NLP is the technology of thinking and it uses the mind to construct ways of re ordering the thoughts, feelings emotions and ideas that we usually create without thinking, consciously. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming and was developed by two academics in the field of Linguistics, Mathematics and Programming. Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder found they could model the successful processes used by people who got great results in therapy, psychology and healing and mapped out the ideas in their first book The Structure of Magic I and II.
Neuro stands for the processes used by the neurons to embed new learnings, memory and ideas about what will be the future of how to respond to situations that occur within the environment and how it will be ready to respond to that situation with a pre-planned motor response hard-wired into the brain and nervous system.
Linguistic stands for the language and application of other non-verbal systems that show a reason for communicating what we desire to another person, animal or object (think supermarket automated checkouts).
Programming stands for the way in which we construct those ideas into some form of pattern that allows us to show what we mean in a way that is usable by the recipient of the message or communication mode.
Neuro is the system through which experience is received and processed through the five senses.
The visual sensory capacity is related to all things associated with sight, including real life images as well as virtual ones. In this sense, the brain does not know what is real and what is not and therefore we can make use of visualisation as a way to mimic what we want to happen in real life and vice versa. We often have ideas about what we would like to make in Second Life and then use real life to create the image of that presentation in virtual worlds. Take a look at the space you are in and you will see what I mean.
The other important aspect of being able to visualise what you want it that it lets others know what you want as well and can therefore communicate to that person the type of experiences you want to have and the sort of life you want to live. In my case, if you were to visit the Healing Pool you would see that I have a created a space that suggests that I want to live a spiritual life and that would show you the type of ideas and settings that would most make me happy to be in. A person who invited me to latest dark evil night club would probably get turned down in a flash. So communicating what you want via images is an important aspect of how we form and create healthy relationships.
Auditory processing relates to everything we can hear, including those things that we hear inside and outside our heads. If we choose to listen to one type of sound in favour of another, that sets up the background for our preferences and we learn to listen more fully to those things, people and sounds that we enjoy the sound of. However, many people are unaware of the ability to choose what to listen to on the inside of their heads and therefore end up a hostage to the voices that give them the sorts of experiences that they would rather not have in real life. For example, when thinking about doing something important, such as giving a public talk, we can be paralysed by the fear of what people might think about our performance and start to run negative voices inside our heads that make us feel scared, or ashamed or whatever else creates fear, anxiety and worry about the situation. Knowing your stuff is all very well, but if you don’t believe that others are going to enjoy then you will not enjoy it either.
Kinesthetic processing is all about what we can feel, touch perceive with our sense of space, pressure and rhythm within our bodies. Each of us has the ability to notice the external tacit touch of another person as well as what when experience as emotions and feelings internally within the visceral body. Also in the same way that we can imagine ‘how someone is feeling’ we can imagine that in a way that allows us to experience that feeling. For example if we are watching a very intense movie scene we often talk about the ‘suspense’ building up suggesting that we are bracing ourselves for an outcome that will give us an experience of what the other person is feeling in the movie. All movies that create emotions in the person watching ae well aware of the effect in how we respond kinesthetically and will play on that fact when creating the script or scenes to create the most intense reactions from the audience. A recent article noted that “the movie “Avatar” is such a realistic experience for fans that they are literally becoming depressed and suicidal because they yearn for the world of Pandora to be real.”
The Linguistic aspect of NLP is everything to do with what we say, write, compose and convey via the medium of words and non- verbal structures of communication, such as gestures, facial expressions and motion. Words express how we feel in the moment of using them and we structure them according to how we perceive their meaning and tried and tested effect. Other modes of communication involve dancing, singing, drawing, painting and all things that represent how we use words and images to convey a message that represents how we view the world according to our own map. The messages we receive via other people’s communication are open to interpretation via our own perceptions and can sometimes be in conflict with what the intent of the meaning was meant to convey. This is where we come across the NLP concept of the ‘meaning of the communication is the response you get’. It is at this junction that NLP seeks to envisage a way to encode how others make meaning and learn how to understand what messages will provoke the desired response as opposed to forcing others to get them understand what we mean.
Other forms of non-verbal communication can be illustrated by using some of the ideas played out in Second Life, such as pose-balls, that give our avatar’s postures that suggest certain ‘states’ of being. Gestures that can be ‘worn’ and attached to make us do certain behaviours at the touch of a button – otherwise known as an Anchor in NLP. All the things we see avatars do are teaching us that we can read emotions according to what they choose to do and how they conduct themselves with other people. Dancing avatars at training events can be innocent or not and we take what they say/type or their level of responsiveness to the learning situation as an added element to help us understand their intentions towards the classroom environment.
Programming the methods of communication into your wiring is the reason NLP is so effective when used in the right way for purpose of getting the ideas you want to put across. If you are teaching someone how to be a better performer you can cross match the abilities of one person to match the skills and abilities of the person that you want to help perform better. Programs are installed just like any other program only we are looking at helping a person come out with new behaviours that give the opportunity to be elsewhere in terms of how they responded to the situation that led them be afraid or upset or not playing etc. Strategies of their behaviour are pieced together to make a ‘script’ and therefore make them more able to perform and respond differently. If we look at the way in which Second Life uses scripts to ensure that a particular outcome is achieved we are then able to see what the effect of installing a strategy into a human being is going to achieve. Testing and designing strategies is what NLP is most famous for in the form of modelling those that do things really well and teaching it to others using the technology of NLP itself.
In many situations we often assume that we know what a person is thinking and think that responding to them is going to help them feel better or change the way they think about a situation. But often we get it wrong and don’t know how help the person with what we have got to offer. So NLP is the piece that helps us make a stand when it come to knowing what to do with the knowledge that gives us the insight as to how to make the person be more resourceful and effective in their own life. Making the connecting between what is happening in their minds and what is happening in reality can often take the notion of ‘the map is not the territory’ to a whole new level. Here we see a ‘map’ of the second life orientation island and for many coming into second life for the first time can be a daunting prospect as it requires that they first allow themselves to get into a situation where they are unfamiliar with their surroundings and can literally be a disorientating experience. In the same way a person who is used to navigating their own internal landscape, the prospect of changing can be a daunting thing particularly as they don’t have access to another way of being. Our internal maps of the world often make up our identity and and that is what is being dismantled when we ask people to opt for another way of being. In order to help them be what they need we can use the tools they have already, such as resources, ways of thinking, ideas and knowledge to help them become more efficient in taking the new steps towards a greater sense freedom, love and inspiration.
So how do we find our way around a new world? Whether it be in real life or Second Life, we can use research that shows we have a number of grid cells the help us to orient ourselves to our surroundings and create maps of where things are in space and time. Our perceptions are such that we can alleviate what we feel is going to make us lose track and get the one that is going to be what we need to make tracks towards what we feel is in the right direction. Often when driving a car we can drive on automatic pilot and without realising where in the journey we are. This is because our brains have an internal sat nav system that drives us to where we want to go without thinking about it. Taking a new route or a different mode of travel can bring us back to awareness and ensure we learn the new routine well enough to be able to take our ‘minds’ off it once we know what we are doing.
Modelling behaviours whether in virtual worlds or in real life has long been known to create a method of learning that gives us the special focus of wanting to mimic what we need to learn. New research into how virtual worlds can help us access parts of the brain that give us reasons to notice what we can do differently is showing that they can be effective in teaching our brain new tricks.
Exercising our brains to do things that we need to learn in real life has shown to be an effective way to make our minds up to do what we say we want to achieve in real life. Coaching as a way of using influence to motivate our clients to do what we want them to, has been a challenge in the past and can have consequences that don’t align with what we set out achieve. So now we can relay the ideas via the virtual medium in way that helps them to mimic the brain activity that goes with the mentality of desiring a specific outcome.
An example of how we can get results in areas where it’s been traditionally difficult to motivate clients is in the health and beauty industry. Personal trainers can now use a virtual likeness of their avatar to encourage clients to perform fitness activities more willingly and more often than if they had just had the conventional ‘feel the burn’ instructions. Researchers found that people who watched a virtual likeness of them selves exercising on a treadmill were more likely to exercise for longer periods than those who had not watched a virtual replica exercising. One of the key aspects of whether this method worked to motive a student to follow instructions was the degree of identification between the person and their avatar. Obviously this has implications for many learning situations where students are required to perform tasks to a certain standard and or degree.
Here I have given some example of how virtual worlds can be useful in helping people with various conditions that require professional and or medical assistance.
Virtual reality is no longer confined to the ‘virtual world’ realm and quantum physics is leading the way to show how we are in fact a real virtual world consisting of particles and waves that only need the act of ‘looking’ or being observed in order decide which direction, form or idea that it will make. The list I have generated here is not exhaustive, but represents a host of areas that represents the main areas manufacturing reality via the quantum virtual medium. As you can see here, a virtual hand (hand of God?) is creating a design on a ‘transparent’ background (quantum vacuum or dark matter region – C2) using a pen he is guiding to build up the surface of an idea that he wishes to bring into reality. It is the same with making images in the real world, the quantum vacuum represents the canvas on which we draw our life’s desires and play them out in reality and more recently in virtual digitalised world of SL.
Ultimately, MIND is the builder of all we purvey. What we can imagine, we can build and nowhere is that more doable than in the virtual world of Second Life. I do hope that you have enjoyed this presentation and can take away with you some new ideas to ponder and digest as you go forward with your own ideas of how to use virtual worlds for teaching and learning with children, adults and other sectors of society that have yet to be tapped into.
Finally I hope to share my vision of virtual worlds in the use of helping people to heal and love themselves more fully using some of the ideas I have presented to you today. There are many virtual worlds yet to explore, both in real life and online and it is my intention to use both my first and second life to build new Universes within and connect people to the most important aspect of creativity that is common to all worlds and that is the energy of love and understanding. It is hoped that this presentation has given you plenty of food for thought in how you will find it useful for your own understanding of how we are all connected to the One universe – the virtual world of Love when spelt backwards spells out the beginning of EVOL…ution.
For more information please visit my website www.virtuallyspiritualsoulutions.com and look forward to seeing how I can be of service to you in the future.
Thank you for listening. See you inworld!
Watch the video of the presentation in Second Life here http://www.vimeo.com/12714821
Gina.
