• The Inner Game of Success - Change Self-Image Process

    The Inner Game of Success – Change Self-Image Process

    Did you know that how you see yourself might just be the key to your personal success? Have you checked yourself out in the mirror lately? No, not in the normal sense in front of your dresser. But in your mind, how do you look? What kind of adverbs would you use to describe yourself? How do you represent yourself inside? Why is this important? Because you are communicating about who you are to you on the inside all of the time and this “Self Image” is what your unconscious sees every second, every minute, every day, even when you are a sleep and at work, to help you maintain that image. This is like a program that runs behind the things we do and think. We do not deviate from what our self image represents.

  • The Golden Ratio

    The Golden Ratio

    By Mark Spencer, ITA Certified New Code and Classic Code NLP Trainer and Change Agent Preface This article researches the influences around unconscious reactions to people and objects and looks at where both our own preferences and the potential for universal or overriding preferences fit in. I have also tested some of the theory on everyday objects and found that the iPad mini was the first of the Apple iPhone/iPod/iPad family to be constructed according [Read more...]

  • Exercise your right to choose

    Exercise your right to choose

    What sets humans apart from other intelligent animals on earth, based on our current understanding, is our ability to think and use language to express our thoughts. When we use our language to ask key questions, we discover things, uncover thoughts and ideas that we never considered before, and a new path that might just lead you to another oasis, full of richness and opportunities…. The Path to Freedom

  • You Want to Learn? We Want to Help!

    You can now experience NLP and learn the tools that successful people have for as little as $300.00

  • Modelling Success Quick Tip 1: It Can Be Very Simple!

    Modelling Success Quick Tip 1: It Can Be Very Simple!

    It is not the “Success” you are modelling, it is the behaviour/s or habits that make them the success that you are modelling!…So far I have had a few ups and downs, but getting better every day and the rewards are worth it! I am sure if I can see what is happening in my brain, the new habit is overwriting my old habit and the more I do it, the stronger the new habit becomes…

  • Quick Tip: Learn and Create Solutions Faster

    Quick Tip: Learn and Create Solutions Faster

    Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension — and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we’re caught doodling in a meeting? Sunni Brown says: Doodlers, unite!

  • How much sleep do you need? Your sleep pattern

    How much sleep do you need? Your sleep pattern

    to perform well, you need to be in a state of readiness, which includes every aspect of your well-being. One of the most important factors that will be impacting on your “State of Readiness” and flexibility is sleep. Sleep journal reports the findings, based on 1.5m people in 16 studies…. iPhone App

  • New Course Schedule is out for 2013

    New Course Schedule is out for 2013

    Take advantage now of the Super Early Bird discounts until the end of April 2013, where you can save up to $2000 on the whole combo pack to become an NLP Practitioner. Also, for only $300 you can sample our training by attending the NLP Introduction weekend, which is actually the first 2 days of the full course. So if you stay on, there is no loss; if you decide it is not for you at this time, you will have skills to take away with you your investment in the weekend.

  • Healing and deep bond with your daughter can start with a poem

    Healing and deep bond with your daughter can start with a poem

    By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA Certified New Code and Classic Code NLP Trainer and Change Agent Are you a Mum and have a daughter? Do you want to pass down strong and powerful messages that builds your daughter’s self esteem and wanting to heal your own?   To help grow our daughters into healthy, maturer and happy young woman to have a great life of her own, we mothers need to start by healing our [Read more...]

  • Break Free from your Blind Spot in Five Steps

    Break Free from your Blind Spot in Five Steps

    Our “Blind Spot” keeps us in the invisible cage! It stop us from growing and developing and living the life we want! Every day I look for opportunities to identify my blind spot and I take 100% responsibility to break through it! The thought of staying in the invisible cage is unbearable, the consequence of not breaking from it, is unthinkable. Can you afford not to break free? Not to live the life you want? Not to realise your potential?

  • Ethos (Video Documentary Review)

    Ethos (Video Documentary Review)

    Too often the media celebrates aspects of our society that belong in the dark ages, while at the same time ignoring or ridiculing progressive thinking or ideas. Many aspects of the way our systems work almost guarantee our destruction as a society and that’s what this film is about. Ethos, the Movie examines the flaws in our systems, and the mechanisms that work against democracy and the environment. From conflicts of interests in politics and unregulated corporate power, to a news media that serves the interests of powerful elites; ETHOS explores the systems that lead us into over consumption and warfare.

The Inner Game of Success – Change Self-Image Process

 Permalink:The Inner Game of Success – Change Self-Image Process
May 012013
 
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA Certified NLP Trainer, Approved New Code NLP Trainer, Advanced NLP Coach

…you are communicating about who you are to you on the inside all of the time, and this “Self Image” is what your unconscious sees every second, every minute, every day, even when you are asleep and at work to help you maintain that image!

Changing self image

Did you know that how you see yourself might just be the key to your personal success? Have you checked yourself out in the mirror lately? No, not in the normal sense in front of your dresser. But in your mind, how do you look? What kind of adverbs would you use to describe yourself? How do you represent yourself inside?

Why is this important? Because you are communicating about who you are to you on the inside all of the time and this “Self Image” is what your unconscious sees every second, every minute, every day, even when you are a sleep and at work, to help you maintain that image. This is like a program that runs behind the things we do and think. We do not deviate from what our self image represents.

So, why not spend some time and understand how you see yourself on the inside and make necessary changes. Really ask, “is what I see on the inside matching the reality?” If not, it is time to do something about it.

This article follows from where we left off in our earlier article “The Inner Game of Success” . We are going to show you a way to check your current self image and your desired self image and how to get yourself image aligned. In many ways, this process will help you make a conscious choice about who you want to be and align your unconscious process through conditioning and self programming. Our self-image is a bit like self fulfilling prophecy, by skilfully working with it, you can have more choices in how you would like yourself to be. Like this Dove ad youtu.be/XpaOjMXyJGk this process can help you discover aspects of you that you can choose to nurture, so you can accentuate them to be really a part of you.

note paper - take notes of what you find

note paper – take notes of what you find

Steps to check and align your self-image

Read the following steps first, then do it. All of the steps can be done in your mind, or you can lay out all the positions outside of you by following your instincts. The purpose here is to understand more about you, not to make judgements about what is good or bad. By understanding more about yourself, changes can be made to create an inner world that suits your current needs. You might need some note paper to complete this process, otherwise with practice, you can remember your thoughts along the way.

  1. Ask yourself “How do I see me now”? If there is a location where this current self-image resides, then where would it be? Is it inside of your or outside of you? If it is outside of you, use a marker (post-it note, rock…) to mark the location of your current self-image. If it is inside of you, lightly touch the part of you and say thank you

  2. Make the current self-image real, life size. If your self-image is outside of you, once you make it real – life size, step into this self-image and ask the following: Otherwise, pay attention to your inner, real – life size self-image and step into it in your mind while asking the questions below…

  3. What are the adjectives you use to describe yourself? How would you describe you? How would people who are close to you describe you? Write down all the good, not so good, and the neutral self descriptions. Act as if you were your loved ones or close friends and write down how they would describe you

  4. What do you believe about yourself to describe the you (from the previous step)? Also, write this down

  5. What are the values that you hold dear that have been expressed in your and the other’s descriptions of you? Write them down

  6. What are the behaviours that you do – that are a reflection of what your current self-image? What are the beliefs and values that you hold in that self-image? Write both of these answers down

    7. We do not deviate from what our self image represents

  7. Step out of your current self-image and move about a bit, then repeat the steps from one to six – but instead of stepping into your current self-image, this time ask yourself “What is the self-image that will enable me to achieve ……” This is the preferred, or future you

  8. By now you have identified specifics for both your current and preferred self-image. Now stand in a neutral place where you can see both your current and preferred self-image clearly. Act as if you are a bystander and observe the two self-images. Notice any differences between the two. You can walk around and observe them from different angles to gain insight. It is okay if you feel that words escape you right now, but you might get a sense of something that is happening on the inside

  9. Notice if there is anything that you might like to change in the preferred self-image? Make these changes now

  10. Ask yourself, what would happen if I change my current self-image to be exactly the same as the preferred self-image and taking on all the beliefs, values and the behaviours that are associated with this preferred self-image. Consider both pros and cons of making this change. Notice your reactions on the inside. Is there any resistance? Step into this preferred self-image a few times and act as if it is now your self-image, just so you familiarise yourself with it. Are there any changes you need to make? Make all the changes you need until you are comfortable with it and are willing to make the change.
    Note: If there are strong signals not to make the change, ask is there any fear? If there is, ask what is it that you are fearing and where does it come from? Also, if it is okay to make the change for just a week to try it, if it does not work, we can always put it back. If by now you do not get a sense of agreement – thank yourself for voicing concerns, and leave the process here. You might want to leave this for a few days and insight into the situation might just come to you. You can also seek a professional NLP trained specialist for help. Make sure you find someone who is well trained to a high standard (at least 120 hours of training and 150 hours of practice after the training). Any concerns you can email us

  11. So if you are Ok to proceed with the change you can go ahead and make both self images the same. Step into each one of them once they seem the same and make final adjustments to ensure they are the same

  12. Step out and be in the neutral position and act as if you are the observer again. Ask yourself what do I want to do with both self images now? Just follow your instincts. If you have your self-images located outside of you, and have used markers to represent them, ask yourself “what do I want to do with these two markers?” Then do whatever your body tells you to do.

  13. Be still for a moment; notice how you are feeling differently. How do you see yourself now? How do you see the world and things you want to achieve in life? Imagine how you will behave with this “self” in a situation you are about to face. Do it a few more times with different situations

Congratulations

One simple change can be a giant leap!

One simple change can be a giant leap! Especially if it would be a change from a tropical reef salt water environment to a fresh-water world.

You have now just made changes to your self-image. This is a powerful pattern and you might need to repeat it a few times to make refinements. There might be things that come up during the process in the form of an unhelpful belief. Challenge yourself and ask “how do I know it is true?” Take your time to implement this process and allow yourself the time to integrate; just like putting it in the back of your mind and go about your daily life.

At the end of the week, spend some time to review what is different about this week? Have a look at this new self-image see if there are any shifts or is it how you would like this self image to be? It is important to understand that you are changing something that is quite deep and fundamental and new to you, so take your time. The more that you do it, the more you are going to discover yourself and have a sense of “I can direct myself and this is within my control”.

Again, we always welcome feedback and questions, just sent us an email. The above process has been implemented many times with our clients and students with great results. The differences are that this process was done under our guidance and many challenges were dealt with easily in sessions. I am quite confident that the above process after many refinements, most situation have been catered for.

If you are NLP trained you will realise this process is a combination of many different processes and ecology is built into it. Please note, unless there is true internal agreement, i.e. congruence has been achieved, do not make the change.

Live life and prosper!

Exercise your right to choose

 Permalink:Exercise your right to choose
Apr 282013
 
The path to freedom
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA NLP Certified NLP Trainer, Approved New Code Trainer, Advanced NLP Coach

Did you know you have the right to choose? So, many of us behave as if we do not have choices in life and what is making it worse is that we do not ask questions. Especially questions that can create different perspectives or challenge conventional thinking. Just because we have been told to think in a certain way when we are young, does not mean that the thinking pattern is correct. Just because, once upon a time we had made the decision about how the world operates does not mean it is set in stone.

Life keeps on evolving, new discoveries happen daily and our environmental contexts shift continuously, and it all impacts on our internal world and how we interact with our outer world. Every one of these impacts is an opportunity; a chance and a way to step up in expanding our thinking and creating more choices in life.

The Path to Freedom

What sets humans apart from other intelligent animals on earth, based on our current understanding, is our ability to think and use language to express our thoughts. When we use our language to ask key questions, we discover things, uncover thoughts and ideas that we never considered before, and a new path that might just lead you to another oasis, full of richness and opportunities. Some even describe that to be able to use language to challenge our thinking as the path to freedom.

The path to freedom

The path to freedom

Start with what you believe

So, do you want to have more choices in life? Do you want to be free of unwanted conditioning and blindly following others? Do you want to direct your life and live in a way that fits your values, philosophies and vision? If you do, as a warning, once you have started you will never go back, and it is not always smooth sailing, but richly rewarding! There are few key questions to get you started and why not go straight to the heart of many of our thinking:

For every behaviour, every feeling and statement ask:

  • What do I have to believe or presuppose is true to behave, feel or say / think this way?/li>
  • How do I know it is true? Can I be 100% certain about it?
  • What else is possible (find as many possibilities as you can)
  • If I choose to believe the alternative, what would I now do, say or feel?
  • What would I rather believe for now?

We owe it to ourselves to exercise the right to choose

Even more importantly, we owe it to the world to exercise our brain to think intelligently. To choose is our birth right. To choose with the consequence in mind and choose wisely is a responsibility that comes with such a right.

NLP Language Models, use it to create choice – Ecological Choice

NLP Language Models, may that be creating specifics to challenging thinking or to lead people into a state of trance, or re-directing people’s attention, were first developed to help others creating new options. These models and their patterns can be so profound and powerful, and we would like to invite you to ensure that you use it with ecology in mind.

Influence with language, like many great tools, is a double-edged sword. Please have the consequence in mind.

You Want to Learn? We Want to Help!

 Permalink:You Want to Learn? We Want to Help!
Apr 272013
 

We always want to provide the best NLP in a way that can help more people to take charge and really stepping up in life to enjoy a sense that the world is open to you and through your own effort you can create what you want! In other words to have a sense of hope, success and fearlessness.

Like anything in the world, we all have to put in the effort and investment for what we want in life. Here is a way that can help you with your next step into a masterful life!

You can now experience NLP and learn the tools that successful people have for as little as $300.00

Or have up to $2000.00 off for the entire ITA NLP course!

Check out our site: RealNLPTraining.com

Modelling Success Quick Tip 1: It Can Be Very Simple!

 Permalink:Modelling Success Quick Tip 1: It Can Be Very Simple!
Apr 262013
 
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA Certified NLP Trainer, Approved New Code NLP Trainer, Advanced NLP Coach

Want Success? Model it!

Yes, at the heart of NLP, it is about Modelling and replicating talents! In its purest form, we will do the same thing as the person we want to model, to replicate the talent. We put aside our conscious thought process and do the same thing over and over until we generate the same level of results as the person we are modelling.

It sounds easy when we want to model a skill, but what if I want to model success? Surely NLP modelling does not work! My friend challenges me.

Model the habits that successful people uses!

Model the habits that successful people uses!

Every successful person, team, business or country all have “behaviours or habits” that help them become successful! It is not the “Success” you are modelling, it is the behaviour/s or habits that make them the success that you are modelling!

Sounds simple isn’t it? You do the same thing as these successful people and refine it so it work for you and keep doing it until you gain the result you are looking for. It is simple! The hard bit is to be persistent and have the sense that you can embody the behaviour and all you need to do is to refine it so it fits you.

So, lets start with the following steps to get you going:

  • Step 1, find your model and identify what success habits your model has and you are lacking.
  • Step 2, Make it very clear to yourself the benefit it will bring and how, by mastering, what the habit means to you. What kind of person would you become? Why do you really want it?
  • Step 3, Mentally see yourself doing the habit. Make sure you specify as much detail as you can, like time, steps, contexts and how are you going to handle anything that might stop you.
  • Step 4, Just Do It!

Just to share with you, the habit that I want to master this year is to establish my “Power Morning and Evening”, so I use my time to help me become better rather than wasting it. I get up early for my walk, then sit down to write for one hour before breakfast. After the day’s work, from 7 to 9, learning and improving skills that I have identified as holding me back before I go to bed. Discipline and focus are two things that I am developing. So far I have had a few ups and downs, but getting better every day and the rewards are worth it! I am sure if I can see what is happening in my brain, the new habit is overwriting my old habit and the more I do it, the stronger the new habit becomes! Am I re-programming myself in the most fundamental way? You bet I am! Take charge and creating success for yourself today by establish habits that will make you a success!

Quick Tip: Learn and Create Solutions Faster

 Permalink:Quick Tip: Learn and Create Solutions Faster
Apr 222013
 
random_squigles
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA NLP Trainer, Advanced NLP Coach

I was going to write a short article on how to be creative and the benefit it will bring, instead I found this clip from TED. I have been learning how to doodle for a little while and it really has opened up a world that I have not experienced for a long time. I have found my ability to think creatively, generate humour and integrating learning has increased dramatically. There is often a sense of deep satisfaction when I can express my ideas, what I have learned and experienced about life in my own “art form”.

So, why not watch this clip, learn how to doodle and develop your right brain so you can fully utilise your brain power, now and faster also!


www.ted.com/talks/sunni_brown.html

Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension — and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we’re caught doodling in a meeting? Sunni Brown says: Doodlers, unite! She makes the case for unlocking your brain via pad and pen.

In her book “Gamestorming,” Sunni Brown shows how using art and games can empower serious problem-solving. {From Sunni Brown on TED}

This article should not be confused with Doodle Doodle, an application to help you organise events/meetings. ….and, now many are on the band-wagon with doodling with paint… though I think that this one is an advertisement too.

How much sleep do you need? Your sleep pattern

 Permalink:How much sleep do you need? Your sleep pattern
Apr 222013
 
By Mark Spencer, ITA Certified New Code and Classic Code NLP Trainer and Change Agent

In NLP we often focus on how to assist individuals and groups to perform at their best.Sleepy manOne thing that NLP doesn’t usually explicitly mention is that to perform well, you need to be in a state of readiness, which includes every aspect of your well-being.

One of the most important factors that will be impacting on your “State of Readiness” and flexibility is sleep. Identify your own sleeping pattern and ensuring you get the sleep you need is something that everyone can do to increase their capabilities. This article contains sections on Sleep debt, iPhone apps, and the recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation and what you can do and finally, Our opinion and what we might do as an NLP Practitioner which also contains some practical tips for you.

This article has been updated and re-published.

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. ~ JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

Insomnia

Lack of sleep ‘linked to early death’ from the BBC.

Not too little sleep, yet not too much, the experts advise in the BBC Article cited below.

Excerpt from the article
Getting less than six hours sleep a night can lead to an early grave, UK and Italian researchers have warned. They said people regularly having such little sleep were 12% more likely to die over a 25-year period than those who got an “ideal” six to eight hours. They also found an association between sleeping for more than nine hours and early death, although that much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health.


Sleep journal reports the findings, based on 1.5m people in 16 studies.

Professor Francesco Cappuccio, leader of the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the UK’s University of Warwick, said: “Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take and this pattern is more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift-work.”

“But having less than five hours a night suggests something is probably not right. “Five hours is insufficient for most people and being drowsy in the day increases your risk of having an accident if driving or operating dangerous machinery.”

Sleep is the best meditation.
Dalai Lama

Sleep deprivation and Stresses on the body

Other opinions

Get Some Sleep! an article relating sleep deprivation and the stresses our bodies where the assert that research has shown there are lots of health ailments related to chronic sleep deprivation, early onset Alzheimer’s being one of them.

Amyloid production- the gunk of Alzheimer’s pathology- tends to increase during periods of wakefulness and decrease when we fall asleep. Could this be why some people experience “sundowning” late in the day- since the amyloid factories have been producing…

Sleep Disorders

Police hit by sleep disorders from the ABC (Australia).

Excerpt from the article and study in US and Canada
…Then over a two-year follow up period, we looked at their occupational performance and safety and what we found is that those officers, that at base line showed sleep disorder symptoms were more likely to have poor occupational performance outcomes, make more errors at work, have more attentional lapses at work, be absent from work more and also fall asleep both at work and while driving significantly more.
How much Sleep?

How much sleep do our bodies need? from NineMSN

Excerpt from the article
…The sleep lab girls rise at 7am to see how they go again on the driving simulator and the reaction time test. This will determine how much sleep (or lack of it) affects you. Melissa:Her average reaction time after a sleepless night — 60 percent slower than the day before. Emma:After only four hours sleep, Emma is reacting 15 percent slower. Phoebe: Is four percent slower after a six-hour sleep. Lauren:Shows no change after sleeping for eight hours.
Yes, it is true — we do need around eight hours of sleep a night to perform optimally. If you can only manage six, your ability to function normally will only be slightly impaired, so long as this is a one-off occasion. Once you go below six hours on a regular basis, that’s when problems start occurring.

In Home Sleep Studies & CPAP Treatment For Apnoea (in Brisbane) and they have Research articles also.

Excerpt from the journal
Bad news for women who suffer from sleep apnoea. According to a study conducted by researchers at the UCLA School of Nursing, women with sleep apnoea experience a higher degree of brain damage than men with sleep apnoea. The findings are reported in the December 2012 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, ‘SLEEP’.

It has long been known that obstructive sleep apnoea is a serious ‘sleep disordered breathing’ condition. While the sufferer sleeps, the airway is blocked by soft tissue (such as the tongue, soft palate, uvula and/or pharyngeal wall) collapsing across it. Breathing stops for at least 10 seconds, more commonly much longer, before the body momentarily wakes and starts breathing again. (The sufferer is usually unaware of waking and has no recollection of doing so the next morning.) These breathing stoppages and arousals can happen hundreds of times per night.

How Much Sleep Do I Need? By Brandon Peters, M.D., About.com Guide, Updated February 05, 2010.

Sleep Debt

What happens if we don’t meet our sleep needs? By not getting enough sleep, we accumulate a sleep debt that we usually have to “pay off.” This might involve extra sleep by napping, going to bed early, or sleeping in to catch up. If we sleep less than our body needs to feel refreshed and don’t catch up we might experience:

  • Daytime sleepiness
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Poor thinking
  • Increased risk of accidents

Sleep Cycle Application for iPhone

I personally use this app and the key here is understanding potentially how deep your sleep has been and at what times you sleep best. You may also find if starting at 21:00, 22:00 or 23:00 gives you a higher amount of deep sleep. This application also tries to wake you up as close as it can to your more awake moments. It can track your progress and deep sleep percentage, your own comments and notes so that you can improve your chance of a good night’s sleep.

A well-spent day brings happy sleep.
Leonardo da Vinci

Sleep Cycle Analyzes Your Sleep Patterns for a Better Wake-Up

Identify your sleep pattern

Sleep Cycle uses your iPhone’s accelerometer to monitor your movements during the night and determine when you’re most likely in and out of a dream state. Before you go to bed, set the app’s alarm clock, then place your iPhone on the corner of your bed (putting it under the fitted sheet will keep it from sliding around). Sleep Cycle isn’t meant to be a scientific tool for people with medical sleep issues, but rather an unobtrusive way to get a little insight into your sleep patterns.

The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is a bio-alarm clock that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase.

Waking up in the lightest sleep phase feels like waking without an alarm clock – it is a natural way to wake up where you feel rested and relaxed.

I personally like the application as it allows me to record any metric or feeling that I might have before I sleep and these are customisable. ie. How much I ate, what sort of day I had, how stressed or tired or restless I might be etc.

Sleep Cycle iPhone Application is available from Lexware® Labs or Apple
Open iTunes to buy and download apps.

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. ~Dale Carnegie

National Sleep Foundation

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need? from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF)

Excerpt from National Sleep Foundation continued…

What You Can Do

To begin a new path towards healthier sleep and a healthier lifestyle, begin by assessing your own individual needs and habits. See how you respond to different amounts of sleep. Pay careful attention to your mood, energy and health after a poor night’s sleep versus a good one. Ask yourself, “How often do I get a good night’s sleep?” If the answer is “not often”, then you may need to consider changing your sleep habits or consulting a physician or sleep specialist. When Ellen’s family members began this process, they realized that often they weren’t getting what they would call a “good night’s sleep.” This led each of them to reevaluate how much sleep they needed and whether their sleep habits were healthy ones.

Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together. ~Thomas Dekker

To pave the way for better sleep, experts recommend that you and your family members follow these sleep tips:

  • Establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends
  • Create a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or listening to soothing music – begin an hour or more before the time you expect to fall asleep
  • Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool
  • Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows
  • Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex (keep “sleep stealers” out of the bedroom – avoid watching TV, using a computer or reading in bed)
  • Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime
  • Exercise regularly during the day or at least a few hours before bedtime
  • Avoid caffeine and alcohol products close to bedtime and give up smoking

If you or a family member are experiencing symptoms such as sleepiness during the day or when you expect to be awake and alert, snoring, leg cramps or tingling, gasping or difficulty breathing during sleep, prolonged insomnia or another symptom that is preventing you from sleeping well, you should consult your primary care physician or sleep specialist to determine the underlying cause. You may also try keeping a sleep diary to track your sleep habits over a one- or two-week period and bring the results to your physician.

People who snore always fall asleep first. ~Author Unknown

Most importantly, make sleep a priority. You must schedule sleep like any other daily activity, so put it on your “to-do list” and cross it off every night. But don’t make it the thing you do only after everything else is done – stop doing other things so you get the sleep you need.

Top

Our Opinion

We have listed a number of items you could consider here, some related to NLP and what we might advise in our practice, and some common sense.

What does your body already know

If you are experiencing difficulty sleeping, you could also contact your friendly NLP Practitioner who may also be able help to find a way to sleep better, having dealt with the underlying cause, whether the cause is known or unknown. This might be the end of it and you move to a better sleeping pattern.

At the end of the day, sleep is a barometer of your emotional health. And so if you’re not in the right place where you need to be, then you’re going to have voices keeping you up at night because you have to work through those issues.
Mehmet Oz

We have also had clients that we have taught new ways to breathe in preparation for sleeping. With a wrong perception of what deep breathing, and relaxed breathing and useful breathing might be, a person may continue to show signs of sleep apnoea. This is a possibility, but for chronic sufferers, see a specialised service for this condition.

There are many areas that can be looked into during a session. Sleep disorders or troubles can come from so many sources that the possibilities are many. We have had many clients come for something other than sleep, but their sleep is an outcome of fixing an underlying issue elsewhere in their life or body.

A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.
Albert Schweitzer

Removing or Adding Room Anchors

We can also recommend things such as recognising the anchors of what you do and have in your place of sleep and adjusting them if required. This might be learning new ways to let go, leave the day’s troubles behind you, sort out what might be bothering a person in general, how to breathe effectively, how you find relaxation alternatives for your life and other areas we could discuss. There may also be something (a physical item) that is calming that you might want to move into the room. Consider colours and there effect on your relaxation, where some may enhance and some might inhibit a relaxed state that leads to sound sleep. If these items trigger a thought of something you used to do like yoga, walking, meditation, music, singing or something else, consider taking them up again and see if this improves your sleep quality.

Change of Seasons

Also consider the affects of the change of season in your location and whether this is time to change the bedding weight, the windows, A/C, heating or your clothes, time to head to bed and what you do before you go to bed.

Animals

Observe the animals around you, or the ones you may remember as you grew up. For most animals, nothing gets in the way of their sleep. What can we learn by their habits? Except for nocturnal animals, they probably go to bed earlier, wake earlier, rest when they need to, have a 24 hour routine, find the best spot for their needs, and usually think of good things when they sleep. I don’t think sleep troubles many of them. What can we do differently?

Cats have it all – admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it. Rod McKuen

The bed itself

Your bed may be too old, not suiting your body type (maybe it never did, or hasn’t recently), or made with material that you are mildly irritated by, but don’t realise it. A lot may have happened in the last 10 years of your life relating to your size, shape and habits too. If any of these are a possibility, you could consider re-looking at what beds are available these days and getting something that suits your current needs.

With the rise of allergies in general and in some cases imposed by the materials used in manufacturing beds these days, you could also look at the possibility of moving away from synthetic, uncomfortable and/or heat retaining materials – to natural components such as Wool, Latex, Cotton, Coconut, wood (slats). There are even some B&B’s and hotels that advertise the fact that they have some specific beds that may allow you to try before you buy.

Medical advice

We have also recommended that some clients visit their doctor or naturopath (or whatever works for them in their own metaphors for well-being), to see if they have another (medical) underlying cause or if they are in such a state that a sleep deprived person may need some assistance to get a few good nights before they can implement any other changes. You may have a lack of a certain enzyme because of another aspect of your health and the knock-on affect is also your sleep.

If we don’t listen, nature might just take over

If this visiting a doctor doesn’t happen by your planning it, it sometimes happens by itself after an ailment or symptom arises, that ensures that the body gets the rest it needs. You can only stay sleep deprived for so long, and the body says enough is enough. Nature has its way of leveling our plans from time to time and it is when our bodies’ defences are down, we need to finally listen and get rest and sleep. If you have waited for your body to go on strike like this (and demand sleep and rest), it will unfortunately be accompanied by other symptoms.

I was proud of working 18 hours a day and sleeping three hours a night. It’s something now that has turned into a problem for me: not being able to sleep… having insomnia. Puff Daddy

Short cycle sleepers

Despite the few who claim that they do more and achieve great things with little sleep, the high performers are in my opinion rare. Maybe some get to a deep state of sleep quicker and more often. Few of these also add how often they take a 12 hour sleep once in a while, or suffer from regular ailments. If you are one that has regularly less than 6 hours sleep, assess how this averages out with the long sleeps and how often or adjust for the amount of sickness or periods of poor performance you may experience. Is there are correlation between average sleep time and longevity or other measures? Not sure.

Other related articles related to Sleep

Your core rhythm You can’t work if you don’t sleep How we track time

People say, ‘I’m going to sleep now,’ as if it were nothing. But it’s really a bizarre activity. ‘For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I’m going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.’

If you didn’t know what sleep was, and you had only seen it in a science fiction movie, you would think it was weird and tell all your friends about the movie you’d seen.

They had these people, you know? And they would walk around all day and be OK? And then, once a day, usually after dark, they would lie down on these special platforms and become unconscious. They would stop functioning almost completely, except deep in their minds they would have adventures and experiences that were completely impossible in real life. As they lay there, completely vulnerable to their enemies, their only movements were to occasionally shift from one position to another; or, if one of the ‘mind adventures’ got too real, they would sit up and scream and be glad they weren’t unconscious anymore. Then they would drink a lot of coffee.’

So, next time you see someone sleeping, make believe you’re in a science fiction movie. And whisper, ‘The creature is regenerating itself’.
― George Carlin, Brain Droppings

New Course Schedule is out for 2013

 Permalink:New Course Schedule is out for 2013
Mar 172013
 

We have published our new course schedule for 2013. There is a quick summary of the main courses presented here, and the complete details with pricing are on our main training site – RealNLPTraining.com

Take advantage now of the Super Early Bird discounts until the end of April 2013, where you can save up to $2000 on the whole combo pack to become an NLP Practitioner. Also, for only $300 you can sample our training by attending the NLP Introduction weekend, which is actually the first 2 days of the full course. So if you stay on, there is no loss; if you decide it is not for you at this time, you will have skills to take away with you your investment in the weekend.

Course Brief Details Links

Level 1: NLP Foundations Intro Weekend

The starting point, taster, start learning some new skills
  • Pre-requisite: None
  • Study Mode: 1 Weekend Face-to-face training & Skype tutorial
  • Assessment: None
 See on our training website

Level 2: NLP Foundations

Foundations, getting grounded, working with self
  • Pre-requisite: Level 1: Introduction to NLP
  • Study Mode: 3 Weekends Face-to-face training & Skype tutorial On-Line Learning
  • Assessment: None
 See on our training website

Level 3: NLP Practitioner

Working with others
  • Pre-requisite: Level 2: NLP Foundations
  • Study Mode: 4 Weekends Face-to-face training & Skype tutorial On-Line Learning
  • Assessment: Practical and Written assessments with Case Studies
 See on our training website

Level 1-3: NLP Practitioner Combo
  • Pre-requisite: None
  • Study Mode: 9 Weekends (Total) Face-to-face training & Skype tutorial On-Line Learning
  • Assessment: Practical and Written assessments with Case Studies
 See on our training website

Healing and deep bond with your daughter can start with a poem

 Permalink:Healing and deep bond with your daughter can start with a poem
Mar 152013
 
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA Certified New Code and Classic Code NLP Trainer and Change Agent

Are you a Mum and have a daughter? Do you want to pass down strong and powerful messages that builds your daughter’s self esteem and wanting to heal your own?

Our sense of self can be passed down from generations to generations! We want generations of healthy, happy and strong woman to build a better world!

Our sense of self can be passed down from generations to generations! We want generations of healthy, happy and strong woman to build a better world!

 

To help grow our daughters into healthy, maturer and happy young woman to have a great life of her own, we mothers need to start by healing our own hurts and build our own self esteem. You can start by reading this poem with your daughters:

Self-Esteem

by Virginia Satir

I AM ME
In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me
Everything that comes out of me is authentically me
Because I alone chose it – I own everything about me
My body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions,
Whether they be to others or to myself – I own my fanatasies,
My dreams, my hopes, my fears – I own all my triumphs and
Successes, all my failures and mistakes Because I own all of
Me, I can become intimately acquainted with me – by so doing
I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts – I know
There are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other
Aspects that I do not know – but as long as I am
Friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously
And hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles
And for ways to find out more about me – However I
Look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever
I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically
Me – If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought
And felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is
Unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that
Which I discarded – I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do
I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be
Productive to make sense and order out of the world of
People and things outside of me – I own me, and
therefore I can engineer me – I am me and
I AM OKAY

These are powerful words, and have asked many of my clients to read this poem with their daughters and create little booklets together to build stronger and healthier mother & daughter relationships.

Three years on and after many successful stories from clients, this method really does work and the level of healing that it creates is just wonderful!

So, I like to share this with you and feel free to share with others!

Sonya

 Posted by on March 15, 2013 at 12:59  Mixed  Comments Off

Break Free from your Blind Spot in Five Steps

 Permalink:Break Free from your Blind Spot in Five Steps
Feb 272013
 
By Sonya Yeh Spencer, ITA Certified New Code and Classic Code NLP Trainer and Change Agent
Are you blinded by your Blind Spot?

Are you blinded by your Blind Spot?

Is your “Blind Spot” stopping your from living the life you deserve? The success, relationships, money, career progression, health, spiritual development and ultimately, your happiness!

I was doing a six months follow up with a client today and part of her reply was:

“To tell you the truth, before coming to you I never thought what I was doing or acting needed to be changed. But now I can see the difference, it just makes you want to be better and better.”

Do you have a Blind Spot?

She had a “Blind Spot” due to her conditioning.

Our “Blind Spot” keeps us in the invisible cage! It stop us from growing and developing and living the life we want! Every day I look for opportunities to identify my blind spot and I take 100% responsibility to break through it! The thought of staying in the invisible cage is unbearable, the consequence of not breaking from it, is unthinkable. Can you afford not to break free? Not to live the life you want? Not to realise your potential?

This conditioning can be passed down through generations!

Things that are held as the absolute “truth”, that are reinforced in our thinking, feeling and behaviour that matches what we think and feel, which leads to results that confirm what we think was right! In other words, we are in a loop, a self fulfilling prophecy. Rather than understanding that the result that we have observed is in fact the product of the way we think and feel (from our own perspective). It is not the “truth”!

If you are feeling things are not happening in the way that works for you, yet don’t know what is not right or feel stuck and can’t get out the unwanted pattern – it is time that you look at what are the things you hold as “truth” in the context you want to change. It can be about success, money, setting up a business, finding a partner, whatever that is – ask yourself, where is my Blind Spot? Your job is to break free from it, so you can step up in life! Because if you don’t and keep repeating the same pattern over and over and over, what would become of you?

Find your Blind Spot today and set your self free!

Break Free from Your Blind Spot in 5 Steps

1Your current Belief, let’s start with what you believe about, say success, all the rules that says “If you want to be successful, you must ……”. How about we look at what we believe about money? What are the rules that says “if you want to have money you must ……”. Another one is about relationships, especially your role in the relationship, ask yourself what do you believe about how you should be treated, how your role should behave, what men or women want in a relationship and “A good relationship must ……”.

2Is it “True” and is it my belief or someone else’s belief? How do you know what you have stated above are all true? Do you see a pattern from your parents, extended families, friends and others you encounter? Are you in the context that re-enforces how you think and feel is the “normal” thing to do. Is it really your belief or someone else’s belief that you are conditioned to think it is true for you? Does this belief support your well-being? Are you happy about it? If it is your own belief and it is not work for you and you are in a context that re-enforce it. Then you also need to think, “Do I really want to be in this context?”

3What would you rather believe? If what you think are the “truths”, are in fact not set in concrete and only but someone else’s “opinion”. What kind of belief would work for you? If you know, there must be another set of beliefs that better suit what you want in life but don’t know what they are. You are at the edge of your current knowledge and world view. To break through it and expand your horizon, you can actively look for different examples or role models. For instance, if you think “I can’t make more than $30K a year, because I do not have a University degree and now I am too old to go to Uni and I can’t learn new things because I am 40″, then, look for examples “disprove” your thinking, and create a new thinking that supports what you want in life.

4Consolidate your Paradigm! How does having this new thinking feel? Does it feel right? Does it feel natural? Does it feel you can take it as yours and act accordingly? If the answer is “YES”, congratulations! If not, well, that is because this is new, and it represents a different paradigm. It is like the road that is most traveled, the path is clearer and easier to travel through. A belief is only the thinking that most thought of. So, to adopt your new paradigm, think about it as often as you can (I am a bit obsessive when it comes to changing my own paradigms and often think over and over, day in day out, and put little notes that remind me of it in different places in the house, in my purse and anywhere I can think of.), think of all the evidence and examples you have find a paradigm that supports you (for some people they just know what they want to believe is right for them and don’t seems to need external validations), and see yourself adopting this new thinking pattern and behaving accordingly. You will experience a sense of familiarity and soon it will feel right to you, and behaving according until it feels right!

5Act on it, gain experience with it and modify it if you need to It is important to gain experience with your paradigm by adopting a different behaviour, according to it. If you act the same way, you will always get the same results. Make a change, do something different, help yourself learn like when you were younger. Changing your thinking and breaking through your “Blind Spot” is a learning exercise. The more you act according to the new thinking, the more you learn, the more it will work for you, the more you will change and accelerate your development!

The steps above use simple NLP techniques and I have used it again and again on myself as well as on my clients.

Our “Blind Spot” keeps us in the invisible cage! It stops us from growing and developing and living the life we want! Every day I look for opportunities to identify my blind spot and I take 100% responsibility to break through it! The thought of staying in the invisible cage is unbearable, the consequence of not breaking from it, is unthinkable. Can you afford not to break free? Not to live the life you want? Not to realise your potential?

Break Free, stay strong and step up in life!

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