Post Competition Depression or “come down”. The fastest way to finish your relationships!

Post competition Depression

Some of you, if you happen to be lucky or possibly not that much of a cerebral use, may never have experienced this, but for those of us that have, if can be debilitating, distressing and make us wonder for a short while if we will compete again along with our lives falling down around our ears and alienating every loved one we ever had.

Good, now we have all that out of the way.

Post Competition Depression is a syndrome which occurs after the build up to and execution of an event you were preparing to peak and perform for.

After all the weeks months and possibly years or preparation, drive, determination and effort that has gone into a pre competition cycle, all your sights and direction are towards that one event.

It usually manifests itself in the form of post competition lethargy to a degree, a drop in performance for the short term, irritability, difficulty in communication or reluctance, problems with simple processing tasks eg “I just cant think” and a tiredness on a physical and mental basis.

You will also have a change in chemistry as well.

For those who have been following my articles, will know that our thought processes and “what” we think and feel will dictate what part of the brain we are using and therefore the chemical and hormonal reaction.

So, if you have been having directed thinking about a specific challenge/task/competition and building up to that, the combination of different thoughts will probably have produced a really good graduated increase of adrenal function. Hadnt you noticed the closer it came to the competition, the palpitations or raised heart rate, the heightened sense of awareness either in a positive or negative way?

So this all builds physically and accordingly, mentally over that period of time as your body, directed by your brain, prepares for that one ultimate state of readiness.

And then, suddenly, its over.

Suddenly – everything you have been working for, training for, thinking about, pushing yourself to the limit for is done – finished – over.

Lets put this in perspective – on a really unemotional functional level, all that is now happening is that there will be a change in the physiology as the body is no longer preparing for a state of “readiness” so that heightened adrenal function will drop causing a feeling of “sluggishness” and possible fatigue. Also – the heightened sense of awareness and that sharpness you had will also reduce to a lower level before it returns to normal.

Now the physical stuff will usually take around 1 to 2 weeks to return to a normal balance but will also help if the psychological approach is dealt with as well – which is, well, the reason I am writing this.

So lets get all fluffy for a moment. Emotionally you can either go through a feeling of emptiness or swing the other way and have an array of emotions or be “emotional”.

From a cognitive aspect your ability to “process information” may be difficult and simple tasks may also seem like you are having to wade through cotton wool to work things out.

Irritability and a few moods swings thrown in there make you generally a delightful person to be around and an over “cant be arsed” state of mind may follow.

Now – just remember this is caused by actual physical chemical and hormonal changes but ALSO this is contributed to by the change in focus and therefore brain function.

To lessen the symptoms there is a check of things to do. I’m not going to say it will stop it happening but it will be easier to manage and the symptoms will dull down and in a couple of weeks you will be motoring again!

1)      Accept it happens. Acceptance is the best starting point to make change. I am not suggesting that because you “expect it to happen” then it will. What I am suggesting is that by being aware you MAY feel like this you have a way to overcome it.

2)      Ideally before the next competition, have a date for the next competition after that and map out a training strategy for it in a logical format. If that isn’t possible because it is maybe a qualifier etc, then identify a “plan B” so that you have a focus as soon as you compete. This will keep the focus and help you feel less in a void post competition.

3)      Put in place “boundaries” prior to competing. IE make others aware you might need a week or so to recover and may not be enthusiastic about engaging in certain things. This gives you time out to allow balances to settle.

4)      Plan something for after the competition that you will feel “alive” with. In other words something which might help to raise the adrenalin a little so that you don’t  crash and gives you an additional focal point.

5)      Be aware that irritability and moods swings might occur so either forewarn others or remove yourself from situations you might regret! If neither is possible – even just being aware that it might happen allows you an element of control over it and you will be more likely to recognise it if happens and therefore control it better.

6)      You may go into a negative spiral as well and start to dissect your performance. At this point focus on what you WANT to achieve now and the steps you will take to achieve it. While you are in this state of mind don’t even think about rationally deconstructing your performance as it wont work and you unlikely to be objective. Either let others do that or WAIT until you are through this and more level.

7)      Your immune system may also be at a low ebb as remember your entire physiological state has been wound tight like a spring waiting for the moment of performance. Try and supplement with Vit C, Zinc, Vit E and anything else you feel may help your immune system.

8)      Failing all that,  lock yourself in a darkened room with your protein shakes and don’t come out for 2 weeks.

This is something which is rarely discussed but affects many of us and that’s me included in this. Yes, we usually just get on with it but would it be easier if we understood what it was and were able to deal it to smooth the passage between one competition and the next through a little better?

Remember that the better you get, the more the pressure will increase and so the more the possibility this might happen as it becomes more serious.

You right to compete and achieve those dreams you always thought were untouchable are yours in reality and you can make them happen with the determination, discipline, drive and focus that has got you this far.

Remember – its not just about the competition, its about everything else that surrounds it and that includes what happens post competition to push you onto the next stage and the next level up.

http://www.ironpsyche.com

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Psychological Performance and Internal Dialogue – Failure or Winning

Watch your bloody language – Our internal dialogue dictates our physical results.

The internal and external dialogue you use when training or competing or getting ready to do either will ultimately have a direct impact on the physical response you get.

It will determine whether you are able to throw the shot, push the weight, move the way you want to or produce the power when you need it the most.

Thinking that the words you use don’t have any bearing at all on the physical output and all the signals that are sent to your body is frankly naive or you are in the “it’s the way I have always done it” camp in which case you probably wouldn’t even be ready this article.

Think about this for a moment. Have you ever been at a family or social gathering and there are small children lurking around so you are desperately trying to remember “NOT to swear in front of the children”? And what happens next? That’s right, you swear like a trooper on heat at a knitting circle.

This is only one small area where the language you use determines the results you get and it is a vast and complicated subject so I’m focusing only on one small area of this right now. As a therapist and also lecturer in neuro linguistics, the language element of what we use with clients is vast and is a therapeutic tool and can, in one fell swoop, complete demolish someone’s old belief system they had or give a perspective and understanding they never considered before. We change behaviour purely using linguistic techniques, so if we are able to do that only by using specific wording in a particular format and questioning techniques, then what do you think happens to your body and the commands given through the language you use internally when you are trying to achieve the best you have ever done?

All I’m going to discuss is the “negatives” in your language for the moment. So if you try really really hard right now to NOT think of a blue tree – what happens?? That’s right – a blue tree pops onto your head. Put this in a training or competing context. Say, “don’t lose control of the bar” or “don’t get caught with a jab” or don’t get stuck on the 5 rep like you did last time”.

Lets take the “DON’T lose control of the bar”. In focusing on the fact that you are worried about losing control of the bar, you then home in on that very thing happening making it “lose control of the bar”. By doing that then the signals and impulses from the brain produce a message to start losing control of the bar, like you have before, and therefore you actually start to do that very thing or at best, just feel unstable because you are looking for it.

In focusing on the DON’T – you are then creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and the brain is exceedingly obedient. You have to “watch your language” and also be careful what you wish for because whatever your attention is turned to is what all those electrical signals will produce.

The brain is an incredible mechanism which thousands and thousands of receptors and impulses which will leap into action with whatever you turn your direct attention to. Your internal dialogue is no exception and so you have to be extremely careful what parts on the brain you are engaging when you focus on something.

Someone who suffers with anxiety will have real fear of certain situations and so will focus very hard on “NOT having anxiety” at a certain time. They search for it, waiting for that familiar feeling to appear and in doing so actually set the signals in motion to start then entire chain reaction happening.

This is where we must be very precise in what we want. How we want to feel. The results that we want.

The internal and external dialogue has to “clean”. As in without the tarnish of the negative in there. So the “don’t lose control of the bar” will be “keep the bar steady and controlled” or if you want it to feel a certain way “progressive and strong”.

A footballer I worked with in Premier League had come back after a knee injury where he had been tackled badly. His fear was the same thing happening again and he described the feeling he got of someone literally putting the brakes on him when he realised he was going to be tackled and there were two thoughts going through his mind. One was “DON’T get injured” and the other was “DON’T lose the ball”. So needless to say, the body went into motion and made sure he didn’t get injured by slowing to a snail’s pace pretty much giving the ball away AND losing the ball.

A simple change in his internal dialogue was all he needed and he decided the outcome he wanted and the phrase he was going to use instead was “it’s my fucking ball”! So, watching him on the TV at his next game, someone came in to tackle him and my client steamrollered all over him and scored. A very proud moment knowing he was thinking “it’s my fucking ball”!

So, when you are faced with something you are worried about, challenged with or had trouble with something before, first of all decide on the outcome you want. Then decided how you want it to be or feel and run that repeatedly over in your head so that you

1) cause a pattern interrupt on the old thought process

2) Redirect your attention to what you DO want

3) engage a different part of the brain and signalling to create the outcome you want.

Such a simple technique with a myriad of things happening behind the scenes in your brain and physical output. Something else you could try is to have a conversation with any negative in there, No “don’ts” “wouldn’t” “shouldn’t” “cant” “wont” etc in there and see how difficult it is to actually have a conversation without any of those in there? It’s extremely hard to do which also emphasises how common those negatives are in our language and how many negative instructions we are sending to ourselves and others all the time.

So – watch your fecking language and be careful what you wish for

 http://www.ironpsyche.com/watch-your-language/4564140861

 

 

 

Dealing with Competing Anxiety – Face your Demons

So there you are, faced with a weight you are either not sure about, got squashed by before, never tried or were told by your Great Aunt Maud that you would never amount to much therefore you probably wont get it. Or everyone is watching you which means if you don’t get it you will look like a twat, you start talking yourself out of the lift by going all analytical or a barrage of negative thoughts come trumpeting across the hemisphere of your brain to give you a good old dose of wobbly knee syndrome, strength disappearing through your feet issue or palpitations that would shake the Great Wall of China to pieces.
The old “experts” out there who fill their empty articles full of crap because they have never competed for their country and had the infinite words “if you don’t get this we will lose the world championships” have no clue as to how this can feel and therefore are null and void with any of their hypotheses. For those of us who have stood there and had are entire souls tested in these situations fully understand that feeling.
So what is anxiety?
Simply put it is a message from your unconscious brain due to past experience, values, self worth etc that you are focusing on what you do not want. Combine this with a chemical change in the brain and signalling running through your system to now initiate a fight or flight response and release the triumphant adrenal cavalry to the rescue and you have a very nice case of anxiety.
The problem we face are the warning signals coming from our “unconscious” to beware of this as potentially for us we are staring into the jaws of potential injury, humiliation and shame (~the latter is the ego sticking its oar in). The unconscious is where all our automatic responses are held, those things that we feel we are not in control of.
In essence – we are in fact in control of them as we had to learn to respond to them in the first place, so when the brain recognition system kicks in and sees a situation where it had to protect you before then it automatically comes to your rescue and low and behold you have an entire reaction designed to keep you safe and NOT commence the lift. It is a very logical reaction even though you may think it is not and you have to remember that the brain is designed to keep the rest of your body (or the brains transportation device) safe at all times.
So – what do you do?
Firstly you have to ask yourself – what is it I am focusing on that I do NOT want? It could be almost anything, from “I’m going to drop this bar on my face” (my own personal favourite) to “you know you’re crap really so you won’t get this”. This is the hardest part – realising what it is that you are actually focusing on. The second you feel that anxiety you have to ask yourself this question. You could in fact recreate that situation in your mind and notice what it is that you are focusing on and you should still get that anxious feeling when you think about it.
Once you have identified it, let’s take my own one of “you’re going to drop the bar on your face” then you have to ask yourself what it is you DO want?
For me, I want to feel strong and controlled. I want the bar to feel manageable and I want a controlled feel through the lift and as I drive, a strong and continued line feeling the crossover into triceps response and lockout and the power feeding through from my feet and following the kinetic chain to rhomboids, rear deltoids through to the triceps on extension.
So – this is what I want and I need to choose a short phrase I can run over and over in my mind to literally block out any other conscious thoughts. This also forces you focus on what you do want, changing the signalling in the brain and producing a different physiological response. You will notice a change in the feelings you get, the anxiety will dissipate and as you focus on the feeling you do want and the outcome you want it stops the pattern of behaviour. We term this as a “pattern interrupt” technique.
It is very simple and I have used it with Premier League Footballers, power lifters, ice skaters, strongmen, runners, high jumpers, moto crossers and a vast number of different sports people I have worked with including myself.
Of course once you feel that change you then can commence the lift and remember this doesn’t just apply to lifters – this also applies to any strength and power sport where explosive movement is used and a number of other sports and issues as well.
From years of experience there are numerous other techniques I use with clients which are all designed around that client’s needs and the way they react. In reality, unless you have actually been there then it is unlikely you can advise anyone effectively and once again the myriad of “experts” appear with their theoretical knowledge based on what they “think” should work. Unfortunately this is dangerous and I have also seen the results of these idiots and had to clean up their mess with clients coming to me after an unfortunate consultation which has ended up in the client injuring themselves or at worse getting no benefit at all.
However, these techniques also depend on the client being really committed to dealing with the issue and ultimately wanting to overcome the problem. So – if you are not completely committed to change or you feel like there is something stopping you from obtaining your real performance level then more than likely there is another issue lurking underneath in the unconscious which has to be resolved and again, unless the person working with you has been there – they won’t understand or know what to look for in the issue.
Anything you use in relation to a sport with potential injury is going against your natural evolutionary instinct to protect yourself, so putting yourself into a situation of potential harm, either physical or emotional is going to produce a negative response. This “override” technique is quick and simple to use and ultimately is only as good as you are prepared to be truly honest with yourself. You may not like the answer you get when you ask yourself “ what is it I DON’T want or am afraid of happening?” but for those clients I have seen that can be brutally honest with themselves and face their demons, they are the ones who have made the most outstanding progress.
Face your demons, be honest and have real heart. That is the essence of a champion.

www.ironpsyche.com

Emma James - World Record Bench Press NEC 2009

Emma James takes 3rd World title and World Record

Emma James powerlifter

At the WPC World Powerliftng Championships, Emma James, the leading authority in NLP sport optimisation and coaching, took her 3rd world title and also a new world record.
Against the odds and proving her mental coaching techniques, she achieved a 172.5kg world record bench press to lift the 12th biggest bench press of all by by a woman.
She is currently about to have major surgery to her should which has caused huge difficulty to her competing over the last year and was scheduled for surgery immediately after the competition – against surgeons advice.
She will shortly embarking on the new year ahead with her acclaimed NLP Sport Practitioner and Optimisation coruses in the UK and also in a ground breaking move to South Africa with super power in sport now emerging as a mojor force.
To see her world record lft you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBrqjEhqwk

For further information about her courses and training go to http://www.emmajamesnlp.co.uk

Polish, powerlifting, NLP sport and a motivated trainer!

Wonderful news from Poland – I have just been asked to run my NLP Sport course in Poland again the quality of the athletes is tremendous.
From years of competing internationally I know the level of commitment from the Polish and the other countries in that region and they were always very tough to beat. So, going back again to teach is more of an honour than a “job”.
What is really motivating is the level of drive all the people there I teach mental coaching and sport performance to have and the passion for what they do. Its very refreshing and although I would never tell them this, its also very similar to working the USA as well!

NLP Sport – Regaining Belief in your Competing Ability

 

 

 

 

When I run any adverts for my NLP courses I always use the word “pragmatic” in the description of the course. Something which always bothered me about my profession was that claims were sometimes that NLP was all you needed, it could change anything and you could create changes in any sphere you wished.

 

What bothered me most was that ultimately our profession was doing exactly the same as others and in fact limiting itself within its own boundaries as the “only choice”

One of the main themes of Neuro Linguistic Programming is that it is not a “do to” process, it is a “do with” which I perceived always to be an encompassing statement of not only the client or groups you are working but also the learning and experience you are developing and in effect the evolution of the techniques you are using.

 

Now, the only way we can do this is by learning, understanding and utilizing the expertise and experience of other professions to in fact make it as “do with” as possible and in turn making the entire discipline as beneficial to those we work with as possible.

The ethics and original intent of NLP work incredibly well with other professions and frequently there is an overlap which when taken out of its own context bear similarity and therefore should in fact be complimentary to one another.

 

The reason for an introduction to an article in this way is to make it clear that, as a Trainer and also someone who works with individuals and teams as well application to my own competing, the discipline I teach and also practice can be a beneficial addition to any therapeutic tool kit. However, at this point I will not make wild claims that NLP is the only intervention required to deal with cancer, world war and getting your client to get off their backside and get on the track.

 

There are a great many interventions which NLP uses but primarily, in a therapeutic context,  it is used to establish and elicit a pattern of behaviour from root cause to exhibited behaviour and to the highest intention of the behaviour – all of which can in fact have their own belief system and own ultimate goal.

 

One of the issues with using NLP in sport is that when you are standing out on the track or pitch in a gale force wind with your client,  working through a pattern of behaviour for example an over analytical thought process, to at that point suggest you go through a complex question and answer session plus a complete intervention is somewhat impractical let alone soggy coupled with a seriously bad hair day.

 

One of the parts I teach is about adaption to the client and thinking “laterally” about how to apply what you are using. Using calibration skills to notice a state change in the client as they take you through the stages of the problem step by step, watching the eye patterns and listening to the predicates which will indicate which “language” system they are using in order to effectively then communicate with them in their own language pattern.

A number of other basic and simple first steps to understanding the problem and in fact getting to the bottom of the real problem instead of problem they have handed to you!

 

There are a great many ways the use of NLP can be incorporated into sport, the coaching of and performance in. Its another angle and has varying techniques which can be adapted and moulded to the individual client or team to produce the desired results.

 

A very small part of that are the direct interventions – the rest are elicitation strategies, values, rep system and communication infrastructure and recognition systems which will reframe and divert thought process and patterns. We use these from the smallest part of a competing strategy which is causing a problem right through to underlying causes of self belief issues acting as a block.

 

Some of the skills we teach I honestly think are somewhat temporary unless the actual underlying cause of the problem is addressed possibly in the hope of diverting the behaviour or process long enough for it to ingrain. Again, working a sport environment, frequently you do not have the time on site to elicit the root cause as the problem needs to be addressed now.

 

For instance, a football player I was working with had a situation that he was about to put on a transfer list due to a tackling issue. He had a crutiate injury over 18 months before which was fully healed and he had been given the all clear. The help he had received form the club at that stage wasn’t working for him and he was referred to me.

 

He had never quite regained confidence in the knee and tackling force he could use so as he came in for the tackle, he would experience a sudden loss of power. Up to that point, as soon as he knew he was going to tackle an entire thought process was starting which was negative and so he would enter into an over analytic process forcing him to go conscious at that point. Overall this was causing a loss of self confidence and in his playing ability as well as producing a sudden return to a consciously incompetent state instead of unconsciously competent.

 

From the angle of what I do and the processes we use, we looked for the trigger, the moment both systems started. He was highly process orientated and so the trigger when he realized he was going to tackle was an internal dialogue which began. For that we used a anchoring technique which made the connection to the physical stimulus of that action and provided a new direction for the behaviour so that he didn’t have the same internal dialogue.

 

We also used a replay of the moment when he would lose the power which was when he drew his leg back to directly challenge for the ball which was the same leg he had the crutiate problem . At that moment we used another anchoring technique to collapse the sudden loss of power and be overtaken with a focused drive he had experienced in the past which we used.

 

He then went into tackle with another player and found that the loss of power had gone and he in fact carried through in a committed movement without the fear or protective loss of power.

 

Now, this was all carried out on site so no other underlying cause or interview was carried out that point so in effect these issues were only temporarily dealt with.

 

On a one to one session at the clinic 2 days later, we then went into the underlying issues which had build over that period of time which had effected his belief in ability and was therefore producing a limiting belief. There is no quick fix as such for this and I covered techniques we use which I know are questioned but work for me. We used a values elicitation which transpired that his criteria had changed and his own success in football had been overtaken by an away from motivation of not wishing to let his club and family down therefore reducing his drive to move towards his goal.

 

A fear of failure had also started which was blocking him and causing limitations.

Along with sub modality work and reframing I also covered with him methods of changing the internal dialogue which then change the focus of what  you want. This meant that he  needed to practice it and there is no fast way of doing that and the main key is being able to recognize that you are in fact doing it before getting sucked into that vortex of self doubt and negative thought process. This takes time but eventually will change the overall process if they can stick at it.

 

The outcome 3 weeks later was that he had successfully tackled at the clubs matches and he had in fact been taken off the transfer list. Of course there were ongoing small issues which needed to be dealt with over a period of time but none of them required further direct work with me and he could work on these himself whilst keeping in contact by email and phone.

 

The example is only used as small except of some of the work which can be done but I really do want to emphasise that what we do is not something I believe is a “cure all” and in a ideal world if all the disciplines that are available could be lumped into one, then we would have something amazing. However, regardless of who does what, the only thing which should be important is the individual and getting results for them and watching them reach the potential you know is there.

For further information about NLP in sport and performance optimization please visit www.emmajamesport.co.uk

Make it so……I told you so

In the words of Jean Luc Picard – “make it so”.

And I did, well I had a damn good attempt at it. The “making it so” related to the formulation of a new course I was asked to put together on Comfort Eating and binge eating.

I thoguht it was going to be easy and after much tussling with PowerPoint’s and manual corrections plus a bit publisher it finally came together.

Its one thing being involved in treating eating disorders and issues, another writing a course on it. One major item I bang on about endlessly when I am teaching NLP Practitioner courses is the flexibility of the Practitioner to the client. Not to be rigid, ebb and flow with the client following the stream and the links they present and waiting for them gem of a sentence which will let you into thier private view of the world so you can see what the crucial secondary gain is or the key factor, for them, in the entire problem.

So, when writing a course for people who have a binge of comfort eating related problem it becomes difficult to eb and flow en mass!

It was much easier designing the course for already practicing therapists in how to deal with weight related problems and what to do if presented with a hidden eating disorder than to cover all the bases for individuals who are currently dealing with it. So, I suddenly found myself with a 75 day course instead of a 2 day one! Blimey! So, the editing began and one thing struck me – it was the fact that I was addressing each person who was sitting there, bending to their own model of the world and realistically, unless I stepped into thousands of parallel universes at the same time, that was never going to happen.

So, the learning of the entire profound experience was to strip it all back to easy to understand basics and teach them how to adapt it for them. In fact, that was very much the ethos if an entire morning – making it work for them and not expecting someone to wave a magic wand and solve the problem for them.

We teach practitioners how to move someone to cause, moving a group with a problem to cause is another matter. So, why not carry on the teaching principal of explaining about “being at cause”, treat them exactly the same as a room full of first day practitioner students and then give them the information to utilise for themselves.

The interesting thing was that during therapy work, this pre framing with a client could take anything up to an hour on an individual basis and you are adapting to the client as you work, so the risk was that applying the Practitioner Course teaching to a group of clients wouldnt work for them.

Anyway, I taught the course, the group took on the entire lecture of moving to cause and what “being at effect” really was and that it is all our responsibility to make the changes that we need and to reap that information for ourselves instead of alsways searching for that one person who can fix us. We need to “make it so” ourselves. Out of that 25 full course of comfort and binge eating sufferers, 80% of them all came back in 48 hours to say that they had stopped, the other 20% had positive results and had other issues attached which just needed and final step.

The perceived risk was expecting individuals in a group setting without group interaction to resist being moved to cause and happily they shifted relatively smoothly which for me was a big learning and I have to admit having anxiety about the approach I was taking as it would be perceived to be reasonably “confrontational”.

I thought I would share that, it may help some, others may wonder what the point of the post was, however, sometimes the simplest of  tasks can be overcomplicated by our own knowledge when in fact we should trust in others abilities to grasp the concept of which we are talking.

Onwards and Upwards

So, here we are the last day of the practitioner and one hell of a week.

Aside from a most inspiring group, a couple of people really made the job of, the training. the time, the effort, the wishes for every person – completely worthwhile.

Isnt it amazing when you watch some people, you just see the potential bristling within and waiting to be seen by everyone when they leave the course. It also brings the fact home to you that you are very much that people are amazing creatures and the couragiousness and “leaps of faith” they take on a daily basis. they constanly surprise me!

So – next week, more sports optimisation courses, more therapy clients and getting “that damn” book finished and seeing people change and grow and haing my beliefs and universe once again turned on its access.

AND tonight apprently I am apparently presenting someone a World Title Belt although I am not quite sure what for! From my competing career I still get requests for these things although when you are running a course its almost as thought world stops and nothing exists apart from those people on the course and I only manage to sort my life out each evening into my training at the gym and grabbing a protein shake!

I’m sure I will find out what the event is when I get there!!

Better more coherent writings tomorrow!

Until then…………………….

We’re all doomed Captain!

that was phrase which came up whilst doing examples of pre suppositions! And the appropriate responce was “How specifically are we all doomed?!”

Its been a great week so far with some amazing people.

Every time you run a course you actually go on a voyage of discovery yourself. Perceptions, awareness of your own state as well as assessing and monitoring the states of all the participants in the group. Each day brings with it new learnings abotu the people you are teaching – thier own dreams and aspirations, thier own events in thier lives they have had to overcome, the changes they need and want to make during the course.

The challenge is making sure that each day you become more aware of that and create the environment for change and give the assistance which is needed at every step of the process.

However, one thing which frequently comes up is the fact that I cant in change them – NLP is a do “with”, not a do to process so taking on the ethos that you are repsonsible for your own changes, how you react to others, how you deal with your own past and present events etc can be more difficult to take in than they realise.

In other words – getting to the point that the mist lifts and you realise that not one person “MAKES” us feel any particular way can be a huge shift in the access of our worlds and can be hugely liberating for some and somewhat daunting for others.

Once that shift occurs and you realise that your own responce to everything which happens to you is completely a choice and YOU are the only person who can initiate, continue and project that responce the world seems a very different place.

Setting up

So here we are, the day before another prac course in Manchester.

Certificates – done

Projector checked – done

throat spray – checked!

Any friz spray for hair due to air conditioning – done

Handouts – done

Pre course exams – marked

Pre course nerves hoping that everyone will enjoy it – engaged

Pictures of wombles and Jean Luke Picard inserted in powerpoint – made it so

Rolled up newspapers for students to batter eachother with – cellotaped

Well – looks like we are ready to rock and roll. Its the usual scenario of wondering what everyone will be like. You think you are the only ones? You wonder about how people will use the course, enjoy like I did when Bruce Farrow taught me, open doors for people, create new beginnings and just hope that these people will get out of it what I did.

So the daunting task of setting up the room starts today, the carpet tape, the endless calls to staff to help with chairs, the deciding what to leave in case it is pinched by someone night staff (which has happened before) and the wondering if when you come in the next morning, your entire equipment and room arrangement has been packed up by the night porter thinking he is “tidying” after hours of preperation – see Belfast Holiday Inn Express for that one.

Apparently I’m not the only trainer that has happened to and I hope that the others reacted slightly better than I did!

So, adrenaline at the ready and here we go!