107 - FACING YOUR 'BOGARTS

FACING YOUR 'BOGARTS'

Last night we watched the new Harry Potter film. The books are absolutely fantastic and I think it's a real task trying to get all of it into a 2 hour slot, especially the latest one The Prisoner of Azkaban. The plot in this one is so clever and exciting that if you haven't read the book you could be slightly confused sometimes. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. What struck me again, as it did many times in all the Harry Potter books, was Rowling's great use of metaphors in everyday life, she really has done a splendid job throughout the books on our fears and angst. In fact, a lot of the time it's just good old mind control and being creative.

In The Prisoner of Azkaban there is something called a bogart, this is our own personal worst fear. They could be spiders, death, a person, whatever. The bogarts in this film are in the wardrobe, just like when were kids, there was always a monster in the wardrobe or under the bed! The children in the film are lined up one by one, and told to think of a very strong, happy memory and really feel it, then when the bogart is released from the wardrobe, it (the bogart) would turn into their worst fear right in front of them and that is when they had to really concentrate on their happy memory. They could then execute their spell and stay fully concentrated. If it worked the bogart disappeared and turned into something that they thought amusing. If it didn't, well, the professor would step in and sort out the bogart before it did any damage.

Unfortunately most of us don't have a professor standing by to help with our worst fears. Luckily we do have some 'tools' though. I couldn't help making the comparison to what Rowlings did in her books about bogart and an NLP exercise called anchoring.

Anchoring basically involves thinking of a concern or problem and then thinking of a happy memory that you really associate into, this changes your 'state' and it becomes the dominant state which basically overcomes the problem, so you can continue feeling good and be unaffected, or at least less affected, than you would normally be without the 'anchor'.

When you think of it, we use 'anchors' all the time, music is a great anchor. Think of the times you hear some music and you immediately go back into the past and have the feelings you had then. This can be both positive and negative. Or going into a certain place, you may get feelings immediately that you associate with that place.

So today I thought we could do this 'anchoring' as it can be a really useful tool. I teach it to a lot of clients. It's actually best having it 'done' to you, so maybe you can get someone to talk you through it.

In this particular exercise we think of something that is making us feel disempowered or bad in some way, it doesn't always have to be your worst fear!

1. Now think of a feeling you would rather have, e.g. calm, humorous, relaxed, confident, etc.

2. Then you recall a very STRONG, positive memory that has the quality you are looking for, e.g. confidence, or the nearest thing to it you can access in your memory. It should be strong enough that when you think of this memory you immediately start to feel better, whether it's calmer or confident.

3. Now just think of that memory and allow the feelings to come into the body, don't hurry it, then when you have the feelings enjoy them for about 10 or 20 seconds.

4. Now if you are sitting down get up and turn 360 degrees, if you're standing do the same thing.

5. Repeat number 3. again access the memory and increase the feelings in your body of whatever 'state' you are aiming for.

6. Repeat 2. and 3. twice more.

7. Before you do it for the third time, think of a physical, discreet gesture you can do that will serve as your 'anchor'. It could be making a fist, or curling your toes, pulling your ears or pressing on a knuckle, something that you wouldn't normally do, so it doesn't have other associations.

8. The next bit is crucial, as you go back into your desired 'state' and the feelings start to increase, just before you get to your 'peak', the strongest you can feel at that time, 'fire' your anchor i.e. squeeze your toes, press your knuckle or do what ever it is you've chosen.

9. Now turn around 360 degrees. This time you are going to 'fire' your anchor and just allow the feelings to come into your body, you don't need to access the memory. However, if it comes into your mind, don't worry.

10. Take a 30 second break and fire your anchor again, remembering to access the feelings not the memory. Don't worry if it's not strong to start with. If you find it's not working very well then it may be that you haven't picked a very strong memory and you may have to find another one to access.

11. Finally, think of a situation in the very near future when that anchor may come in useful, when you have something specific, think about it and then fire your anchor. You need to fire your anchor at least 20 times throughout the rest of the day. You can do it anywhere in a supermarket, in the house, in the middle of a meeting, anywhere. Then do it it 20 times for the next 4 days (it only takes seconds) to hardwire it into your brain. After that you can do it just a couple of times a day, more if you prefer, for the next 3 weeks.

You will find if you do this properly it is a great tool and any time you need it you just use it. I still use one occasionally that I set 3 years ago and the 'state' still comes back for me.

So now you can face your 'bogarts' fearlessly because you are taking control of your mind and therefore your physiological state so you can control your response!

Until next week Onwards and Upwards and anchor a splendid week!