NLP techniques. Anchoring

We all find ourselves anxious or stressed at some point, especially if we have to face an uncomfortable or complicated situation or feel unfit to perform some function.

With this conditioning technique you can learn to master anxiety, overcome your fears and relieve stress. Anchoring uses resources we already possess, memories of past experiences and the emotions attached to them.

Anchoring is actually something that happens naturally. An event produces an emotional impact of a certain intensity and the brain links it to something particular in that scene to make a memory. They can be positive or negative anchors. The repetition of an experience can also refer us to a state.

A smell that takes you back to your childhood, a melody that reminds you of a good time, an image or a sound that transports you to a place. It is just learning to take advantage of this natural process to duplicate the emotional state you need. Make this a conscious mechanism. Emotions are waiting until they are triggered by those stimuli.

What is an anchor and how does it work?

An anchor is a mechanism that allows you to induce the emotion (resource) you want and thus modify your present state of mind. Any emotionally charged event can serve as a reference to create the anchor.

The way to summon that emotion when we need it is through an external sensory trigger. A trigger can be anything, a gesture, a smell, a melody, a word, holding an object. We will gradually associate the resource to the trigger until we automate the process and can evoke the mood we need at will and instantaneously.

The anchor helps us to overcome the sensations that limit us when performing a function or interacting with other people. For example, an anchor of calm for a presentation, an anchor of relaxation to be able to take a flight, an anchor of confidence to face a job interview.

How to install an anchor?

It is a relatively simple technique that you can do yourself. Like any habit, it comes with practice and takes a series of steps.

It will be best to memorize the directions beforehand so as not to disrupt the process. You can try closing your eyes and getting into a position that is comfortable for you. You can still seek the help of an expert, at least the first time, to ensure the result.

Steps to create an anchor:

• Identify the emotion you want to feel: What resource do you want to anchor? What do you want to feel? Confidence, calm, joy, security, and so on. It may take a while to decide the state you need to evoke.

• Locate a memory with that emotion: identify the experience where you felt that state of mind that you want to turn into a resource. It should be an episode where that emotion is the predominant one, for example if it is calm, the memory should be flooded with this feeling. That will be the feeling you will anchor.

• Relive the experience: Try to remember every detail. It may be that images (what you saw), or perhaps sounds and words (a conversation or what you said or thought) predominate in the memory, also make an effort to concentrate on what you felt in the environment.

• Create the anchor: gather all the sensations that the event provoked in you as if you were living it again and when you feel that you found the sensation you were looking for and you feel flooded by it, anchor it. Act and associate that state to the trigger that you have chosen (touching a part of your body, throbbing your fingers, smelling a perfume, listening to a m