unresourceful state. The risk of always creating a pathway out
of what we believe to be “unresourceful” states is that we fail
to value the richness of diversity, the beauty of all emotions.
Staying in a state or moving to another is a choice. If the gap
is a wide one—from, for example, a state of extreme stress to
one of total relaxation—you might want some interim steps.
You might choose to go from stress to concern, then from
concern to neutrality, and from there to mild amusement, and
then finally to relaxation. In this case you would be chaining
anchors so that you are creating a pathway for yourself from
one state to anther. By learning the chain each time you
experience the first undesirable state, you will automatically
move down the path that you have created for yourself.
1 Decide on an unresourceful state that you want to work with
in this exercise. Choose a state that you want to replace with
another much more resourceful state, but one that you
recognize is a significant distance from the first undesirable
state. You might choose an initial state of something like
anxiety or stress or depression. The replacement state might
be something like calm, relief, or ease with yourself. Check
that the replacement state is one that is truly desirable as a
replacement whenever you experience the first.
2 Associate into the first state so that you are re-experiencing
it and anchor it by touching a part of your thigh. (You are
going to use places in line down your thigh to access each of
the subsequent states until you get to the resourceful one.)
Only experience this first state briefly (there is no need to
stay there too long). Break state.
3 Choose a next intermediary state, for example irritation, but
something much less intense than the first state.
Experience this state and when you are fully associated into
it, anchor that on to a point a bit further down your thigh.
Break state.
4 Choose a more resourceful state, one of confidence or
security for example. Associate into a time when you had
this feeling. When you experience the intensity of this
feeling, anchor it by touching a point further down your
thigh again. When you have done this successfully, break
state.
The beauty of all emotionsSTEPS FOR CHAINING
ANCHORS
TAP INTO YOUR INNER POTENTIAL: ANCHORING 201