NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of human behavior. NLP is based on the idea that all behavior has a structure and process. As the structure and processes of positive behaviors are identified and learnt they can be mapped on to areas where there is difficulty, learnt and implemented.

Neurology: It is through the neurological workings of the brain that we interpret the world. It is the brain that sees our reality and builds perceptions.
Language: The use of language and how it influences our behavior. We use language to build our perception of the world and to describe our experience of it
Programming: This is how our thoughts, feelings, ideas and actions become programmed on to our unconscious mind which then runs much of our behavior.

NLP is based on principles that are very different from traditional psychology.
While traditional clinical psychology is primarily concerned with describing difficulties, categorizing them, and searching for historical causes, NLP is interested in how our thoughts, feelings and actions work together right now to produce our experience. Founded on modern sciences of biology, linguistics and information ,NLP begins with new principles of how the mind/brain works. These principles or assumptions are called the NLP Presuppositions.
They are:
The map is not the territory.
Our mental maps of the world are not the world .We build perceptions beliefs ideas about what we experience, we thus each build our own model of reality. We respond to our maps, rather than directly to the world. Mental maps especially feelings and interpretations can be updated more easily than the world can be changed. The common assumption that we generally have is that everyone ‘s model of the world is the same as ours.

Experience has a structure.
Our thoughts memories have a pattern to them. When we change that pattern or structure, our experience will automatically change. We can neutralize unpleasant memories and enrich memories that will serve us.

If one person can do something, anyone can learn to do it.
Ok let’s not jump the gun with this one. Not everyone is going to be able to play football like David Beckham, snooker like Ronnie O Sullivan these guys have a calling to be statesmen in their field. We can learn an achievers mental map and apply it to what ability we already have. One aspect of David Beckham’s and Ronnie O Sullivan’s mental map is that they have absolute belief in their ability and capability to perform well in their chosen sport.

The mind and body are parts of the same system.
Our body instantly reacts to our negative thoughts .Our biography becomes our biology. When we change these thoughts we are able to release tension and stresses in the body.

People already have all the resources they need.
Mental images, voices, sensations and feelings are the basic building blocks of all our physical resources. We can use them to build up any thought feeling or skill we want, and place them in our lives where we need them .We can use the strategy we use for something we are good at and move it to something we are not so good at.

You cannot not communicate.
We are always communicating, at least none verbally, and words are often the least important part. A sigh, a smile and a look are all communications. Even our thoughts are communications with ourselves, and they are revealed to others through our eyes, voice tones, and posture and body movements.

The meaning of communication is the response you get.
Others receive what we say and do through their mental maps of the world. When someone hears something different from what we meant, it’s a chance for us to notice how our communication is received allows us to adjust it, so next time it can be clearer.

Underlying every behavior is a positive intention.
Every hurtful, harmful and even thoughtless behavior had a positive purpose in its original situation. Yelling in order to be acknowledged. Hitting to fend of a perceived danger or expressing an emotion. Hiding to feel safe .Rather than condoning or condemning this action .We can separate them from the person’s positive intent. So that new, updated and more positive choices can be added that meet the same intent.

People are always making the best choice(s) available to them.
Every one of us has his or her own unique personal history. Within it, we learned what to do and how to do it. What to want and how to want it. What to value and how to value it. What to learn and how to learn it. This is our experience. From it, we must make all of our choices; that is, until new and better ones are added.

If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else. Do anything else.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you have always gotten. If you want something new; do something new, especially when there are so many alternatives.

There is no failure only feedback.
When something doesn’t work us can look to what we did that allowed it not to work .Feedback allow us to look for other solutions. Failure can produces a stuck state of not feeling good enough. It can also drain a person of self belief.

People are not their behaviors.
Understanding that behaviors are learnt processes we can then accept and understand the person and reject their behavior.The behavior can be changed while accepting the person.

The law of requisite variety.
The idea that the person with the most flexibility in any situation has the most control of the outcome. This means that a person with the most choices of ways in which a problem can be solved will ultimately have a positive outcome.

NLP has within it many different techniques that allow patterns of behavior to be changed. Each and every pattern of behavior has a process that it goes through these processes can be recognized in areas that we are fluent in and transferred to areas in life that we are having difficulty with.

NLP allows us to be more conscious of the way in which we run our behavior, instead of allowing our behavior to run us. It is an apt model which when used appropriately can contribute to raising our consciousness.

Raising our consciousness we are able to function from a greater sense of awareness. As we do so we become calmer, more relaxed and at ease. States of being are reached and in doing so we enter into more of a flow state as appose to a driving and thriving state. As we raise our consciousness we let go of emergency emotions and are less driven by stress, and neediness. This in turn allows for us to be more evolved while being accepting and forgiving of others. Kindness and compassion are byproducts of this way of being. The heart begins to open and life flows more effortlessly.