What is NLP?

"It's whole body is covered in hair"

"It's bigger then a human"

"It bangs it chest with its fist"

"Its black"

"It has a flat nose"

"It must be 5 times heavier then a human"

"It makes a really loud sound a bit like a grunt"
Trying to describe a Gorilla to someone who has never seen one is hard, all the descriptions above are true but you never really get a true sense of the animal until to see it for yourself.
It's the same with NLP; I am often asked "what is NLP?" where do you start....

"A science of how the brain codes learning and experiences"

"A model of how we retrieve, receive and store information"

"A system for describing, restructuring and transforming a person’s meaning and cognitive understanding of the world they live in"

"A user’s manual for the brain"

NLP has been described in many ways over the years; it has been called A Science, A Process, a Model of Excellence, A technology, and much more.

As you read the description above (Gorilla) you would have created your own image/picture/film and this will give you a taste of what NLP is. The more NLP techniques you read about and practice the more you understand NLP.

N - Neuro; This relates to Neurology, the way we process information from our five senses through our brain and nervous system.

L - Linguistic; This relates to our use of Language Systems, this includes words, gestures, postures, etc and attributes meaning to our internal representation of our world and to communicate both internally and externally.

P - Programming; This relates to how we store, code and transform information. Just like with a PC if you delete or upgrade information/software you can change the way you think and act.

We experience the world through 5 senses (Sight, Touch, Hearing, Smell and Taste) As we gather so much information everyday our brain will FILTER the information through our values, beliefs and experiences. Information can be deleted, distorted and generalised. In the end we end up with our own INTERNAL MAP of the world.

Finally our STATE (the state which we are in) will affect our behaviour and how we communicate with the world.