NLP Techniques: Past History Changer

Your Past Doesn't Equal Your Future

by Laura Interval

Imagine for a minute that you have no past. Wipe away your childhood, the memories of your teenage years, your early adulthood… you have no history. You are not affected by anything but this present moment. Would you react differently to what is in front of you? Would you have different associations and expectations about your present and future situations?

Of course we can’t erase our pasts, but imagine that you can change it. You can rewrite your history. You can replace your childhood with anything you wish. How would that change the way you live today? Would you be living differently?

This is the basis of NLP Personal History Changer. If a bad past experience is disempowering you now, causing you to hold back or to react negatively, by changing your history, you can effectively set yourself free. Substitute a more desirable history for yourself and you can overcome fears, phobias, health issues and even acquire new skills.

Your past does not equal your future. Your subconscious mind accepts whatever "reality" you present to it. Whether the event actually happened or was created in your imagination, your subconscious can’t tell the difference. If you suffered an injury in your past, for example, with this technique, you can literally erase it from your subconscious. And research has proven that your body will respond accordingly.

This technique is done best as a guided exercise. In order to do it alone, you have to switch between dissociated and associated too much. For the maximum benefit, get a partner or a trained NLP practitioner to take you further.

The basic steps:

Decide on the issue you want to deal with. What is the unpleasant experience, feeling or state that you wish to change? It could be grief, a fear, a negative belief, for example…

Drop an anchor Feel the feelings associated with this unpleasant state or fear. When you have the feeling fully in your mind and body, make an associated physical gesture. (press your thumb and forefinger together on your right hand, or make a fist in your right hand, for example) Now release this anchor and break your state. Bring yourself to the present. Stand up, give yourself a shake if you have to, to get out of it.

Imagine your life as a timeline. See the line stretching way back into your past, and way ahead into your future. You are standing in a spot that represents the present. All of the events in your life are on this line. Take a little time and notice how you see the major events. You may just see patches of light and dark, or skinny and thick. Everyone will see it differently. Allow yourself to take a look around and see the line of your life.

Re-access the unwanted state by activating your anchor (press your right hand thumb and forefinger together again) as you walk down the line back to your past. Notice any increases or decreases in the intensity of this feeling as you walk into your past. Continue to walk into your past until you reach the earliest memory of this unpleasant feeling. See "yourself" at that time. Notice how old "you" are… what "you" look like. Now break your state by coming back to the present. Again, stand up, shake yourself until you are feeling back to normal.

Think about the "you", in the past timeline, that is about to go through that experience. The "you" that doesn’t know what is about to happen. The present you knows what is about to happen, the consequences and what it will mean to you. You have the resources now as an adult, to better deal with it. Find the appropriate resources that you have now that will prepare the past you to pass through the experience differently. Qualities such as confidence, happiness, self worth, new knowledge, your adult wisdom and experience. Any skills that you have now that "you" did not have then that will help change the meaning of the experience. What would you tell the "you" in the past? How would you help the past "you" deal with the situation better? Feel the positive energy, the strength you own now as the present you.

Drop another anchor. Make a different physical gesture (touch your thumb and forefinger on your left hand, or make a fist in your left hand for example) to associate this new resourceful state. Make sure you feel these positive resources powering through your body. Drop your anchor when you feel your positive state the strongest.

Walk back down your timeline to the earliest unwanted experience. When you are standing with your past "you", fire the positive resource anchor (press your left thumb and forefinger together) Allow this new state to take the place of the old one. Allow the past" you" to absorb this new information. Go through the experience with the young "you" and notice how you react differently this time. Notice how "you" make different decisions, operate out of different beliefs, and everything around you changes as a result. Stick with it until you see and feel a change in the younger "you".

If you don’t feel the new resources strong enough, break your state, return to the present and strengthen your new anchor with more positive choices.

When you are satisfied with the positive changes, begin to walk forward back to the present on your timeline with the new " you". Keeping your new positive anchor in place, notice how all of your life continues to move and change with you. You can stop at each experience that involves this previous unwanted feeling and allow your past self to deal with it with the new acquired wisdom.

Break your state when you reach the present. Stand up, shake yourself, make sure you are back in the present.

Now, think back to the experience that used to cause the unwanted reaction. When you remember the experience, feel the new associated, positive responses and reactions.

Lastly, think of a current situation in your life where the fear, phobia or response used to occur before you did this visualization. Look at your life on the future timeline and feel the positive resources and new reinforcements kick in to change your old behavior. Testing the technique in the future is referred to as “future pacing”.

Like all visual exercises, you will get better and better at this with practice.

I connect to this technique. When I walk my timeline, I can see so clearly the past experiences and how they affect my current situations. I see my young self dealing with insecurities and making choices to please other people. When I go back there as my adult self, share the confidence and faith that I have so strongly now, I feel a strong shift in my memories. I feel my young self change within those old situations and redefine what they mean. As a result, I feel buoyed up and empowered. No more fear of speaking to large groups. No more shyness in expressing my strong opinions.

It helps me to really see myself as a young girl. To visit myself on the timeline and watch her. When I activate my second anchor, I also talk to my young self and tell her what I know will help her deal with the situation. When we walk through time to the present together, I stand with her (me) and look at the future. One last positive activation of the anchor makes me feel empowered and excited about our future possibilities!

This experience can be intense and emotional. Especially if you are working through a particularly traumatic event, it is recommended that you do not do it alone.

You are changing your history. You are changing your mental and emotional associations of a particular experience. You are changing your reactions and beliefs. And you are freeing yourself to know that your past does not equal your future.

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