NLP, French Fries, and Shrimp

So this weekend I took an NLP course at SWIHA. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. "Simply put - we all make pictures in our minds. When we hold a picture for a period of time (even subconsciously) we feel the emotions that are attached to the picture; our behavior is influenced, even directed by these emotions. 


Change the picture & change the emotions. The behavior shifts too. 

NLP is the art and science of using language (other's and self-talk) to change the pictures in our mind so we can experience more productive behavior on a consistent basis. 

Much of our behavior is driven by Subconscious Drivers. Subconscious Drivers are deep in your mind below your conscious awareness; they dictate where you focus your attention. They provide movement either towards the things you want (pleasure) or away from the things you don't want (pain). You have different Subconscious Drivers for all areas of your life: family, relationships, career, health, spirituality, etc. 

If you are not getting the results you desire in one (or more) areas of your life, chances are you have Subconscious Drivers in that area which are focused more on avoiding pain than gaining pleasure" (George Gillas, www.januscenter.com). 

So we were discussing how to use this technique that works with our Subconscious Drivers to change something we like with a picture of something we really dislike. This technique works best with foods and drinks. For example, in past classes, one girl loved dark soda, but for health reasons she wanted to quite drinking it, She hated dark beer, and that being a similar picture to dark soda she was guided through the technique to change her picture. That night she tried to drink dark soda and couldn't because all she could imagine was that it was dark beer. She quite drinking soda, and lost a lot of weight because of it. 

So our teacher, George, was asking for someone to do a demo and wanted examples so he could choose. A few people went around the room. One loved beer and wanted to change it to urine. When he got to me I said, "French Fries!" He was like, "Huh. What would you change that to?" My answer? Shrimp. When he asked why, I told him it was the closest thing I could picture to a french fry and is something that totally disgusts me. The taste, texture, look, the idea of it, makes me want to gag. George decided that my example was really interesting and wanted to try it. I got up in front of the class and was the demo person. 

Let me explain the french fry thing first. I have a love/hate relationship with french fries. I have loved them my whole life. I rarely go out to a fast food place at all, let alone to get FFs, however, I have worked in restaurants for 7 years. The restaurant I work at now has really good FFs, and they are so tempting. I never seem to have the will power to not eat one. Even if it's one from a co-workers plate. It normally turns into two or three, or I end up ordering a meal with FFs, just so I can have more FFs. Or I get them from the cooks. But FFs have to be one of the WORST foods out there! They are so unhealthy. I know this. I know they're not good for me. But that doesn't stop me. When I eat them, I experience pleasure from the taste, but guilt and degrading self-talk. Ok, back to the demo... 


If you want more details about the technique, I can give them to you, but explaining it right now would take too much time. After the demo was over, we went on a lunch break. He wanted me to buy french fries and try them. Unfortunately I had brought my lunch and had a planned study group date with some Hypno students. But, clever as George is, he had someone later go get some McDonald FFs and bring them to class that evening. In front of everyone he presented them to me. He really wanted me to try as hard as I could to eat one. Maybe he assumed I wouldn't even get it in my mouth, however, I bit into it. Fortunately for me, the french fry was already disgusting, but as I chewed on it, I began to picture shrimp and what it would be like to eat one. I didn't want anymore! 

So, long story short (ya, right), whenever I think of french fries, I will forever think of shrimp. Which I hate... and now connect to french fries. 

My latest happenings

Well, today has been pretty chill. I slept in. Did some yoga. (Which I am not skilled at in any way). But it felt really good to stretch.

I have been pretty busy with school. My nutrition class is almost over and I have a big project due tomorrow. Better get started! My hypnotherapy classes have been really awesome. This past thursday we had a guest teacher who has a practice in Neuro Linguistic Programming. He was really funny, as well as knowledgeable. This class was so interesting that I didn't loose attention for the whole four hours. I can't wait to take his class in December.

Last night, I bought plane tickets to go back to Missouri and see all of my beautiful friends and I can't wait!!! I am so excited to see my girlfriend and all of my good friends. They are like my family. The only problem: it's gonna be freezing! I couldn't have picked a worse month to visit (February). Oh well, it will be just enough time to realize that I really do love Arizona. If only I could bring all of my friends here. But I am really lucky because my best friend moved out here with me. However, we are no longer friends. Long story. But that kinda stuff happens I guess. And one of my friends that was my classmate at the School of Metaphysics moved out here and we are now room mates. We are quickly becoming closer as friends. Speaking of the School of Metaphysics, I just posted a blog of a video of what my divine friends are up to.

VISIONS: #1 Building a Great World House

And so it begins... A blog...

Today I went to work. It was pretty slow. Nothing too fantastic. I spent all my tip money on groceries. Got lots of fruits and veggies and some coconut milk. An assignment from my Nutrition teacher was to try a different kind of milk, such as almond, hemp, oat, coconut, etc, because cow's milk contains pus cells. Gross, I know. You can research more about it for yourself on sites like http://milk.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000969. We also have to watch Food, Inc. If you haven't seen this documentary yet, I highly recommend it; however, it is graphic in some scenes. But, it's important to know where our food is coming from.  It really is awful the way animals are treated, handled, and slaughtered to become our food. BTW, I am not a vegetarian, just to make that clear. I do eat meat. And now that I live in an area that has farmer's markets, I have started to get my meat from farmers who practice safe techniques and who feed their cattle grass. 

This evening I attended my Hypnotherapy class. I absolutely love it. My teacher is amazing. Which is great, because I will have her through my whole program. Most of my classmates I don't know, so it will be a great opportunity to make new friends. I have a few friends from my Intuitive Studies class, though, who were in my Polarity basics class. We're all in the same degree program, so it's nice to see some familiar faces. I still don't have very many friends here in AZ...Next week we get to start our initial practices with other classmates. I'm just so excited about school and everything I'm learning.