NLP might sound a bit intimidating to those of us who are afraid of acronyms. What could it possibly stand for? Nine Lesson Process? Sounds like too much work. No Laziness Permitted? That’s most of us jiggered, then. When you discover it actually stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, well, you’d be forgiven for wanting to run a mile in the other direction at a Never Lessening Pace.

But this psychology-based form of self-improvement, discovered by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in the 1970s and made popular by motivational speaker Anthony Robbins (Tony to his friends, millions of readers and, presumably, his delighted accountant), has been hugely beneficial for people all over the world, for both career success and emotional healing. Our instructor for the two-day Break Through You course at Gather in Glasgow was Brian Costello. Given that his leaflet boldly stated ‘You won’t just feel different after this weekend, you will be different after this
weekend’, he had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, he was up to the task.

Although the course featured plenty of NLP jargon – values elicitation, anchoring, life wheels - Brian is an instructor who is far more likely to entice you with comparisons to Harry Potter and Egyptian adventurers than overwhelm you with fancy terms. Always open to questions, he was never anything short of engaging, which helped hugely during the talkier first day. Once the enjoyably-delivered theory was past, however, a steady stream of practical exercises had us putting the system into action, forcing us to face up to a lot of our own deeply-held ‘stuff ’ (genuine technical term, there) in the process.

Brian’s approach is very much a proactive one. He explains the approach, often dressed up in an anecdote or metaphor, then provides ample time for his students to try it out. When one woman voiced her anxiety at doing something she considered a little advanced for an amateur, Brian assured her that, while he and assistant Tom were there to provide support for anyone who required it, her very decision to attend the workshop was
demonstration enough of her readiness. Although he was sympathetic to our fears, he has structured the course in such a manner that we couldn’t help but have a look at ourselves and figure out just what in our lives required work. Yet the exercises never required us to publicly reveal
anything we were uncomfortable with, since much of the work is conducted in the client’s own mind, merely guided by another. After an eye-opening exercise which allowed us to uncover our true, subconscious requirements for happiness in the various areas of our lives (I knew I was in trouble when ‘freedom’ floated to the top of my relationship requirements), we moved on to learn fast, simple methods of improving
our moods day-to-day. Hakalau is a superquick technique which calms the mind and increases its ability to take in pieces of information, leaving it more open to the opportunities in the world we might otherwise miss. Anchoring involved reliving a time when we felt a desirable state (confidence being the most popular choice) and ‘hooking’ that feeling to a visualisation or gesture which could restart that state whenever we wanted it. The  instructions were easy to follow and delivered clearly enough to combat my natural habit of Not Listening Properly, and so many opportunities for practice were provided that most of the techniques had already sunk in by the time we moved on. For those which required a little more time and study (like the hypnosis scripts provided), everything was included in the excellent workbook which comes with the course.

The final exercise was Time Line Therapy, a method of locating in the subconscious those earliest experiences of negative emotion that have influenced your life. The therapy allows the client to accept whatever lesson the experience had to offer, then let go of the negative emotion attached, be it anger, fear, sadness or guilt. The most amazing aspect of this is that all later memories attached to the same feeling also lose their potency, lifting a lifetime’s-worth of emotional baggage in a period of literally minutes. Sounds too good to be true? Perhaps, but it’s surprising how easily you can accept it when already you can fill yourself with a feeling of love and confidence just by pressing on a thumb (gotta love
those anchors).

The two days certainly weren’t easy – physical and emotional exhaustion seemed common – but, come the end, I really felt I had taken something from the experience. I’ve been to many different courses of varying quality but the Break Through You weekend offered me things I had not found elsewhere. Not an immediate cure-all, perhaps, but Brian doesn’t claim it to be. What it does offer are simple techniques you will not find in other
systems and a fantastic first step for anyone looking for a fresh start who has been waiting for the right opportunity to show up.

My fellow attendees seemed to enjoy the workshop and many remarked that they would be keeping tabs on whatever Brian does next. One woman suddenly found she had the strength to give up smoking after day one, another had made her peace with an old memory she didn’t even realise was holding her back. As for me, you might say I am Now Living Positively. No Laughing, Please.

For more information contact
Brian Costello–HeadStrong NLP
T: 0800 019 7326
E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
W: www.headstrongnlp.com