NLP’s Four Dimensional Reality
In grade school we were taught three dimensions of space–height, length and width. In college some of us learned about Albert Einstein adding a fourth dimension, time. Indeed, these four dimensions accurately describe physical objects in space and time. However, the four space-time dimensions say nothing about the meaning, interpretation and value that we give to objects and people when we perceive them. To describe our emotional, intellectual and spiritual experiences we must rely on neurolinguistics programming (NLP) to define our four-dimensional world:
NLP’s Four Dimensional Reality
What we see with our visual representational system,
What we hear with our auditory representational system,
What we feel with our kinesthetic representational system,
The time in which the above representations occur.
As with any other physical object, the human body has height, length and width. Based upon the flow of auditory, visual and kinesthetic information through the human nervous system, we can assign a traditional dimension to each of the three primary NLP systems. According to neurological research, kinesthetic information flows up and down. Hence, the kinesthetic system corresponds to height. Auditory information flows side to side; therefore, the auditory system provides length. Visual information is width since pictures move from front to back (Figure 1.0). Please note in Figure 1.0, the auditory line passes through the ears; the kinesthetic line, the spine; the visual line, the eyes. It just makes good sense that the auditory system’s sound line passes through the ears, the visual system’s sight line passes through the eyes, and the kinesthetic system’s movement line passes through the spine. Each NLP system also has an axis that appears on a graph. Namely, the auditory system is the x-axis, the kinesthetic system is the y-axis, and the visual system is the z-axis. For these reasons, the name of this article is “NLP as Simple as XYZ.”
A, V and K Meridian Lines
We must always invest some physical and emotional energy when we form auditory, visual and kinesthetic representations. The energy of our three primary representational systems forms meridians. According to the dictionary, “Meridians are pathways in which energy is said to flow.” For example, in acupuncture the energies of the bladder, kidneys and lungs are not localized in those organs. The bladder, kidney and lung each have there own meridians in which energy circulates throughout the entire body. As with acupuncture, in NLP the flow of information and energy produces auditory, visual and kinesthetic meridians as shown in Figure 1.0.
The auditory, visual and kinesthetic meridians obey the basic conservation of matter and energy laws. As sense data flows through each representational system, our physical body’s matter and energy are transformed. This explains why we physically and emotionally feel better once we change our perceptions. When we alter our reality, we literally change the matter and energy of our bodies. The auditory, visual and kinesthetic lines all meet inside the head in Figure 1.0. This is the place where the representational systems exchange information with each other. For example, the kinesthetic system takes the pictures of the visual system and turns them into feelings. Another example is the auditory system which takes the feelings of the kinesthetic system and changes them into sounds. Richard Bandler and John Grinder became aware of the intersection of representational systems while studying the patterns of Milton Erickson. They said Erickson helps people by “… using a lead representational system to develop another representational system by finding a point of overlap or intersection between the two.” The three meridian lines in Figure 1.0 go a long way in explaining the intersection of our representational systems.
Moving the representational system’s meridian lines is the quickest and easiest way to facilitate change. First, you must locate your meridians. To find your visual meridian, see a picture; your auditory meridian, hear a sound; your kinesthetic meridian, feel a sensation or emotion. Instead of your imagination, you can use actual sense data (sights, sounds and feelings) to find your representational meridian lines. After locating my meridians, I found it was in my best interest to shift my auditory and kinesthetic lines. I find unpleasant sounds much less annoying and distracting since I lowered my auditory meridian from my head to my heart level. I also realized my kinesthetic meridian was flowing behind my lower back. I have since moved my kinesthetic meridian to the center of my abdominal cavity, and as a result, I feel physically and emotionally better.
The three representational meridian lines have been shifted in Figures 1.1 and 1.2. In Figure 1.1, the auditory, visual and kinesthetic meridians all intersect in the heart instead of the head. This intersection of representational meridians through the heart allows the heart chakra to dominate the senses. This means all three systems–visual, auditory and kinesthetic–are greatly influenced by the love of the heart chakra. This intersection is helpful for problems with anger, mistrust and resentment. In Figure 1.2, the representational meridians intersect just below the navel, or what the Japanese call the “hara,” the center of the body. The focus of this chakra is physical and material health. Here, the intersection of the meridian lines increases the chakras’ energy, which helps release fear, negativity and worry and improves digestion.
Figures 1.1 and 1.2 are just a small sample of how you can transform yourself by changing the position of your representational meridian lines. I highly recommend intermittently realigning your representational lines. The adjustment of your meridian lines is similar to a chiropractor’s adjustment. Return visits to a chiropractor are necessary when the spine loses its adjustment. As with the spine, periodic readjustments of representational meridians often become necessary.
Intensification is another way to put your representational meridian lines to work. During intensification, sensory awareness and intellectual and emotional energy increase, which makes for a more thorough gestalt experience. To intensify your perceptions, observe your sights, sounds or feelings along their appropriate axes. Hear sounds along the x-axis, feelings along the y-axis, and pictures along z-axis. You can try this right now. Close your eyes and say, “Hello my name is ________” while you experience the sound of your voice along the x-axis. Close your eyes and picture yourself stretching your arms up as your spine lengthens along the y-axis. Finally, close your eyes and see yourself smiling in the z-axis. I find in my practice that the less dominant representational systems usually benefit the most from intensification. When the weaker representational systems become stronger, the stronger representational systems become more powerful.
Synaesthesia occurs when the contents of one representational system are mixed in with another. Bandler and Grinder refer to synaesthesia as “see-feels” or “hear-feels.” A husband sees his wife frown and without fully understanding what he saw, the husband feels sad and distant (a see-feel example). We were physically and energetically programmed for synaesthesia; for this reason, the patterns of synaesthesia occur during painful and pleasurable times. Remember, the knife cuts both ways. If synaesthesia can invoke emotional pain, then surely synaesthesia can produce its relief.
Hypnotherapists traditionally apply synaesthesia through metaphors, direct or indirect suggestion. The three representational meridians are another way to produce synaesthesia. At the very least, the intersection of the three meridian lines in Figure 1.0 explains why other methods bring about synaesthesia. We are hardwired so that the contents of one representational system are shared with the others. The three representational systems form six types of synaesthesia:
To produce synaesthesia using meridians, simply take the contents of one representational system and allow them to occur on another representational system’s meridian line. The sounds of the auditory system normally occur on the x-axis which moves from side to side, and the pictures of the visual representational system normally occur on the z-axis, which moves front to back. To manufacture a hear-see, hear sounds of the auditory system on the visual system’s meridian line. On the other hand, the kinesthetic representational system moves up and down on the y-axis. To concoct a feel-hear, feel the sensations of the kinesthetic system along the auditory system’s meridian line. The remaining four synaesthesia patterns work in the same manner. You can easily take the representations of one system and super-impose them on another system’s meridian line.
Hypnotherapists aren’t generally thought of as body or energy workers, but in a real sense we are. Auditory, visual and kinesthetic representations come from the brain and the nervous and sensory systems. Any changes in a representational system must include changes in the human body and energy.
The representational meridian lines come from the adaptation of neurological research. No doubt some hypnotherapists are already intuitively using meridian lines, intensification and synaesthesia. Hopefully, this article sheds some light on their fine work so that we can more frequently reproduce their successful results.
NLP is the epitome of our current “information age.” Since its inception, NLP has been revealing meta-information: data about how we perceive, process, recall, store and transmit information. Because of the importance of information to our survival and the role NLP plays in the understanding of information, NLP may be in a position to help humankind more than any other art or science.
Dr. Jay Stone, “NLP as Simple as XYZ” American Board of Neuroulinguistics Programming Journal, Irving, CA, spring, 1999, pp. 10-13. Dr. Jay Stone, “Stone’s Light Technique” American Board of Hypnotherapy Journal, Irving, CA, fall, 2000, pp. 14-15, 21-23. Dr. Jay Stone, “Time-Line TherapyTM Lessons and Erickson’s Double and Triple Binds” American Board of Hypnotherapy Journal Irving, CA, Fall, 1997, pp. 20-22. Dr. Jay Stone, “Letting Mother Nature Help You and Your Clients” American Board of Hypnotherapy Journal, Irving, CA, fall, 1998, pp. 20-23. Dr. Jay Stone, “In the Name of Mother,” Macrobiotics Today, Oroville, CA, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 23-25.