A couple questions about anchoring.

[KillingAristotle]

Hey,

I'm sure alot of these questions have been answered here already, but I couldn't find what I was looking for when I searched for 'anchors' in the subject line of archived messages. Let me apologize in advance for some really weak questions! If you'd rather refer me to some other resource than type out a whole response that's fine with me too :).

- First, I have problems recalling states. I mean, I can SEE the states, but I can't FEEL them. I know many times when i've felt great confidence or relaxation, etc., but as hard as I try to put myself in that situation.. I don't feel any different. My breathing stays the same and everything. I can't even begin to imagine the ability to recall an experience so vivid that I could smell it. As a result of all this, my anchors haven't been working very well.

Is there any good exercises I could do to make these states more real for me?

- The philospher David Hume talks about 'ideas' vs. 'impressions'. Ideas are derivative of impressions and are always less potent. For example, if I were stub my toe I would have the immediate experience of pain and cursing (the impression). I could later recall that experience, and maybe even conjure up a bit of the pain as I remember it, but it will always be less than the original in terms of intensity (the idea).

It seems like there are some states (like sexual orgasm or having an altered state as a result of drugs or alcohol) where this gap is even wider. Even if I tried as hard as I could there's no way I could get 1/10 of the experience of an actual orgasm just by thinking about it! This could just be because I have problems, as per my last question, but this is the way it seems to me.

So my question is, if we're just recalling previous experiences, it seems like our anchor is just mimicing that recollection. Wouldn't we do just as well to recall that state "manually", instead of using the anchor, when we wanted that state to occur? Is it ever possible for our anchor to be more potent than the experience that we used to set the anchor with? It doesn't seem like it should be, but then I was thinking about using several different vivid experience to set the same anchor (stacking?). Could this make the anchored state more intense than any of those single recollections?

I think that's about it. Sorry about the basic questions. If you have any suggested reading material that would be more than appreciated. I just got a copy of Frogs Into Princes and it's my first NLP book so i'm pretty exicted.

Thanks!

[Merlin]

Hi,

>Is there any good exercises I could do to make these states more real for me?

It's not always easy to do the anchors alone. Working with someone else helps alot.
You'll want to anchor the *peak* of the emotional state. Watching yourself to catch that peak moment isn't easy.

Stacking the anchors increases their strength.

Using hypnosis can help the emotion recall be as strong as the original experience (an advantage hypnotists have ;-)

[skip]

You might want to set that anchor at just before peak.

If you try to hit peak, you might miss it, and end up going past peak, and blowing it out (as in the compulsion blow out) and dulling it down completely. Not good.

Setting kinesthetic anchors on yourself is very tricky. To set the anchor you must be associated into the desired state. But to realize, to set the anchor, requires you to be meta to the state. You cant be both simultaneously.

What you can do, is practice getting into the desired state and amping it up. Dont blow it out, by going over the top, just amp it up nice and high. (Use submodalities as described in 'frogs'.) Learn to deliberately turn this on, and enter fully into it, so you dont have to concentrate on doing it, it just happens at will.

Then you do three steps:

1. Think of, imagine, the situation where you want to feel the desired state, imagine yourself just entering into that situation and bring on the desired state, bring it up fully, as you continue to imagine yourself in the context, imagine yourself operating in the context, while you still revel in the desired state.

2. Now stop and think about something else, anything else, something completely different.

3. Repeat steps 1&2, until your own neurology actully takes you to the desired state automatically when you think of the context. This wont take long.

When you think of the context, and you instantly, without having to think about it, enter the desired state you have just 'taught' yourself to respond, as you wish in a certain situation.

That simple little drill will open up a world of opportunity for you. You can actually choose your honest unconscious response for any situation.

skip

[KillingAristotle]

Hey,

Thanks for the respones you two. I understand what you're saying about when to set the anchor, but my problem is that I don't really *get* a peak. I can visualize the experience and see it playing through my head, but I still remain pretty impartial to it. I've tried stepping out of my body and watching me go through it, and then jumping in, but it still doesn't work that well for me. So while it's playing in my mind's eye, it's not really changing me physiologically. I might as well be running some segment of a cartoon. This means I don't really have anything to ramp up or anchor at it's peak since my feelings remain the same.

Hopefully as I learn more this will come a little easier. Now skip, your three step idea sounds really cool. So if I wanted to learn to look people in the eye, do these steps sound right?

1). Recall an experience where I was very confident and 'ramp up' that level of confidence within me, never blowing it out. Then, at one point, I should be able to just 'jump' into this state without having to ramp it up or think about it? So I suddenly just get a rush of confidence?

2.) Next, I would imagine a state where I needed confidence. Let's say a cute girl was walking down the side walk straight for me and nobody else was around. I would imagine myself approaching her, and then put myself in the rehearsed confident state. Would I play this out all the way? So I become confident, look her straight in the eye, smile, and then walk on?

3.) Repeat. Am I going to want to keep recalling the same experience (same sidewalk, same girl), or will it be more helpful to put myself in other thought up situations where I would want the skill?

I'm going to read a good chunk of 'frogs' today, so hopefully i'll get a better handle on all this.

Thanks again.

[skip]

two things:

1. Pick an experience that you already have, so you are recalling, not inventing it. Somewhere in your past you have no doubt felt everything it is likely that you are going to feel, so you already have what you need. Then get into that memory, fully, first person. When you step outside yourself, you notice the feelings drop off dramatically. you dont want that you want to intensify them.

2. Yes use the same context over and over until it takes off on its own. Then if you want this in only one context you stop there. If you want this generalized throughout your behavior, do it with other contexts until your neurology learns that you want it everywhere. When you get good at this the entire process wont take more than 5 min.

[KillingAristotle]

Sounds good. Thanks, skip.

[coyotekin]

Somebody had posted this on one of the other forums I like to chat on and thought others might enjoy it. I find it really helps to give a visual and auditory example when it comes to Anchoring.

http://www.essential-skills.com/content.php?cid=1033