In the beginning...

As mentioned in an earlier post, my journey began when I came across the term NLP somewhere on the web. After a short web search, I came to find out that NLP was related to hypnosis and often I'd come across testimonials of amazing and incredulous stories. This peaked my interest and provoked my skepticism, so I began to read articles and surf sites related to NLP.

After a couple days of web searches, I began to get an idea of what NLP and hypnosis were and still interested, I began reading books on the subject. The first book I read was "Using Your Brain For A Change." I think I finished that book the same day I checked it out of the library. I was so interested in the topic that I kept on reading book after book. I read most of the books like a novel, but whenever I came across an exercise, I tried it out. I didn't know anyone else that was interested in this stuff and I also didn't think any of my friends would be interested, so I kept it to myself and did the exercises alone. Even after reading a lot of books and doing the exercises, I didn't notice any type of change personally, so I wasn't convinced that this stuff worked. Still, there was something about it that kept me interested and I decided to pursue live training.

I went to an 8 day accelerated NLP Practitioner training and trained with Curtis Cherrington of Align 2 Success. I researched a lot of different trainers and organizations and decided to go to that one because it was the most convenient (near where I lived and took place on the weekends) and was backed by the Society of NLP, which was created by Richard Bandler (co-founder of NLP). It was pretty pricey - on the scale of a couple thousand bucks. Man. That's a lot. But still, something compelled me to do it.

I began thinking about learning how to do hypnosis a long time ago and I really wanted to satisfy my curiosity. The main question I asked myself was: Is it worth the money to find out? I think I finally convinced myself by thinking if I do it and it doesn't do anything for me, I'll have wasted a lot of money, sure. But what if it does work? What if there is some truth to the stories that I read? What if...? Granted, there are ways to learn this stuff without making a large monetary investment. But for me, I decided it would be more convenient, faster and beneficial to do the live training.

The training itself was pretty good, and that's coming from an analytic skeptic like me.

I got along really well with Curtis (the trainer). We seemed to have a good amount in common and shared similar views concerning NLP and hypnosis. He seems to really care about whether his students understand the material or not. And I think that's genuine, even though the skeptic in me keeps thinking "He gets paid to get in rapport with you. Of course he shares your views. Of course you have things in common." etc, etc... Either way, he's a nice guy. I like him. And that's what matters... That, and the fact that I think he's good at what he does and if he was simply manipulating me - oh well, more proof that he's good at what he does and that's fine with me, too. Also, he didn't act like a salesman at all. Everything I can remember him offering was in the best interest of the participants and that was usually in response to a request. He didn't try to sell us on his next training seminar or anything like that. In fact, he even offered us another great opportunity at the end of the training, no money involved.

As for the training itself - the concepts were presented clearly, we had a good group, and we got lots of chances to practice and experience NLP and hypnosis in action. We went through different exercises with each other and at the end of most days, Curtis did a group induction, putting us in a nice trance and giving suggestions to our unconscious to find new ways to integrate and review what we learned over the next few days and nights, in our dreams and what not.

During the training, I was formally "hypnotized" for the first time. That was interesting. One thing I can say is that it wasn't what I expected. At the time, I was aware of everything, so I still had doubts about whether I went "under." But I was sure about one thing - I did feel pretty damned relaxed, despite having to sit in some cheap, uncomfortable hotel chairs.

Overall, in the 8 days we spent together, things went pretty smoothly and fairly well. Since I had done a fair amount of reading on the subject prior to attending the training, I was fairly familiar with the concepts and I didn't get very many new insights during the lectures. The best parts or the training for me were the exercises, the practice, and the people I met there.

After finishing the training, I didn't feel very different, though. I didn't feel very competent with the material and I wasn't about to give one of those crazy, incredulous testimonials describing how much my life had been changed by NLP and the training. Shit, in fact, I wasn't very impressed with any changes or my level of proficiency at all. Did I just waste my money on all of it? Was it all just a scam?

Those thoughts ran through my mind. But I also thought that I had to at least give an honest effort to really learn this stuff and become competent with it, since I had already made such a large investment. By that time, I had a good conceptual understanding of NLP and would have done well on a written test of the models, techniques, and other such material. But, had I been asked to demonstrate my competency, I didn't feel very confident that I would have done well at all (but I could definitely fumble my way through it.)

And anyways, what can you really expect from only about a week of training? A lot of material was covered and it takes practice and experience to really "get it" and become competent as a practitioner. I truly believe that, regardless of what all of the advertisements imply and some even claim (which reminds me of how much I hate certain marketing tactics and advertisement claims, but that's a rant for another day.)

As for my development in NLP, after the training and the books I've read, I definitely have a good foundation upon which to further develop my skills. (Although, it would've been nice to feel more proficient at the end of the training than I did at the time.) More practice and demonstrations would've helped, but that can only teach you so much. I think you have to go out and do it in the real world, with non-seminar participants like friends, family, strangers and the like. That's where the real learning begins. So looking back, I think I got most of what I could have gotten out of the training (well, maybe I could've been taken deeper into trance so that I was absolutely convinced that I was under.)

Surprisingly, a little while after the training, I started to notice some pretty odd things. The things I noticed had actually started occurring before the training ended, I just didn't realize it. Now whether these things I noticed were related to the training, or just a coincidence, I don't know. Regardless, it was pretty cool.

Something to keep in mind before I list what I noticed is that during the training we did a lot of exercises. Most of the exercises had to do with making some type of behavioral change. For example, we did some exercises that were designed to help us remove limiting beliefs, change certain behaviors, etc. Some of the things I had wanted to change had to do with my desire and habit of drinking a lot of soda, eating fast food often, working out (I wanted to work out more), and waking up earlier in the morning without hitting the snooze button so many times. Anyways, here's what I noticed:

1) I noticed that soda didn't taste quite as good. At first I thought it was the soda machine and that I had just gotten a bad mix. But after a couple weeks of drinking fountain, bottled, and canned soda I started to think it was just me. My friends helped confirm things. The soda tasted normal to them. It only tasted bad to me. That was pretty shocking. As a result, I don't get as much pleasure from drinking soda and now drink primarily water. yay.

2) I noticed I wasn't as satisfied with fast food. I used to really enjoy eating fast food - it actually tasted really good to me. Nowadays, it doesn't really satisfy me in the same way. I still eat fast food. But now it's primarily because of the convenience, not because I desire it and want it. It's more of a last resort for me now (just before resorting to cooking up my own food, that is.)

3) I began to work out more often and more intensely. Before the training I was working out 2-3 days per week. My max continuous jogging time was about 22 minutes and it had been that way for the past year or so, with the exception of one or two runs. Some time during the training, I started working out about 3-5 times per week, running up to 40 minutes, and now I actually enjoy doing it a lot more and even look forward to it. It wasn't like that before.

There may have been more changes, but those were the most noticeable for me. Unfortunately, I still wake up and hit the snooze button pretty often. Now whether those are actual results from the NLP training, or they're just coincidences and I just associate those changes with the NLP training, it's still a positive improvement in my life. Also, I did satisfy my curiosity and take some of the mystery out of NLP and hypnosis.

My training ended just before the holiday season of 2004 and I made it a point to try and practice as much as I could and even try to get my friends involved to help me out. The experiences I've had when playing with what I learned have slowly begun to convince me that my investment of time, money, and effort was worth it.

I'll blog up my experiences thus far at a later time. Some of them were pretty damn shocking and almost unbelievable. If I hadn't been there and actually, physically been involved, I sure wouldn't have believed it. But then again, they could all be coincidences. Or lies.