Blitz NLP

by Charles Curtis

What Is It?

Like Blitz Chess, Blitz NLP is over and done with in about four minutes. It combines an instant induction, a potent emotional clearing process, and a powerful physiological deepener in that four minutes, causing unexpectedly powerful results in an unexpectedly short amount of time. So in the length of time that you would normally finish a rapid induction like the Elman, and be ready to start with the hypnosis, you’re already done with the NLP session.

Uses for Blitz NLP

Blitz NLP is ideally suited to the dynamic situation where you need to “get in, get done, and get out”.

This procedure is especially suited to pain control, stress reduction, and other changes which are treated by a “change in state”, as this intervention moves the recipient quickly from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system response.

For example, after a public program, if the crowd is thinning out, and a potential client comes up to you feeling stressed, and he needs a little work to help him relax, but not a two-hour emotional-root-canal session, a blitz session can get the job done right then and there.

Or if you’re at a health fair, and have a chair beside your table, where people can get a “quick tune-up” as part of the marketing for your NLP practice, this kind of “quick relaxation” procedure is lots of fun for you, the client, and any observers. Or if you’re visiting friends or are at home with the family and someone has a minor problem that a quick procedure like this can address, it’s the loving thing to do.

It also makes a great public demonstration, as it only takes a short amount of time, and is interesting to observe by others. Because of its strong health-giving effects on the client’s physiology, it leaves the client feeling wonderful, which is good for business. Because of its indirect non-confrontational nature, there is no way for either you or the client to fail. And by its very nature, it is deeply calming, so abreaction is not a concern.

What You Can Expect

Clients will typically experience profound changes over the few minutes this procedure takes. This shift out of the stress response into relaxation is accompanied by healthy changes in physiological indicators, such as reduced blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate, accompanied by a noticeable decrease in muscle tension.

If the client was feeling stressed at the beginning of the process, by the end his body language will have noticeably relaxed, and he will typically report feeling “tired”. This is a sign that the parasympathetic nervous system has turned off the overactive “flight-or-fight” response and is moving the body towards much-needed rest.

Subjectively, the client will notice that the “feeling of stress” is gone, upset emotions have disappeared, and his body feels relaxed to an amazing degree. Most importantly to him, the feeling of being “stirred up”, of obsessing over his current problem, will be gone. The client will be astonished at how much better he feels. It is a wonderful way to promote your practice, as the results are very impressive.

Theory

An instant induction opens the subconscious mind for a split second and then fires in a suggestion. The client is kept off balance by the rapid pace, so the critical factor is not active, and so the suggestion is not neutralized and therefore takes effect.

A blitz session is like an instant induction, in that it takes place so fast that the client doesn’t have any time to think about it. In a blitz session, however, this “off-balance” aspect is kept going for several minutes at a slightly slower pace. The result is that the client gets a rapid shift into a much more relaxed state, which in itself reduces any feeling of pain and stress. The openness of the subconscious also allows the input of direct suggestions for greater health and wellbeing.

Practice

There are many different combinations of NLP techniques that could be used for this purpose. If you do blitz sessions a lot, you will develop your favorite way of doing this that suits your personal style. A very basic and effective way of doing this that has proven effective in a variety of situations has several preparatory questions and then three steps

Ask the questions, then devote about a minute to each of the three blitz steps, and you’re done in about four minutes. The following example is written as if the person receiving the treatment has stress as the issue.

Steps

1. Blitz Meridian Tapping

2. Blitz Muscle Relaxation

3. Blitz Hypnosis

Prepatory Questions

1. “Do you have any medical restrictions on moving your head, neck, or back?” (If client says “Yes”, get details, and if necessary, eliminate or modify the Blitz Muscle Relaxation, as it involves physical movements of the head, neck, and back.) In the example below, the client, like most clients, says “No”, so you go ahead and do the full procedure.

2. “Is it alright if I reach out and touch you on the shoulder like this during this procedure?” as you reach out and touch one of your shoulders with your other hand. The client always says “Yes.”

3. “What is the name of your problem?” “I’ve been feeling stressed a lot.” “Great, that’s perfect for our purposes. It’s quite likely that you’ll be feeling much more relaxed in a couple of minutes.”

4. (Note: If the client states a problem that you know is going to require a full session of NLP, or that needs a medical referral, and you’re at a health fair or other environment where that cannot be quickly obtained, just tell him “That type of problem requires more time to deal with than we have right now. As you could imagine, I would need a full session to deal with something like that.” If it’s a medical problem, add “And the problem you mentioned requires me to get your doctor’s permission before I work on it, and of course, we don’t have that permission at this moment.” In either case, end with “But, as a substitute, I could help you feel more relaxed and peaceful over the next few minutes, and help you reduce your stress, would that be ok?” (Client always says “Yes”.)

Blitz Meridian Tapping

1. “Ok. Sit down and face me.” (Client sits.) “I’m going to tap on my body at eight places on my face, my chest, and my hand. (While saying this, briefly tap on the under-eye point, the collarbone point, and the side-of-hand to give an example.) And I’m going to ask you to tap along with me. Is that ok?” (Client always says “Yes”.)

2. “Ok, tap where I tap and say what I say.” (The following example will assume that the client says he has been feeling stressed. If the client has a different problem, substitute that phrase for “stressed”.)

3. Rub sore spot (in center of left chest wall). (Client starts to rub his chest wall as well.) “Even though I have been feeling stressed, I deeply and completely accept myself.” (Client repeats phrase. Do this twice more so client says this phrase, while rubbing, three times.)

4. Then using several fingers on either hand on either side of the body, tap through the following eight points in sequence. While tapping several times at each point, say once “I feel stressed.” (Client taps in same place, and repeats “I feel stressed”.)

   1. Eyebrow point (between eyebrow and nose)

   2. Side-of-eye point (under temple)

   3. Under-eye point (on top of cheek bone)

   4. Under-nose point (where a man’s moustache is)

   5. Under-mouth point (cleft of chin)

   6. Collarbone point (where the collarbone meets the breastbone, then slightly to side)

   7. Under-arm point (several inches down from armpit)

   8. Side-of-hand point (soft fleshy karate chop point)

Blitz Muscle Relaxation

(Note: Wherever it says “neutral position” below, this refers to the rest
position between each stretching position, which is a relaxed normal
sitting position, with head upright.)

1. After completing the Blitz Meridian Tapping above, without stopping, proceed right into the Blitz Muscle Relaxation. This is adapted from a formal procedure we have developed in our office for deep muscle relaxation, called 8-count (because there is a formal count from 1-8 in between movements. The full 8-count procedure is a slowly paced induction that repeats the full muscle relaxation process three times over a period of nine minutes, which we use for stressed-out clients with muscle tension preventing good relaxation. For the blitz version here, the slow pace, formal counting from 1-8, and the time required for the full three rounds are eliminated in favor of a quick single round that takes a little over a minute.

2. “Open your mouth as wide as it will go” (Open your mouth, client does also.) After a few seconds, say “Now relax” (Client closes his mouth.)

3. “Tilt your head back” (Tilt your head back, client does also.) After a pause of a few seconds for a nice gentle stretch, say “Back to neutral position.” (Bring your head upright, client follows.)

4. After a few seconds resting in the neutral position, “Tilt your head forward” (Tilt your head forward, client follows.) After a few second pause, “Back to neutral position.” (Client follows.)

5. “Raise your shoulders up.” (For the rest of these steps, do the same procedure as in the above steps, that is, you do the movement first, then the client follows, then hold the stretch for a few seconds, the client does also, then say “Back to neutral position”, and go back to normal sitting position, the client does also, then have the client rest for a few seconds in the neutral upright position before continuing to the next step.)

6. “Shoulders up and back.” (Shoulders move up like before, then straight back to involve another set of muscles.)

7. “Shoulders up and forward.” (Same movements, but forward.)

8. “Arch your upper back.” (Shoulders up and back like before, then push chest forward at the same time, so the spine in the area of the upper back is gently stretched forward.)

9. “Arch your lower back.” (Same as before, shoulders up and back, but this time, instead of pushing out chest, push out the abdomen, so the lower spine is gently stretched forward.)

10. “Now all together…Lower back…Upper back…Shoulders up and back…Head back…Mouth open…And hold” After a few seconds attaining and then holding this pose, tell him “Now just let your whole body collapse, so the chair is doing all the work.” The client will typically collapse in the chair, as he is beginning to feel profoundly relaxed.

11. “Take a deep breath in and hold.” After several seconds of the client holding his breath, “Now relax and let it out slowly.” (The client will typically have his eyes closed at this point, as the relaxation deepens.)

12. “Now clench your hands into fists and your feet into balls….(Client does so) And in a moment, when I ask you to relax, just let go of all the tension in your body…Do it now…”(Client does.)

Blitz Hypnosis

1. As the client releases the tension in his hands and feet, his eyes are closed, as his body is extremely relaxed, and he often feels a little drowsy because he’s let go of so much muscle tension.

2. At the moment of release, the subconscious opens wider for a second, as the critical factor is turned off during this momentary feeling of delightful relief.

3. At the precise second he lets go of tension in his hands and feet, press down gently on one of his shoulders with one of your hands; he will have completely forgotten about your asking if you could do this a couple of minutes ago, so this unexpected gentle touch functions as an instant induction.

4. Having already leaned forward, when you press down on the shoulder, immediately begin to talk into one of his ears (If in front of him or to his left, I press down on his left shoulder and talk into his left ear. If I’m sitting to his left, I press down on his right shoulder and talk into his right ear.). Once you have pressed the shoulder for the instant induction, say the following or your own equivalent of it, keeping up the pressure on the shoulder until the end of the process

5. This is different from regular hypnosis, where you speak slowly, and have pauses in between your statements. Because this is like a rapid induction, designed to keep the client off balance, you speak rapidly during this entire process, so he doesn’t have time to think, maintaining a steady patter in his ear, which will cause him to go deep in a short period of time.

6. This works best if you adlib intuitively from your sense of what the client’s problem is, while you watch the client’s body for signs of relaxation, ratifying the relaxation with a “that’s right” whenever you see the body slump, or see a sigh, or some other sign of deeper relaxation.

7. While you’re learning this process, you can use the script below, which has a deepening phase, a forgiveness phase, a pain release phase, an ego-strengthening phase, a resting phrase, and an emerging phase. Once you learn the script, you can pick and choose from among these statements according to what the client needs, taking 1-1.5 minutes. Or you can use the whole script, just as it is, taking approximately 2 minutes.

8. (Deepening Phase) “And now…relaxing…going deeper…that’s right…letting go of any tension…in any part of your body…right now…that’s right…getting as comfortable as you need to be…”

9. (Forgiveness Phase) “Let go of any stress…let go of any anger…let go of doubt…let go of fear…let go of sadness…let go of shame…let go of guilt…discouragement…frustration…any negative feeling of any kind…just let it go”

10. (Optional: Releasing pain) “Let go of any pain…any need to hang on to the pain…do this now…letting go of the pain…completely…as much as you can”

11. (Ego-Strengthening Phase) “Notice how good you feel…how relaxed you are…you can do what you need to do…you can be who you want to be…you can achieve any goal you need to achieve…if there’s something you want to do in life, go for it…you can do it…you have the power and ability to achieve your dreams…let your dreams come true…you can do it…let it happen…make it happen…decide to let it happen…decide to make it happen…decide to be happy now…”

12. (Resting Phase) “Notice how good you feel…how relaxed you are…” (Pause of few seconds for him to notice how good he feels)

13. (Emerging Phase) “And now…taking all the time you need…come back into a normal feeling of mind and body…coming back to today…back to now…back to this room…all of your senses coming alive…bringing with you that feeling of peace and relaxation…noticing how good you feel…how relaxed you are…taking all the time you need…when you’re ready…take a deep breath and open your eyes…(as he opens his eyes)…didn’t that feel wonderful?” (Client, still half in trance, smiles, slowly shakes his head “Yes”, and says something like “Totally awesome!”)

Afterwards

1. The client will be happy, peaceful, relaxed, and noticeably more positive in every way. While this may not have removed all of the client’s discomfort (this process is too short to tackle big issues, which understandably, would require a full NLP session), it should have left him feeling much better, and he will be most grateful for the relief.

2. If in a marketing situation, like a health fair, give the client a business card and say, “If four minutes felt that good, can you imagine how good a whole session of that would leave you feeling?”

3. Client walks off, shaking his head in amazement at how good he feels, muttering “totally awesome” over and over, and then proceeds to spend the next five minutes answering his friend’s questions by telling them over and over how relaxed he got, and how wonderful he feels, which is definitely good for business!

Variations

1. Use your intuition here as to any changes you should make to make it more effective for a given client.

2. If the client is very emotionally distressed (emotional tension), and you have the time, more than one round of Blitz Meridian Tapping will relax him even more. To do this, just ask at the end of the first round “How do you feel?” If the client says, “Fine”, continue on to the Blitz Muscle Relaxation. However, if the client says “I still feel a little upset”, or something like that, do another round, with “A little upset” (or whatever else he said) as the reminder phrase (what he says to himself as he taps each point). If necessary, you can ask this question several times, tapping a round on each upsetting thought until the client finally says, “I feel fine”, letting you know you have gotten his emotional distress to zero. Under normal circumstances, it would be unusual for a client to have negative responses more than two consecutive times when you ask “How do you feel?”

3. If the client is very physically tight (physical tension), and you have the time, more than one round of Blitz Muscle Relaxation will relax him even more. Even our most tense office clients find that three cycles of this relaxation process will relax them enough for good NLP, so in a Blitz situation, if you feel more than one cycle would be advisable, typically two cycles or a maximum of three cycles should give you all the relaxation you need. If you do this, on the second or third cycle, draw it out a little bit, have him rest in each position a few seconds longer, and give him appropriate suggestions, depending on his problem, to “get a nice stretch”, or “feel the peace”, or “notice how good you feel”, etc.

4. If the client seems very scattered in his thinking (cognitive tension), and you have the time, more than one round of Blitz Hypnosis will relax and focus him even more. In this case, don’t emerge him, but go back to the deepening phase and then go through all the phases again to reinforce his relaxation. Or alternatively, you can read the whole script only once, but much more slowly, delivering it like a regular hypnosis script, with a hypnotic voice, and restful pauses. Or instead of the script above, adlib your own dialog to give him appropriate direct suggestion hypnosis.

5. Then emerge him in the normal way.

The Ethics of Removing Physical Pain

Physical pain is often an indicator of an underlying injury or illness that should receive medical treatment. Removing such pain with this technique (or any other NLP technique) is unethical if, because of doing so, the person did not seek and obtain the medical treatment that was required. This is why professional hypnosis organizations recommend that the client’s physician be notified and permission obtained before removing a client’s pain.

So if you are working with someone for physical pain, make sure you are doing so in an environment where the removal of that physical pain is ethical, e.g. either in a hypnosis environment such that a written referral or the equivalent (such as an oral conversation with the physician) has been obtained, or it’s a sports medicine situation where the athlete has already received all necessary medical treatment and the goal is now simply the relief of pain, or it’s in a demonstration situation where all necessary permissions have been obtained ahead of time, or it’s a situation with family or friends or some other scenario where you know because of the context that it’s alright to remove the pain.

Acknowledgements

Blitz Meridian Tapping is adapted from Gary Craig’s EFT Process as described in “The Promise of Energy Psychology” (Penguin, 2005). If you’re not familiar with the technique, the applications, and the sheer potential of EFT for massive permanent change in a remarkably short time, this book is highly recommended.

The concept of the rapid induction and the specific rapid induction process that has come to be known as the Elman induction are described by Dave Elman in “Hypnosis” (Westwood, 1983).