Collapsing Anchors or Cancelling an Everyday Discomfort (NLP)
This exercise is aimed at cancelling a recurring discomfort, for instance, discomfort when rising in the morning, the Sunday evening depression, and so on.
This technique consists of replacing the unpleasant conditioned response (anchor) for a pleasant and stimulating one.
1. Installing the stimulating anchor
Find three pleasant experiences in which you felt confident, creative and full of resources. It is better if these belong to different times in your life.
- With your left hand on a specific point of your left thigh (always the same point), recall successively each pleasant experience as if you were going through it again.
- At the end of each memory, lift your hand and think of something else for about 3 or 4 seconds.
2. Anchor of the discomfort
Now, anchor that discomfort that limits or blocks you. Think of a moment when you experienced this discomfort very clearly.
- Put your right hand on a specific point of your right thigh. Remember that experience of discomfort for a few seconds. At the end, lift your hand.
- Now, without thinking of anything, touch that point of your right thigh again. You should be able to feel the discomfort immediately.
If that is not the case, repeat this previous step.
3. Making the Collapse
- First, touch your right thigh with your right hand, feeling the unpleasant experience and, while keeping your right hand on your right thigh, touch with your left hand the point on your left thigh where you anchored the pleasant experiences.
- Wait with both hands on each thigh. You will experience deep internal movements.
- Then, when the discomfort has changed from unpleasant to neutral or pleasant, lift the right hand anchor first, wait for 2 or 3 seconds and then lift the left hand.
- Bridge to the future: imagine that you encounter again the situation that used to cause you discomfort and observe what you feel now.