Monday, September 28th, 2009
When I first set myself the task of reading Richard Bandler’s book “Guide to Trance-formation†I allowed myself a week to read it. Big mistake. This book is full of information, comment, case history and exercises in personal development. I mean FULL!
So I re-timetabled, and I’ve been reading for weeks. Now - maybe it’s a mistake to try to be doing the exercises as I go, but I would feel only half-hearted in my review if I hadn’t made an attempt to do at least some of the exercises too.
The thrust of the book is the power of hypnosis, both of ourselves and others, to help create change for the better. Before you say you don’t like hypnosis, or you don’t trust it, or you once saw a show where the guy made people squawk like a chicken - don’t kid yourself - you’re being hypnotised all the time. Don’t look around to see who’s doing it. Look in the mirror.
We are hypnotising ourselves and others all the time, with our repeating patterns of words, actions and beliefs. In effect we “programme†ourselves. As Bandler says “We are the only machine that can program itself. We can set deliberately designed, automated programs that work by themselves to take care of boring, mundane tasks, thus freeing up our minds to do other, more interesting and creative, things.â€
“Guide to Trance-formation†is both a textbook and a workbook for self development. The first section of the book “Patterns of Process and Elicitation†deals with how to discover the way in which we (and others) map our world, i.e. how we represent the world to ourselves through our senses. This is how we have set up all the programmes we run in our lives, the ones that work and - just as importantly - the ones that don’t. Bandler‘s book is seasoned with references to Milton Erickson, Gregory Bateson, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir - all renowned therapists with whom Bandler worked to discover how they achieved the successful results they did.
In Bandler’s opinion there are three steps to “making enduring change: (i) People must become so sick of having the problem that they decide they really want to change (ii) They have to somehow see their problem from a new perspective or in a new light (iii) New and appealing options must be found or created, and pursued.â€
The text will be equally intriguing for those who have studied Bandler previously and those who are new to him. It sparked my curiosity, so that I felt like finding out more and reading books Bandler referenced in “Guide to Trance-formationâ€. Even though I have no formal training in hypnosis, the exercises are simple and straightforward and I found myself wondering whether it was possible to be hypnotised just by reading it! I’m guessing Yes, since we are often influenced by what we read, so why not in this instance?
The exercises in this (first) sectionof the book are:
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· Changing Feelings by Dissociation
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· Identifying Your Sensory Preferences
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· 2 exercises each on the Meta Model and the Milton Model
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· Stealing a Skill
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· The Visual Squash
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· Foolproof Planning
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· The NLP Spelling Strategy
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· Getting Things Done
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· 2 exercises in Submodality Change
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· Swish Pattern
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· Belief-Change Pattern
The second section of the book “Patterns of Induction†is about developing and improving the skills of hypnosis. It gives examples, stories and exercises on how to use language very specifically, how to use the voice - tone, depth, rhythm etc. , stories-within-stories and other skills to induce an altered state in the subject (yourself or someone else), a state in which you (or they) are more open to change. In Bandler’s words “Whenever you are communicating with other people, be aware that words are power, and the way in which you use words has to be as precise as the results you desire.â€
The exercises in the second section are very specific to inducing, deepening and maintaining trances or altered states.
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· Using signs of developing trance
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· Creating Inductions
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· Toning Inflection
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· Using Truisms to Induce Hypnosis
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· Overlapping to Increase Skills
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· Overlapping to Induce Trance
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· Previous Trance Induction
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· The Handshake Interrupt
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· Stacking Realities
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· Nested Loops
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· Hot Button/Cool Button
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· Advanced Synesthesia Change Pattern
In section three “Patterns of Utilization†covers the uses of the skills learned in the book, to create a better way of thinking and being in our lives, in short - to make us feel better. According to Bandler “you just need to know how to get good feelings to replace the old ones - or, even better, to drop them in to what happens just before you feel bad, so you start to go down a new pathway.†The chapters of this section deal with creating a better reaction now, to events that caused us trauma in the past. If we are still suffering from issues in our past, it is not because the problem keeps happening, but because we have formed a response to it that keeps us stuck in that negativity. Using the exercises in this section can help us change the way we feel about past traumas, overcome our phobias, stop blocking ourselves and start taking positive action.
Exercises in section three:
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· How Much Pleasure Can You Stand?
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· Fast Phobia Cure
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· Putting a New Spin on the Past
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· Overcoming Hesitation
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· Going over Threshold
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· Installing Positive Memories
Section four is a set of transcripts of client sessions with Richard Bandler. The text of the session is printed on the left hand side of the page and the analysis of the language patterns is printed on the right. I found it too confusing to try to read both together on my first reading of this format. So I read through the transcript of just the dialogue, as it would have flowed in speech. I found it was worth reading the script through first, before reading the analysis, partly to see what patterns I could identify myself and partly to let the script flow as it would have done in the live session.
Overall I found the book a very useful combination of textbook and workbook. It is something worth reading once for interest, a second time to try out any/all of the exercises and, after that, any time you want to reference Bandler’s work on trances, their analysis, uses and effects.
Tags: Change, Creativity, hypnosis, NLP
Posted in Beliefs & Values, Creativity, Human Behaviour, NLP, Self Development | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
 . Self Development & Personal Growth
A time of great change. But it could also be an opportunity for self development.
Schools are back. Children are preparing for the academic year ahead. Colleges are cranking up in preparation for the new college semester. Everything is in a state of change.
It’s a time of schedules, timetables, books, uniforms and new shoes. It is often a time of anxiety. It can be difficult to adjust to the changes in our families that come about when a young child starts school, or an older child starts college. It is not only a time of great change for them, but it has an impact on every member of the household.
However, despite the anxiety and upheaval that major change may bring, we can choose to see it as a chance to develop and educate ourselves in new areas too.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found myself quite divided about the arrival of term-time. On the one hand I’m delighted to have a bit of structure and routine returned to my life. On the other hand, I love the lie-ons during the summer. I love the openness and possibilities of the days. But by the time September comes, I’m ready to shelve all that for another year!
I start looking through the lists of courses available in my locality. What will I do this year? How will I further develop myself? It’s a time for me, a time for me to focus on my own personal development.
Of course, when I say personal development, I don’t mean that the course I choose has to be based on, or called, self development. No matter what the subject matter of the course it will give me a chance to develop in some area of my life. Over the years I have done classes in pottery, drama, yoga, creative writing, french, flower arranging, singing, art and probably others I’ve forgotten already!
They have stretched me in directions I would not have expected. They have challenged me to develop my potential in creative areas I wouldn’t have approached before. Taking up new activities has, over the years, given me a chance to meet up with other like minded people and develop new friendships and acquaintances. And - like children starting in school - I too have felt anxious at the beginning. I have tried to talk myself out of joining. I’ve tried to find supportive friends to come along with me.
And in the end I am always glad that I joined up. It’s like guerilla self-development! You start out learning flower arranging and wake up to discover that you’ve learned how to organise your time (to attend the class); control a budget (have you seen the price of fresh flowers!); meet & engage with new people; develop your creativity; enhance your home decor and probably even more besides.
So - although it doesn’t say all that on the brochure for classes in your neighbourhood - why not give it a try this September. You never know where it will take you!
Tags: Creativity, Personal Development, Self Development
Posted in Creativity, Motivation, Self Development | 6 Comments »
Monday, March 2nd, 2009
I know a lot of women who are going crazy. You might say “It takes one to know one”. And, on this occasion, I would definitely have to agree. Y’see I’m meeting a lot of women whose families are grown, or in college, or gaining their independence day by day. I’m seeing women who are in a position to evaluate where they are in their lives.
That sounds very positive, doesn’t it? But on the ground, in the ordinary everyday-ness of life, what it really amounts to is a sense of bewilderment. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not all women, and not all of the time. But there is definitely a huge readjustment to be done when the job you’ve been doing for the past twenty years or so is suddenly surplus to requirements! It would be very easy for me to say “Blah Blah Blah Challenge”; “Blah Blah Opportunity”, but that’s not going to help you deal with it, or even accept it.
That brings me to the first important thing - you’ve got to accept it. Acknowledge that it is happening. It is valid. You have spent a huge chunk of your life giving your time, energy, genius, nourishment, caring and love to other people. Now - if you’ve done your job well, they need your time (but never your love) less. You haven’t suddenly become useless. You just need to take time to take stock of your life. It’s one of those big, life-changing-direction type of phases. Sometimes it feels like being a teenager again, except that in mid-life, you feel you should know better!
Marianne Williamson (in her book “The Age of Miracles”) refers to “personal excavation” at this time, to release the baggage of the past and create the life you want for the future.
Don’t mind that this video clip is a promo for her book. Ignore that - she still has some interesting things to say about this time of life.
What can you begin to do about it? Benefit from it? Make it a useful phase from which to grow?
My suggestion is to admit it to yourself. Admit to it with those you love. Tell it like it is. “I’m finding that, having done my job as well as I could for years, I’m not sure what my job is anymore. I’m feeling confused about my role, sometimes insecure about my future, and it can be frightening. I really need you to try to understand and support me while I make adjustments in my life. I need your patience and your love, because -just as beginning the journey of commitment and family was a big, important step for me in the past - this step of commitment to myself and my future is important too.”
Now give yourself time to be in this space of change. Deepak Chopra talks about the “Wisdom of Uncertainty” and I can understand what he means. But often, it scares the crap out of me! So - just because I’m suggesting you give yourself space to be uncertain, I’m not saying it will be easy. I understand what it’s like. Let’s go for it!
Tags: Creativity, Family, Mid Life, Self Development, Self-Confidence
Posted in Confidence, Creativity, Human Behaviour, Life Coaching, Self Development | No Comments »
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