their personal trance words might
be: inner peace, better energy, assertiveness. Keep in mind
the important fact that these words could have a deep and
powerful feeling associated with them in their internal
experience.

Now what do you suppose would happen if you were to then
describe and incorporate those wonderful personal trance
words into your persuasive change ‘pitch’?

That’s right, they would be much more likely to go along
with your persuasive intervention because you are using
words which stimulate powerful feelings inside them for the
changes that they really want!

So just what is ‘the ultimate truth in persuasion’? Well the
fact is in the art of persuasion, or indeed anything, there
are many ways of doing things, many perspectives,
techniques, methods and tools. The point being, by using it
and paying attention to feedback, will it get you the
results you want?

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

What if you were to imagine a Universe where effective
ChANge was simple, pain-free and mind-glowingly fast! I
suppose you feel pretty good Right?

well Now…

Once upon a time… a long, long time ago in a far away
galaxy (hummmmm?)

Ahhhhh yes… a long, long time ago ChANge used to be
regarded as a lengthy, painful process, but then the wizards
appeared and they began to uncover the secrets: The
Structure of Magic! The magic of fast and effective ChANge!

At first people were sceptical. Was it really possible to
safely banish a persons life-long phobia in less than 3
minutes! After all it used to take at least 10 minutes in
the olden days!

Wow! What else was possible? hmmmmm

And so as the wizards began to increasingly unravel magical
structures they began to real-eyes that the more they
modeled the most effective people on the planet, in EVERY
human endeavour (Human Excellence), the more they found
themselves creating extraordinary Trance-Formations. ChANges
were achieved faster, more consistently, more powerfully,
even miraculously!

That’s right, pure Magic in Action!

So over, under and to the sides of time, the more people
learned and mastered the real secrets of ChANge, the more
people realised it was time for a ChANge. And even those
people that had never REALLY done so before started using
their brain for a ChANge!

I think you’ll agree, this was an exciting time to be alive!
To be reborn as a living Human Being! Just imagining the
possibilities for ChANge could allow a person to remember
inspiring stories such as ‘Frogs into Princes.’

And a person could even begin to find themselves enjoying
the journey… the journey of discovering brand new
structures of magic too!

Oh yeah, BY the way you are living in that universe RIGHT
NOW! So kiss the inner ‘Frog’ inside yourself and allow it
to grow into a beautiful, magical Prince or Princess.

That’s right! Now WAKE UP!!!

**********************************************************
A Quick & Profound, Super-Simple-ChANge Technique:
“Collapsing Anchors”
(Note: You can make this technique REALLY difficult if you
want. May I suggest that you K.I.S.S the frog instead!)

1. Select a certain feeling you want to get rid of. As you
feel it squeeze your finger and thumb on your left hand to
anchor this state.

2. On an intensity scale of 0 to 10, where is this feeling?

3. Break state. Now think about what you would like to feel
instead. What would make you remain in a more resourceful
state? Relaxation? Humour? Etc. (May I suggest you choose
humour because humour is an incredible gift from the gods!)

4. Now choose one of the resourceful states you have come up
with and remember a time you felt that resource strongly.
What does this resourceful state feel like?

5. Remembering that resourceful state, anchor it to your
right hand by squeezing your finger and thumb together.

6. On an intensity scale of 0 to 10, where is this feeling?
Important: Make sure that this resourceful feeling is more
intense than the fearful feeling.

7. Break state. Now squeeze your left hand finger and thumb
anchor, hold it, at the same time as you squeeze the right
hand finger and thumb anchor. Keep both anchors on for a few
seconds, say 7 seconds. (Note: Many people get a sense when
the anchors have ‘collapsed’ or integrated, often by a
noticeable shift in breathing.)

8. Release the left hand anchor and just hold the right hand
anchor for a couple of seconds.

9. Break state. Now think of the original feeling you
selected in step 1.

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wish you
were in a better mood? Perhaps you tried to shift your state
of mind to something better but struggled to achieve it.

Sometimes we get stuck in our own ’stinking thinking’ and
forget how easy it is to feel happier, so here are seven
simple ways to lift your mood that many people have found
useful and some of them may surprise you!
1. Go for a walk.

Most folk know that going for a short daily walk is one of
the best forms of exercise. If you can, go into a natural
environment with flowers, trees and birds. What will you
notice first? The different shades of greenery, the fresh
smell of country air, the bird sounds, or the sunlight
shining through the tree foliage.

2. Listen to some quality music.

Music creates magical effects. It can shift the listeners
state
within moments. Why not dig out that album you haven’t
listened to in ages or why not tune in your radio to
something you’ve never listened to before.

3. Think of others less fortunate.

The fact that you are reading this article suggests that you
are probably much better off than many, many people on this
planet! What if you were to imagine being in space looking
down on the amazing beautiful earth, noticing all the oceans
and lands with the clouds above… And then thinking about
the fact that there are many human beings that are starving,
homeless and in lots of pain… Allow your compassion for
them to grow.

4. Read something radical!

How many different types of magazines can you get these
days?! Have you ever waltzed into a big newsagents and just
browsed through the magazine racks? It’s incredible. Why not
buy a magazine you wouldn’t normally buy. You never know you
may discover something wonderful!

5. Laughing at laughter.

Have you ever had the experience when you just laugh for no
good reason? Isn’t it great! Laughter is one of the best
ways to lift your spirits. Can’t think of anything funny?
Try grinning at yourself insanely in the mirror and notice
how difficult it becomes to control your giggle muscles!

6. Simple breathing meditation.

A great exercise that you can do anywhere is a simple
breathing meditation. No need to dress in orange robes.
Simply find yourself in a comfortable sitting position with
your back straight. Now close your eyes and become aware of
the flow of air into and out of your nostrils. That’s it! Do
this for 10/15 minutes and you’ll find yourself pleasantly
surprised how you feel afterward.

7. Doodling just for fun!

Remember when you were young and you used to doodle with
crayons for hours. Kids love drawing silly little pictures,
why not adults? So get some pens, pencils, crayons or
whatever you have and just draw - doodle away until your
state of mind shifts.
You might agree that these are all pretty simple and that’s
what’s so good about them. Making changes, mundane or
profoundly life-changing, are easily and quickly achieved by
putting into action simple ideas, methods, tools and
techniques.

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html

Imagine discovering a way to get rid of your fears in a
quick and painless manner. In fact it can even become fun!

Did you know only two of all the fears you have are innate:
The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Most of
your fears were learned in early childhood and then in later
life under stressful conditions.

Traditional therapeutic approaches would probably have you
trying to figure out where your fear originally came from.
Maybe they’d have you digging around in your childhood
memories, recalling times you ate the next-door neighbours
purple Tulips. This type of approach tends to associate the
client into reliving unpleasantness and can take a long time
to achieve useful results. Personally I think this style is
way out of date and bordering on torture.

You’ll probably be glad to know we’re not going to be doing
anything like that. The truth is you can easily and quickly
undo the learnings that created specific fears and change
your responses to something much more useful.

So just how do fearful feelings occur then? Well lets use a
common example: Fred wants a raise and he’s been wanting to
ask his boss for months. Finally he decides to go and ask.
BUT when he starts the walk down the corridor he starts to
feel certain sensations in his body. Weird stomach feelings.
His breathing is constricted. Slight sweating on parts of
his body. His vision is effected. Fred decides to turn back
and then sits down feeling slightly annoyed with himself.

His body started producing ‘fear chemicals.’ What happened?

“Well it was because he defied his Dad one time when he was
four. Let’s explore those forgotten memories….”

NO! NO! NO! Let’s do something much smarter and definitely
more fun.

Hey Fred come over here I want to show you something really
cool! O’ come on, pick your lip up.

You know how before you got up to go and ask the boss for a
raise, you felt OK right? So between the time you got up and
started walking something happened. Something triggered
those feelings in you. Here’s a fact for you: You either
made a picture in your head or talked to yourself in a way
that created those fearful sensations and that happened at
an unconscious level out of your awareness.

“OK Colin that might be true but so what, what’s your
point?”

Well the point is by changing the internal sounds, pictures
and voices in your head you can begin to gain control of
your emotions.

“Fair enough but how can I do that so when I’m in a similar
situation I automatically make useful pictures, sounds and
voices in my head so I remain in a resourceful state?”

Good question, here’s just one way you can achieve the
results you want using a simple and powerful tool from the
field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Soothing Movie Music
================

1.Think of a situation where you feel fear.

2.Dissociate: See yourself in the situation like you would a
movie with you in it.

3.Imagine running the memory from the END of the fearful
situation, BACKWARDS to the START. Do this very fast in less
then 1 second!

4.Think of some music that makes you feel the opposite of
fear. For example soothing classical music makes you feel
relaxed. Perhaps certain rock or dance music makes you feel
energised/courageous etc.

5.Now hear the music, nice and loud, inside your mind whilst
looking at yourself going through the situation from START
to END.

6.Break state. Now think of the situation you choose in Step
1 and notice how your fearful feelings have diminished.

7.What will you see or hear just before you want this new
feeling to set in?

© Colin G Smith - All Rights reserved.

http://www.hypnosisglobal.com/nlp-toolbox.html