Mind mastered

Motivation techniques give practitioners a better grip of reality

The human mind is a complex organism that elevates our existence from that of other life forms. Philosopher Descartes profoundly sums it up in his quote, "I think, therefore I am."

Our state of mind plays a vital role in creating our reality. To the extent we control our thoughts, we shape the world around us.

According to popular motivational guru, Anthony Robbins, "people don't usually lack resources; they lack control over their resources".

In other words, by learning to be in command, you can change the state of your mind and the action that follows. The question is, how can we empower the mind and run it the way we want?

Developed in the 1970s, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a discipline of psychology or approach to life which offers various empowering techniques for the mind.

"Training your brain, in a nutshell, is learning to control your reactions to people, situations and events," said Beryl Comar, master practitioner and certified trainer of NFNLP based in Dubai.

She explained that the word "neuro" in NLP refers to the way the human brain actually works.
The term "linguistics" suggests both verbal and nonverbal elements of communication.

Programming means recognition and understanding of human thought, communication styles, and behaviour patterns.

"NLP is concerned primarily with non-judgementally identifying the ways in which we have been programmed to think, act and feel and learning how to free ourselves from unwanted limiting habits and beliefs," added Comar.

The popular analogy used here is that of a user's manual. "When you buy a computer or a washing machine, you are given instructions on how to operate it. But when you are born, you don't come with a user's manual to tell you how to run your brain," Comar said.

Using tools associated to NLP, one can learn how to effectively and efficiently direct thoughts, feelings, language and behaviour to achieve his or her personal and professional goals.

"NLP is an attitude and methodology, leaving behind a trail of techniques," said Richard Bandler, founder of NLP.

Hypnosis, time-line therapy, rapid eye technology, rebirthing and the Silva method are some of the other techniques used to break free from limiting habits, behaviours and beliefs. The bottomline of all these techniques is to enable people of take control of their minds and lives in a positive way.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis is a popular method of tapping into important emotional and behavioural issues deep-rooted in one's subconscious that are affecting current lifestyle habits.

Negative patterns of behaviour, such as addictions or cravings, are often successfully treated with hypnotherapy.

The first recorded practice of hypnotherapy appears to be have been done by ancient Egyptians, who had "sleeping rooms" where people relaxed and heard incantations to get healed.

"Hypnosis is a way of bypassing the critical factor of the conscious mind and accepting the suggestions of the subconscious mind," said Comar, a certified member of The National Guild of Hypnotists.

"The only way to get to the subconscious is by relaxation or shock. It is a state of mind where emotions, habits, beliefs and defence mechanisms are stored."

By tapping into the emotional cause of undesired behaviour, hypnotherapy helps overcome negativity and guides one's thoughts and actions in a positive direction.

Time line therapy

Time line therapy was introduced by Tad James in the 1980s and is closely associated with the NLP movement.

"Time line therapy is a process-driven therapy that allows the subject to release negative emotions (like fear, anger, guilt, and sadness) and limiting decisions. It is an easy process which enables you to access all those memories which sit stored within your neurology," described Mark Hill, certified practitioner and trainer of NLP and time line therapy.

Based on the premise that memories are stored in a linear fashion that connects the past, present and future, the method takes you back to the first event that triggered a particular emotion and releases the negativity associated to it.

Like links on a chain, the primary source and consecutive experiences are dealt with one by one. Thereby, the desired change is achieved. This technique can be easily learned and applied by individuals on a regular basis.

Breathwork

Rebirthing or Transformational Breathwork is a powerful tool for self-exploration. It works on the principle that there is a direct connection between the mental and physical states with the "openness" of breath.

The technique involves doing simple connected breathing rhythm in which the inhale is merged with the exhale in an uninterrupted circle. The purpose of the breathwork is to to achieve "cellular consciousness" by stimulating the consciousness of the individual cells of the body.

The method allows access to the subconscious and cleansing of suppressed, blocked emotions and patterns. It can be taught to individuals in an average of 10 sessions by a certified instructor.

"A rebirther guides you through the breathing sequences to find your own rhythm and creates an environment of safety. The key to relaxation in rebirthing is trust," said Samar Ballout, a certified rebirther from Transformations Inc. U.S.A. in Dubai.

Rapid eye technology

Rapid eye technology (RET) is another innovative way created by Ranae Johnson to utilise a function of the body to allow the accessing, processing and clearing of information that has been guarded by the subconscious.

Using blinking, breathing and eye movement techniques, RET simulates a condition of sleep known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement), which happens while dreaming and is our body's natural discharge mechanism. During REM sleep, we process, clear and integrate our day's experiences.

With an eye-directing device moving rapidly in a neuro-linguistic pattern in front of the person's eyes, the peripheral vision picks this up and the brain thinks it is in REM sleep.

The technician quickly moves the wand in various patterns to find sources of stress, watching eye movements for clues. In this way, the RET process provides a way for trapped, distorted emotional messages to be processed and released from the cellular level within the mind and the physical body.

The Silva method

The Silva method is a programme that teaches the balanced use of both right and left brain hemispheres through controlled relaxation techniques. By realising that many limitations are self-imposed, an individual learns to free himself and overcome fear, guilt and doubts.

These are replaced by confidence, spontaneity and a new sense of purpose. One of the primary skills acquired is the ability to function at the powerful alpha brain wave level where you can learn to use both brain hemispheres to think with instead of just one, the way most people do.

By understanding the mind-brain-body relationship you can learn to direct the mind's role towards healing, accelerate learning, develop intuition, improve visualisation, learn to induce states of sleep and alertness, relieve pain, and programme self for success.

The human mind is very powerful device, but most of us are unaware of its potential. Once we discover our untapped skills and make positive use of them, the possibilities are virtually endless.