Manage your Mind – the NLP approach to Stress Management

“Stress is the price your body pays when life is not the way you would like it to be!”*

Stress is frequently linked to physical and mental health problems but stress, in itself, is natural and not necessarily detrimental to health. Indeed, a certain level of stress, used in a positive and constructive manner, is a vital if we are to perform at our peak.  The “fight or flight” response to uncertain or dangerous situations has been a fundamental part of our survival and evolution. Although we no longer have to face decisions about whether that noise means we are about to get food or become food, our bodies still react physiologically in similar ways to perceived threats. It is this unresolved stress, such as a pounding heart, the urge to run, hide or cry, that can damage our health.

One of the core understandings of NLP is that the mind and body are inevitably and inescapably

linked so a change within the way the mind works will have an effect on the body and vice versa. As stress results not from what is happening out side of us, but from the way in which we represent and process what is happening outside of us, then by taking more conscious control of our thought processes we can take more control over our responses to “stressful situations”. The ability to process the same situation, through the language we use to ourselves, the images we create in our mind and the reference experiences we store in our memory, explains how the same situation can be a source of excitement and pleasure for one person and a source of fear and great anxiety for another. If asked to walk along a narrow 10 metre plank spanning two bricks on the ground to win £100, then most people would do it without undue stress. However, use the same plank to span a 100 metre deep gorge then very few people other than steeplejacks or circus performers would cross it without experiencing very high stress levels.

By exploring the “difference that makes the difference” between the two situations we gain insights into how to control stress in our lives. The language that we use to ourselves would likely be very different between the first and second situations, with much more negativity, even telling ourselves we couldn’t do it. The images that we created in our mind would much more likely be focussed upon the consequences of failure, and we are unlikely to have any reference experiences of success in that situation. The steeplejack, however, would use much more positive language, images and feel confident in his or her ability to control the situation.

Negative stress is invariably associated with feelings of being out of control, of having no options, at being at the mercy of other people or situations. The understandings within NLP offer specific guidance at how to operate at cause rather than effect and hence manage the stress in your life. These techniques will be explored in more detail in subsequent articles. In the meantime, practise this “Stressbuster” whenever appropriate and safe to do so.

Stressbuster 1

• Close your eyes, visualise a scene that you find peaceful, or just the word “peace”.
• Breathe deeply in through the nose, hold for a count of three, and exhale slowly through the mouth.
• Repeat five times and notice the difference.

* Peace of Mind is a Piece of Cake, by Michael Mallows & Joseph Sinclair, Crown House Publishing, ISBN 1899836241

Comments

[John NLP Derrick]

Great article.

I certainly can attest to the fact that the mind and the body are linked and that if the mind is re-programmed, the results can be seen and felt in the body.

NLP is great. I am becomming a big fan!