My friend in England raved to me one day about her experiences de-stressing her life and de-cluttering fixated, stuck emotions with something called NLP.

NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

It’s a fascinating way to clear the clutter of negative words, triggers and emotions from your mind and your life in the process.  

Neuro-Linguistic Programming was developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. John Grinder graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in psychology. Grinder later received a Ph.D in linguistics from the University of California San Diego. Grinder later met Richard Bandler, at the University of Santa Cruz, where Bander was studying psychology.

Together, John Grinder and Richard Bandler developed NLP.

This is the idea that the language we use to speak to others and ourselves, not only affects our neurological system which modulates the functions of our body, but it also programs our behavior and creates our reality.

There are two fundamental principles of NLP that are described by the NLP University website:

1. The only thing we can know as human-beings is our own perception of reality. The way we experience the world and know reality is based on our, “sensory representational system”. Reality as we conceive of it, “our neuro-linguistic maps” are what guides our behaviors and manifests our reality.

2. The life around us, our own mind, and our universe are all comprised of co-existing systematic processes which rely on each other and interact to have an effect on one another. As any systematic process in nature, we seek for homeostasis and balance between all functions.

Welcome to the Swish Technique:

The swish technique is used to quickly and effectively change how negative memories and thoughts impact you. It allows a person to disconnect from the feeling and replace it with a more positive, empowering thought.

It is a way to rewire or re-program your mind so that situations and triggers that were once uncomfortable or anxiety provoking, no longer carry the same negativity and are instead replaced with positivity.

The four basic elements needed for the Swish Technique are:

1. An unwanted feeling
2. A trigger, a thought or image that brings negative emotions
3. Checking yourself – know your ideas are irrational
4. Having a replacement image – envisioning yourself the way you would like to ideally react

Identify the unwanted feeing you would like to replace. It could be before a big meeting where you feel anxiety speaking in a formal setting or simply getting in the passenger seat of a car.

Note what your trigger is: what do you see (specific images) before you have this unwanted feeling?

Here’s a refinement from NLP Now, stressing the fact that you want to use this for negative emotions but not to replace a need to take practical actions:

“The Swish must only be used where the situation does not require practical action. For example, if you have run up debts and are worried by these you could use the Swish to stop feeling bad – but unless you take practical action rather than just use the Swish you would end up in serious financial difficulty.”

What comfortable emotion would you like to replace the unpleasant emotion that the trigger is evoking?  Enrich this memory by actually envisioning yourself feeling the emotion and try to relive it over and over in your memory.

How do you want to feel instead?Select your replacement feeling – the one you want the current trigger to evoke. Spend a while reliving this pleasant or empowering moment to make the memory richer. This repetition will make it stick and more powerful.

You can try the “Swish” to turn a temptation into a motivation, a bad feeling into a positive one, a series of memory loops into positive imaging… it’s… so… fun… and it works!

NLP Now provides an alternate version of the Swish that you can also try, a bit different from the gorgeous animated video above, yet equally simple:

1. Think of the Trigger image and…

2. Place a tiny version of the Replacement image somewhere on the Trigger image and

3. Instantly have the Replacement image get bigger and clearer – as the Trigger image disappears behind it

4. ‘Break state’ briefly – i.e. look around you, check your watch, etc.

That’s Round 1. You need to do about 5-7 Rounds to wire-in the new programme.

Do it quicker each time e.g. first round in no more than 5 seconds then 4, 3, 2, and 1 seconds and a final two or three Rounds at 1 second each.

There’s no need to try to get your images to change perfectly – just quickly. Aim for speed rather than accuracy.”  (more HERE) 

If you try the Swish, let me know how it goes! It’s so easy and it re-wires patterns in such a bright, visual way, turning negatives into positives.

Of course, keeping your home and life clear of triggers and clutter is the ultimate way to create space for the new and amazing. So clear all that clutter and soar!!!

xoxo

Dana

P.S.: If you want to really immerse yourself in the light of joy so much more, my favorite Feng Shui and cutting-edge energy-shifting tools that I use almost every day are HERE for you in the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox! 

I’m so excited to share this with you!!!

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