THINKING ABOUT THINKING WITH NLP

Isn’t that a great title? I wish I had invited it, but alas I did not. Joseph Yeager invented it and then wrote a book by that title, Thinking about Thinking with NLP (1985). It’s an excellent book —insightful, playful (full of humor), and full of practical applications. I got that book the next year (1986) just as I was entering into this field.

“NLP is the science of thinking about thinking.” (p. viii) “... Think of thinking as continuous and fluid ... choice is a convention of thinking, not a given of human nature.” (p. ix)

And while it is a wonderful book, it is also an incomplete book. In fact, given what we know today, it is very incomplete! In spite of all of the good things in the book, Joseph did not even come close to the idea of NLP as a Thinking Model (Neurons #43, #44). Well, in 1985 NLP was only officially 10 years old (1975) and Meta-Programs and Sub-Modalities were only then in the process of being developed. Joseph also wrote it years before the discovery of the Meta-States Model (1994) wherein I modeled the most unique kind of thinking and consciousness that we humans have— self-reflexive consciousness.

Now as a thinking model, NLP did not make the mistake of making “thinking” dichotomous to “feeling” or “emoting.” NLP is much too holistic for that! When we talk about thinking, we include within it feeling and emoting. The fundamental channels of thinking, the sensory representational systems of the VAK include both. Generally, visual and auditory representations drive the thinking part and kinesthetics drive the feeling and emotional part. This is the basic structure of facilitating experiences using NLP.

If that doesn’t immediately make sense, or ring a bell for you, consider what happens in any and every NLP training and/or coaching. A person wants to feel more relaxed, more joyful, more confident, more curious, etc. What does the NLP trainer do? She first grounds the experience of work asking VAK questions, “How do you picture this? What tone of voice are you using? And how are you feeling in your body—your breathing, posture, muscle tone, etc.?” Once this thinking is elicited, then the NLP-er will ask the person to make the thinking features of the pictures brighter, the tone more upbeat, etc. Then, “What effects does this have on your emotions or emotional states?”

The visual and auditory qualities also drive the kinesthetics. Sometimes the kinesthetics are used to amplify or turn up the bodily sensations. Then to enrich it further, words are elicited. “What do you say to yourself?” “What could you say to yourself that would make this experience more joyful?” “What tonality would you use?”

All of this highlights that in NLP we think with our whole mind and body. Thinking is visual, auditory, kinesthetic (which includes smells and tastes) sensory systems. It also includes linguistics for our mental categories (our meta-representational system). NLP, as a holistic thinking model, involves no dichotomizing or polarizing of thinking and feeling.

Neurologically, when we think not only are various cortexes activated in the brain, but neuro- pathways are activated from brain to all of the body. All of the many different nervous systems are activated (autonomic nervous system, immune system, sympathetic nervous system, digestive nervous system, etc.). That’s why, taking cue from Korzybski, NLP is as holistic and systemic as you can get, hence, Neuro-Linguistic Programming. We “program” or construct strategies and experiences into our very neurology. Then, as “neurons are fired together, they wire together” (Donald Hebb). Now the program, whether it is for reading, riding a bike, getting dressed, driving a car, solving an algebra problem, etc., that program is readily available to us as a developed resource.

As a Thinking Model, NLP specifies how such programming works in human neurology and how it is coded linguistically. We are a neuro-linguistic and neuro-semantic class of life (Alfred Korzybski). What this means is that unlike the field of Critical Thinking or the field of Creative Thinking, NLP is so much more. Again, that’s why it is a meta-discipline.

When you next add the meta-levels of thinking to all of this—then you have an even fuller picture. As you think about your thinking, you develop higher levels of consciousness. This meta-thinking shows up as beliefs, decisions, learning, understandings, conceptual models, etc. Within each of these we develop all sorts of thinking hierarchies— belief systems, hierarchy of values, increasingly more abstract understandings of patterns and the “laws” that govern a discipline.

NLP began as a thinking model, even though the founders didn’t realize it, or think about their work in that way. Today Neuro-Semantic NLP continues the original discovery by modeling the many ways that thinking functions in our mind-body system.

Why is all of that important? Because everything human depends upon, and arises from, thinking. Thinking is the key to everything we deem important. As the ultimate cause; it is your ultimate power. Consequently, if you can get to the thinking of someone, whether a client, an expert, or yourself—you can identify the structure of pathology, excellence, challenge, etc. and therefore that person’s way of functioning. You can learn it, bring healing to it if need be, and/or replicate it. That’s because it is a model of thinking itself.