Neurological Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a collection of concepts that explore the way people experience, perceive, relate, and react to the world around them.  NLP is centered around communication, both verbal and non-verbal.  It’s all about the way your mind takes in what it sees, hears, feels, and smells and then how it perceives those events.

The American Board of NLP describes Neurological Linguistic Programming as:

A model of communication that focuses on identifying and using patterns of thought that influence a person’s behavior as a means of improving the quality and effectiveness of their lives. It offers a model of how the brain works (neuro), about how language interacts with the brain (linguistic), and how we use this interaction to get the results we want for ourselves and others (programming). It is an effective, proven vehicle for accelerated human change, radically altering the “old way” of lengthy psychotherapy.

“NLP may be the most powerful vehicle for change in existence…”
Modern Psychology

Having the ability to change and control the perception of communication can have a profound effect on the mind and emotions.  For instance one person may hear the word “snake” and immediately experience fear.  Another person may hear that same word and experience curiosity or joy.  It’s their perceived thoughts in the subconscious mind that is different in each person.  Neurological Linguistic Programming can be used to re-program those perceptions.

NLP can enhance all aspects of your life from gaining a stronger self esteem, greater motivation, to improving your relationships.  Once you can change the way you perceive verbal and non-verbal communication you have the ability to control your response to people and events around you.  Your ability to positively manage your reactions affects your actions, which in turn, affects the degree to which you achieve your goals.  Neurological Linguistic Programming examines the “inner” language we use to represent our experiences.  NLP also studies what we know about human communication, interaction and achievement, and uses that knowledge to replicate excellence in day to day life. The concepts and techniques of NLP help you discover why some people excel in their lives, and gives you the tools so that you can excel as well.

We all represent the world and organize it in our minds using images, sounds, tastes, smells, touch and emotional feelings.  When you picture something in your mind different senses will be incorporated and will help form your perception.  You will react according to whether that perception is positive or negative.  Once you understand that you create your perceptions in your own mind, you will then begin to understand that you can change those perceptions and alter your behavior.  In other words you can change a negative perception into a positive one and therefore change how you react to the event.

NLP states that we put our experiences and perceptions into words and those words have underlying thoughts and feelings about that event.  By understanding the language and the choice of words you can then begin changing those perceptions and the way you communicate your thoughts.  Using NLP gives you a conscious choice over what you do, what you say and how you react, increasing your ability to reach your goals.  When you see life differently, you experience life differently.