The Process of NLP Anchoring
Posted by Ben TienJul 21
If you were feeling negative wouldn’t it be useful if you could change the negative feeling for a more positive state? By understanding NLP anchoring, you will be able to get rid of those negative feeling.
An Anchor can best be described as a response you may have to a particular stimulus. The Stimulus may be external or even internal, for example, a long forgotten memory that resurfaces and brings its associated feelings with it.
Many anchors build up over time as a conditioned response – such as when we stop at red traffic lights and go on green. Other anchors are formed when we are in an intense emotional state. This can be either an intense positive state or even an intense negative state. Consider a phobia of a spider for instance, this is normally a visual anchor that creates an intense irrational fear internally.
In a study by Ellen Langer at Harvard University two groups of 75-80 year old men were isolated at a retreat and studied for signs of aging over a 5 day period. One group was given a series of tasks that encouraged them to think about and talk about the past in general.
The other group was given a series of tasks which related to a specific time, 1959. This group was immersed in memorabilia, movies and music from 1959 and was asked to treat the current year as 1959.
Both groups of men were studied on age and aging related criteria. The first group pretty much stayed the same or even in some cases deteriorated. The second group, however, showed dramatic improvement in both their physical and mental health. The second group seemed to have actually accessed memories as if they were 50 years old and living in 1959. This in turn seemed to reverse the aging process somewhat.
As discussed above, anchoring is a natural process that happens around us all the time, regardless of whether we are aware of it or not. In fact, most of the time we are not really aware of the reason we feel the way we feel. Anchoring is generally used in NLP to assist with the management of a client’s or one’s own state. A specific trigger is anchored to an intense emotional positive state that can be called forth at will.
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