Imagine your mind as a computer.
At any given moment, hundreds or even thousands of “programs” are running—inner voices, judgments, automatic reactions. Some of these we know and can control. Others run quietly in the background, often since childhood. Back then, they helped and protected us. Today, however, they can slow down our “software,” hold us back, or complicate our lives. NLP—Neuro-Linguistic Programming—is a way to uncover these inner programs, understand them, and gently, consciously, and humanely reprogram them.
NLP stands for:
Neuro – the nervous system, the brain, neural connections. This is where it all begins. How do we perceive the world? As a safe place, or as a battlefield we must navigate every day?
Linguistic – language is the gateway to our mind. The words we use reflect—and often shape—our inner world. Did you know that some Amazonian tribes don’t have words for exact numbers, using only three expressions instead: “few,” “a bit more,” and “many”?
Programming – our thinking and behavior are guided by repeated patterns. Just like updating apps on your phone, these patterns can be rewritten and changed
(And yes, in the IT world, NLP stands for something completely different—Natural Language Processing—but that’s another story.)
Example 1 – Changing a reaction to criticism
A client tended to take any feedback personally—whether from a partner or at work. Through playful work with language, imagery, and anchoring resources in the body, she gained a new space to choose her response. She no longer experiences criticism as an attack, but as information she can handle in her own way.
Example 2 – Rewriting an inner imprint
Since childhood, a client carried the feeling of “I’m not enough”—enough in terms of competence, performance, beauty, etc. Using the reimprinting technique, we went back to the moment this belief formed and rewrote her life story in a way that allows her to feel her self-worth here and now.
A common myth
If you work with NLP with humility and the intention to grow—either for yourself or with others—it is not a tool for manipulation, but a tool for understanding.
Anything is possible
NLP is not a magic wand (although sometimes I do feel a little like I’m at Hogwarts during a session). It is conscious work that brings you closer to yourself. When you understand your inner patterns and learn to change them, a space opens for new possibilities, greater freedom, and a deeper connection with yourself and the people around you.