Enhance Your Lifestyle With NLP+© Series: Part 17

By: Shantanu Das Sharma, Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group

Quick recap of what we have covered in Part 16

Your Emotional States Are Self-Created

Your State Is Affected By Your Physiology

Your State Is Affected By Your Internal Representation

Are Failures, Rejections and Obstacles Experienced By All?

We Create Procrastination & Motivation

Take Charge of Your Physiology

KOLKATA: Directing your physiology is one of the most powerful ways of managing your states. In those times when you felt powerful, motivated and confident, it was because the elements of your physiology were in the right place. When you were feeling off-color and unenthusiastic, your physiology was not in an optimum mode. In last article, we said that every state has a specific physiology associated to it. For you to get depressed, your physical body must be configured in a certain way. If we didn’t shift the elements of our body into a slack state, our brain will not be able to access the state of depression. We do it so often and subconsciously that many of us have become experts at feeling down. Or even becoming really depressed, haven’t we? Now, it is very important for you to not just understand this intellectually, but to fully participate in the activities so you can experience first-hand how directing and shifting your physiology can make such a great impact on your state of mind.

Exercise 1 – Get into a State of Feeling Really Bored and Tired

What I want you to do is to get into a state of feeling really bored and tired. Sit the way you would be sitting if you felt totally bored and tired. Now, I know this may sound a little strange, but I want you to really give it your best. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being extremely bored, I want you to imagine that you are at a 10! Breathe the way you would if you felt totally bored. How would you look? What would your facial expression be like?

Now, say to yourself what you would normally say if you were totally bored and tired (say it in the exact same way!). Go ahead and do this now.

How do you feel? Now, if you had really participated, you would have felt a state change. You would have felt yourself getting bored and tired. Now, what happened to your physiology? What was your posture like? Where were your shoulders? Where was your head position? What did you say to yourself? How did you say it? How did you breathe? Now, typically for most people, their physiology for bored and tired would be what you see below.

Posture Shoulders slouched forward, Head hanging down
Eyes Looking down, Unfocused
Breathing Shallow and slow
Voice Tone Low volume, Low pitch
Muscle Tension Relaxed, Tension in the neck
Facial Expression Mouth closed and narrow, Muscles droopy

This is your physiological recipe for getting bored and tired! As you can see, it takes a lot of effort to get into a certain state. It’s just that you have been doing it for so many years you have become quite an expert at slipping into this state.

Now, Snap Out of Boredom by Changing Your Physiology

Well, what will happen if you were to take someone who is in a lousy state like this and totally change his physiology? Not changing just one or two elements, but changing everything as per the last right hand column!

Posture Shoulders slouched forward, Head hanging down Shoulders back, Head up
Eyes Looking down, Unfocused Body upright
Breathing Shallow and slow Looking up, Eyes wide, Focused
Voice Tone Low volume, Low pitch Louder, Faster, Higher pitch
Muscle Tension Relaxed, Tension in the neck Tension in hands & shoulders
Facial Expression Mouth closed and narrow, Muscles droopy Mouth wide, Tension in cheeks

If you were to massively change someone’s physiology, they would immediately experience a change in state! You would immediately feel more energized and expectant! I know this sounds very simplistic, but this is how your body controls your state of mind.

How People Usually Manage their States

The notion of changing your physical body to change your states is nothing new. All the gurus who teach yoga, meditation, qi gong and tai chi are masters at changing the physical body to effect a complete change of state… from a stressed, tense state to one of complete relaxation and ‘stillness’. All this is of course taught consciously and the health benefits are enormous. But many people, unfortunately, use external stimuli to change their physical bodies and their states, which is generally not at all good for them in the long term. For example, people use junk food, coffee, drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, all of which alter their biochemistry and change how they feel temporarily. (Unfortunately the negative effects of such addictive foods and drugs on their physical body are long term.) Some people I know smoke to change their states, especially to calm their nerves from stress and anxiety.

Well, why does smoking change your state? It is not so much the chemicals that do the job. Rather, it is the fact that by inhaling, you are taking deep slow breaths. And that is why you feel calmer and more relaxed. Next time, save money, just puff deeply on a pen. I bet you will get the same effects. A strategy some people use to change their states, which are rather useful and beneficial, is to exercise. I am sure you have experienced a time when you felt frustrated, depressed or stressed. When you went out for a run or a game of tennis, what happened? You immediately forgot you were depressed! That is because exercising massively changes your entire physiology: the brain cannot access the depressed state any more.

But what happened when you stopped exercising? You gradually got depressed again, didn’t you? However, this means that you do have the ability to shift completely out of negative states in an instant; you just need to take control over it. And you don’t need external devices to change your states; you can do it by consciously taking charge of your physiology.

Exercise 2 – Experiencing a Change in State

Now, I want you to experience how powerful a state change can be. Get back into your bored and tired state by putting yourself in a bored and tired physiology. The moment you feel that you’re in this lousy state, I want you to clap your hands and change your entire physiology! Get into the new physiology of energy and excitement!

Test this out now!

Posture Shoulders slouched forward, Head hanging down Shoulders back, Head up
Eyes Looking down, Unfocused Body upright
Breathing Shallow and slow Looking up, Eyes wide, Focused
Voice Tone Low volume, Low pitch Louder, Faster, Higher pitch
Muscle Tension Relaxed, Tension in the neck Tension in hands & shoulders
Facial Expression Mouth closed and narrow, Muscles droopy Mouth wide, Tension in cheeks

Did you feel the state change? I am sure you did.

This means that anytime you need to get into a more resourceful state, you can consciously change your physiology and your state will change. The more you do this, the more natural it will become. Now, unless you totally change your physiology, it is impossible for you to change your state, In other words, if you remain in a physiology of procrastination, it is not possible for you to feel motivated! That is why I find it ironic when people tell me that no matter what they do, they cannot seem to get motivated. It is because they say it (unconsciously) with the most bored physiology and tonality possible. First thing I say is, ‘Change your physiology! Move faster! Breathe faster! Speak louder, faster and with more enthusiasm!’

Exercise 3 – Get into the State of Being Totally Depressed

Let’s do this really simple experiment. I want you to get into the physiology of being totally depressed. How would you sit if you were totally depressed? Breathe the way you would breathe. Have a look of total depression on your face. Now, without changing any part of your physiology, I want you to try to feel happy. Remaining in a totally depressed physiology, try to get into a happy state. Can you? No. It’s impossible. This is so obvious that it sounds ridiculous. But in reality, we complain of not being able to get motivated, confident and relaxed when we keep putting our physiology in a totally collapsed posture. Please bear in mind that once you know how to manage your states, it doesn’t mean that external events can never affect you.

It doesn’t mean that you will never get upset or lazy anymore! I still have my fair share of lazy states that I get into. The only difference is that now you can choose to be in control and begin to shift yourself into a more resourceful state, as and when you need to bring out the best out in yourself.

You Can Direct Yourself into Peak States for Peak Performance

One of the most powerful ways I have used this is in the area of lifestyle coaching. As a personal mastery coach, I am expected to be in a peak state every time I step into a session. It is only when I am in a peak state of confidence and power that I can get my session across in the most dynamic way. And it is the only way I can elicit those same powerful states from the participant. The challenge is that I am in session virtually every single day and sometime more than one session a day. Many people have often asked me, ‘Where do you get your energy? How do you get so confident and motivated all the time?’ The only reason I am able to constantly get myself into state in sessions is because I totally take charge of my entire physiology. I can assure you that there have been many times when I was in a totally different state just before I got in the session. There have been many times when I felt nervous, worried and even upset because of external events. But just before I get into my sessions, I would get myself into a physiology of total confidence and motivation! I would remember how I would sit, how I would gesture, the tone of voice I would use, the expression on my face and the tension in my muscles. I would then adopt that very same physiology and wham! I would stride up and perform at my peak as the charismatic influencer, mentor, guide and coach!

Multi-Tasking and Peak Physiology

The only way I managed to write all my articles, books, juggling writing with a hectic work schedule, was through using this technique as well. The biggest challenge about writing a book or articles series like this one is that after the first chapter or first article in the series, you inevitably lose the initial excitement, get stuck with ideas and feel overwhelmed.  This is what causes most authors to procrastinate and eventually give up. Either that or they take years to write a book or continue with the article series. It’s not that they lack the ideas or the time, they just have to wait to get into a motivated and creative state before they can write easily. As for me, I couldn’t give myself the luxury of waiting for the creative juices to start flowing naturally. If I did, this book or my articles series would never have been completed and published or released week after week. I would never have met my target of writing two articles in one week, while running coaching company and being on stage speaking often. Whenever I scheduled the time to write a chapter or article, I would put myself into a state of total motivation and creativity. I would get into this state by mimicking the physiology I was in, in the recent past, when I was in a peak state. The minute I got into state, I would write non-stop for hours, and the words would just flow. This was especially useful when I had to begin writing at 1 am after finishing a hectic coaching and work schedule during the day.

Choose To Fake it Till You Make it!

Have you ever wanted to be absolutely confident in certain situations when you were feeling unsure? Would it be empowering for you to get into a state of being totally motivated instead of feeling the usual lethargy? Or how about changing your fear of going on stage to feeling enthusiastic and relaxed when you have to face an audience? How much would it change the results you are able to produce in life? Well you can!

All you have to do is to put yourself in that physiology of excellence! If you want to feel confident, all you have to do is to adopt the total physiology of confidence. If you want to feel motivated, adopt the physiology of motivation.

This is called the ‘Act as if…’ principle. If you want to feel a certain state, act as if you were already in that state. Remember that confidence, motivation and excitement are nothing but emotional states that you have experienced in the past. If you could access these states in a past situation, those same resources are available to you now! All you have to do is to model the exact same physiology you were in when you experienced it previously.

Choose Getting Yourself into a State of Confidence

Imagine that you are going to make a presentation, which you have prepared for but, as usual, you don’t feel confident at all. And it has been this lack of confidence that has affected your performance in the past. How do you get yourself into a confident state? If you think about it, I am sure there has been a time in the past when you felt totally confident. There was definitely a time you were able to access a state of total confidence. Think of the last time when you felt really confident doing something you were good at. Go back to that time and adopt the same physiology you were in. Stand the way you were standing. Breathe the way you were breathing. Have the same tension in your face, arms and hands. Have the same focus in your eyes. Now, say to yourself what you would normally say when you are feeling totally confident. Use the exact same tone and volume! If you had followed this exercise conscientiously, do you now feel that confident state? I bet you do!

As long as you have accessed a particular state in the past, your mind and body can re-create it by accessing the past resources. This is what is known as modeling the physiology of excellence!

(I facilitate Thought Leaders, Change Makers; Professionals & Business Owners translate NLP concepts into actions to achieve and elicit personal excellence. I conduct NLP Lifestyle Coaching Certification programs for individuals, corporate and celebrity clients. We will discuss in detail ‘Steps To Modeling Your Physiology Of Excellence’ in the next article and after that you will come to know in subsequent articles, how you can utilise concepts of NLP+ in all walks of your life to replicate the success blueprint of a winner mindset to win through life.  So, stay tuned every Monday & Saturday and fasten your seat belt to ‘Enhance Your Lifestyle With NLP+’)

My #1 Amazon Best Selling book ‘Awaken The Incredible Within – Incredible Is The New Giant’ is available at Amazon in English at  http://bit.ly/Awaken-The-Incredible-Within

Shantanu Das Sharma, Creator of the concept NLP Lifestyle Coaching with NLP+, Founder of Neuromind Leadership Academy is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author, NLP Lifestyle Master Trainer & Coach, Clean Language Facilitator & Strategic Interventionist.  

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