Overcome Negative Feelings - A Proven Technique From Real Life

When you are aware of an unhelpful feeling or state of mind for the task(s) you have ahead, there is a powerful technique that you can use. Here's a real-life example (I've put a summary at the end).

A few days ago I was working with a group of customer-service professionals. One of them, Hazel, was very nervous about a presentation she needed to make. Apart from making her very uncomfortable, her anxiety was limiting her fluency and her ability to think clearly.

It turned out that she felt the anxiety mainly in her stomach area - a severe case of the butterflies. I asked her to imagine taking the butterflies out in front of her body which she was able to do. The dialogue then went like this:

T: How are the butterflies moving?

H: In all directions.

T: If you were to see that the total movement is in one general direction, what would it be?

H: This way (indicating clockwise). T: OK. So they are moving clockwise at a certain speed. See if you can slow them down a little.

H: Yes, I can slow them down.

T: See if you can stop them moving.

H: (pause) Yes I can.

T: Great. Now see if you can get them to move the other way, anti-clockwise.

H: (pause) Yes.

T: How fast are they moving?

H: Quite slowly.

T: Now keep moving them anti-clockwise and make them faster - the same speed they were originally

H: OK - they are moving the same speed

T: Well done. Now put the butterflies back into the same place in your body

H: OK

T: How do you feel now?

H: It's amazing! (She is obviously surprised) I feel great - not nervous at all!

As you may guess, Hazel went on to make an excellent presentation.

This technique is based on 'spinning' by Richard Bandler, one of the founders of NLP. As you can see, it is quick and easy to use. Here's a summary:

1. Become aware of where the feeling is in your body

2. Imagine the feeling out in front of you at a comfortable distance

3. Check which way it is moving (it must be moving in some way otherwise you will no ability to feel it)

4. Slow the movement down

5. Now make the feeling move in the opposite direction

6. For extra effect, you can also change its colour to something more comfortable

7. When the feeling is moving at its original speed but still in the opposite direction, put it back into your body at the original location

You can have fun experimenting with 'spinning' by yourself or with a friend. Then when you need to use it on more pressing occasions, it will already be in your repertoire.