We each have differing levels of comfort with different aspects of human experience. For some, the body, the physical is the prime way of experiencing, and something that there is ready access to, and a rich vocabulary to express. Where this is the case, its easy to identify and talk about body sensations, for example sensing temperature, tension, movement, heaviness, lightness and energy
For others, it may be really hard to tune into the physical, but the mental may be much easier to access. We may be very aware of what we think and how we perceive things. There may be a tendency to reason and make sense of things intellectually, and be an ease of expression for ideas and concepts.
For yet others, the physical and/or the mental may not be the go-tos, instead they may lead from the emotional. There may be a subtly and wealth of experience with feelings, identifying nuance between different emotions, and readily expressing what is being felt.
None of these patterns are better than any other. They are all just different. In NLP, we say ‘the person with the most flexibility has the most influence.’ That influence starts internally.
How would it be to be able to access, and express your mental, emotional and physical experiences, all with a richness and subtlety? To move between them with fluidity as preference and circumstance call?
The first step is recognising what your current preferences and habits are. Then, it’s about exercising the muscles currently less used. Check in with the aspects of experience you tend not to focus on regularly, and practice noticing them. Look up words that express in the modality you are developing. Practice checking in with all three ways of experiencing, as well as being with all of your five senses.
If you find you get a bit stuck in one language, or are fearful of reaching out into different ways of experiencing yourself, then psychotherapy may be useful. To explore online sessions, get in touch.
