Twas the Night Before an NLP Christmas

What if Milton Erickson was Santa Claus? What if he came every year to give all the good little NLPers a hypnotic gift? Going down the chimney into your unconscious mind and leaving presents while you relaxed in a deep sleep…you can imagine that, can’t you?

I wrote the following poem as I was was coaching a NLP training, and I decided to submit it Anchor Point. To my delight it was published in the December 2004 issue.

With the holidays drawing near I would like to re-gift this poem to the NLP community. So sit back, relax, and let Milton do a little bit of his magic…

Twas the Night Before an NLP Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And look what I find
All these empowering resources
In my unconscious mind

My beliefs and values
Were aligned with great care
In hopes that Erickson
Could work with what’s there

The fears of my past
Were all put to bed
While visions of trance
Joyfully danced in my head

I took a deep breath
And adjusted my cap
Then settled my brain
For a long trance-like nap

When into my head
There arose such a clatter
I sat up in bed
To see what was the matter

Deep into my mind
I flew like a flash
And shut out the world
By pulling the sash

My tender new beliefs
Shown white as the snow
And gave the luster of permanence
To the convictions below

When, what to my minds eye
Should curiously appear
But the kind Milton Erickson
Drawing me near

With hypnotic language
Seductively slick
I knew in a moment
He put me in trance quick

As he reached down in my memories
The resources they came
With a deep and slow voice
He called them by name

Now Courage, now Compassion
Now Love and Conviction
On Power, On Laughter
On Faith with no restriction

To the top of my mind
Deep inside I knew how
Now integrate! Integrate!
Integrate Now!

And then in a twinkling
Dissolving any grief
Empowering new ideas
Integrated into beliefs

As I lounged in my head
And was turning around
Deeper into my unconscious
Erickson came with a bound

He was dressed all in purple
From his head to his boots
With his hypnotic skills
Resisting was moot

He was kindly and wise
And quite assured of himself
And I went deeper into trance
In spite of myself

He spoke many strange words
And went straight to work
Creating new possibilities
Then turned with a jerk

Clutching onto an idea
To a dream he gave a whistle
And flew out of my mind
Like a heat seeking missile

But I heard him exclaim
As he flew out of site
Happy NLPing to all
And to all a good night!

-Ed Redard M.D. ©2003
http://www.MindfulHealthInstitute.com

P.S. – Feel free to reproduce with copyright intact.
Happy Holidays to everybody!