We’re all born with the same basic neurology. Our ability to do anything in life, whether it’s swimming
the length of a pool, cooking a meal, or reading this article, depends on how we control our nervous
system. So, much of NLP is devoted to learning how to think more effectively and communicate more
effectively with yourself and others.

NLP began in California in the early 1970s at the University of Santa Cruz. There, Richard Bandler, a
master’s level student of information sciences and mathematics, enlisted the help of Dr John Grinder, a
professor of linguistics, to study people they considered to be excellent communicators and agents of
change. They were fascinated by how some people defied the odds to get through to ‘difficult’ or very ill
people where others failed miserably to connect. So NLP has its roots in a therapeutic setting thanks to
three world-renowned psychotherapists that Bandler and Grinder studied: Virginia Satir (developer of
Conjoint Family Therapy), Fritz Perls (the founder of Gestalt Psychology), and Milton H Erickson (largely
responsible for the advancement of Clinical Hypnotherapy).

In their work, Bandler and Grinder also drew upon the skills of linguists Alfred Korzybski and Noam
Chomsky, social anthropologist Gregory Bateson, and psychoanalyst Paul Watzlawick. From those days,
the field of NLP has exploded to encompass many disciplines in many countries around the world. In
fact, it would be an impossible task to name all the great teachers and practitioners in NLP today.

By the way, what exactly is NLP, or, to expand it-NeuroLinguistic Programming?

Neuro is about your neurological system. NLP is based on the idea that we experience the world
through our senses and translate sensory information into thought processes, both conscious and
unconscious. Thought processes activate the neurological system, which affects physiology, emotions,
and behaviour.

Linguistic refers to the way human beings use language to make sense of the world, capture and
conceptualise experience, and communicate that experience to others. In NLP, linguistics is the study of
how the words you speak influence your experience.

Programming draws heavily from learning theory and addresses how we code or mentally represent
experience. Your personal programming consists of your internal processes and strategies (thinking
patterns) that you use to make decisions, solve problems, learn, evaluate, and get results. NLP shows
people how to recode their experiences and organise their internal programming so they can get the
outcomes they want.

To see this process in action, begin to notice how you think. Imagine it’s a hot summer’s day. You go
home at the end of the day and stand in your kitchen holding a lemon you have taken from the fridge.
Look at the outside of it, its yellow waxy skin 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.


Words. Simple words have the power to trigger your saliva glands. Hear one word ‘lemon’ and your brain
kicks into action. The words you read told your brain that you had a lemon in your hand. We may think
that words only describe meanings: they actually create your reality.


NLP can be described in various ways. The formal definition is that it is ‘the study of the structure of our
subjective experience.’ Here are a few more ways of answering the £20,00,000 question: ‘What is NLP?’


The art and science of communication


The key to learning


It’s about what makes you and other people tick


It’s the route to get the results you want in all areas of your life


Influencing others with integrity


A manual for your brain


The way to creating your own future


NLP helps people make sense of their reality


The toolkit for personal and organizational change

Here’s a tidbit for those who would like a sampler from the Easter basket of goodies that comprises NLP:


Six-step reframe:

The six-step reframe first appeared in the NLP book Frogs into Princes (p. 137 – 139) by the co creators
John Grinder and Richard Bandler.


In a nutshell the six-step reframe is reframing a positive intention behind poor or less desirable behavior.
It addresses secondary gains works with mild trance and utilizes creativity from unconscious resources.
Here are the basic steps:


1. Identify the behavior to change
2. Set up signals with the part running the behavior
3. Identify the positive intention behind the behavior
4. Generate a number of possible alternative behaviors which will equally satisfy the same intent
5. Choose the favored three replacement behaviors
6. Check for ecology regarding the change.

Full standard six-step reframe:

1. Identify the problem to be changed. It usually is in some format like ‘I want to stop X behavior but I
can’t’. I would like to act with Y behavior but something is stopping me’. Again as a facilitator you don’t
need to know the problem behavior this can be covert therapy. Also this is an appropriate time to thank
the part that is running that behavior.
2. Ask for the part responsible for that old behavior if it is willing to communicate. Ask them to be aware
of what they see hear and feel. (Calibrate their responses) An unconscious signal cannot be reproduced
consciously. Check if they can reproduce this response consciously. If they can reproduce the signal ask
for another signal. Though this seems odd, note that if you consciously controlled the problem you
would just stop it and wouldn’t be reframing it (O’Connor & Seymour 1990). Have you ever agreed to
something you knew wasn’t right. Involuntary signals and behaviors occur like a sinking feeling in your
stomach, voice tone changes and posture changes. These are unconscious shifts or signals. Can you
control the feeling when a person asks you to work when you know you could be with family? Ask for a
yes and no signal.
3. Thank the part for co-operating and then ask if the part will reveal the intention behind this behavior.
a. With a yes then proceed to ask for the positive intention behind this behavior. Continue to ask if there
any higher intentions for the behavior. This intention will usually surprise the conscious mind.
b. If there is a no signal ask under what circumstances it would be willing to reveal the positive intention.
This can help you find out more about what the part is trying to achieve. Further ask if there were a way
the same intention could be fulfilled better or more appropriately would it be willing to try them out. If
another no comes then the signals are jumbled.
4. Now ask if the part will communicate with the creative part of their mind. Allow the creativity in the
person to generate at least 3 new possible behaviors. These must satisfy the positive intention. Thank
the creative part also.
5. Now ask if the part will adopt these new responses or behaviors for 2-3 weeks. Remind the part that
the old behavior is still possible or an option if there is any objection to the newly created behaviors.
6. Finally check for ecology. Ask if there is any part of you that is dissatisfied with this change. If there is
any signal check if it is a genuine objection. If all interested parties have no objection ok. Be certain
however and congruent, if there is any inconsistency some other part may try to sabotage later.

So what’s next for NLP? It’s certainly travelled a long way from Santa Cruz in the 1970s. So many more
pioneers have picked up the story and taken it forward –made it practical and helped transform the lives
of real people like you and me.


The literature on NLP is prolific. Today you’ll find NLP applications amongst doctors and nurses, taxi
drivers, sales people, coaches and accountants, teachers and animal trainers, parents, workers, retired
people, and teenagers alike.

Each generation will take the ideas that resonate in their field of interest, sift and refine them, chipping
in their own experiences. If NLP encourages new thinking and new choices and acknowledges the
positive intention underlying all action, all we can say is the future is bright with possibilities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Frogs into Princes, Bandler, Richard & Grinder, Dr.John: Real People Press/UT 1979

How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY, Lorayne,Harry :A. THOMAS PRESTON& CO.(1999)

HOW TO CONTROL YOUR BRAIN AT WILL, Vittoz, Dr. Roger: IAB, 2001. Published by Christian H.
Godefroy

REFERENCES:

STRATEGIES: THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION TO BEHAVIOR-by Tad James, M.S., Ph.D., Certified NLP
Master Trainer Copyright © 1985, 1999

Neuro-Linguistic Programming-The Key to Accelerated Learning: Smee.Dr.EH & Smee, Linda ,Published in
Circle of Excellence Copyright © November, 2002

copyright© -Satrajit Sanyal