The NLP Perceptual Positions Alignment Pattern is a technique that deepens the concept of perceptual positions, allowing clients to feel more aligned and coherent within themselves. All three major rep systems (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) are in the same perceptual position at the same time, creating a harmonious and integrated experience.

People may become stuck in a specific perceptual position in some cases, while others may have their rep systems split across multiple positions. This lack of alignment can result in internal conflicts, emotional disturbances, and relationship difficulties.

People who practice perceptual position alignment gain the ability to untangle themselves from past emotional baggage and gain a better understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This process enables them to reclaim power in relationships and take control of their own thoughts and emotions.

Here’s an illustration of the power of perceptual position alignment:

Consider someone who feels inferior or jealous when they meet people who appear to be more successful or have nicer possessions. When this person attempts to see themselves through the eyes of those people (second perceptual position), they may hear a critical voice inside their head telling them they are not good enough.

This internal voice, however, is not the true voice of the other person; it is a projection of their own childhood insecurities. This misalignment of thoughts and feelings can result in a never-ending battle for status and validation.

People can use perceptual position alignment to identify these misalignments and reestablish a sense of harmony within themselves. They feel more grounded, clear, and empowered as they align their thoughts, feelings, and senses in each perceptual position.

Furthermore, aligned perceptual positions can be used to effectively manage emotions. When someone is overwhelmed emotionally (in the first position), they can shift to the third position to observe their feelings from a more detached perspective. This enables them to control their emotions and maintain a calm and objective perspective.

Furthermore, perceptual position alignment improves empathy with others. When someone imagines themselves in the shoes of another person (second position), they can do so without experiencing the same emotions as the other person. Instead, they may experience empathy or understanding, allowing them to keep a healthy emotional distance.

Many people discover that their perceptual positions are not aligned in difficult situations. This lack of alignment can exacerbate their problems. People can gain a distinct advantage by resolving internal conflicts and gaining a clearer perspective on their experiences by practicing perceptual position alignment. This technique enables them to drain the swamp of emotional baggage and more accurately assess the real issues at hand, resulting in more effective problem-solving and improved relationships.

Let me give you a sense of the aligned perceptual positions. Imagine yourself listening to these words. As you listen, with your eyes open, notice that you can see out of your own eyes, feel your own body, and hear with your own ears. You know that each of those senses is yours because of where you sense them. You are the center, and they are in the right positions. So what we have done is use real-life experience with your rep systems that you can refer to when you do visualization or a perceptual position alignment exercise.

To sum up, when all your rep systems are in the same perceptual position, you see, hear, and feel your senses in the right physical location. If you are imagining yourself in the first perceptual position, then it is like you are actually in your own body, looking through your own eyes. You feel grounded or connected, which makes you even more powerful as an individual. You will start your alignment by finding where the misalignment is. This means you’ll have to imagine a challenging situation. Then you’ll check each primary perceptual position: seeing, hearing, and feeling.

Once we know where the misalignment is, we will use that for the alignment. We’ll start by determining whether you have any misalignment in your first perceptual position. Let’s actually imagine something and see if you get the same sense of properly placed senses as you do when experiencing real life. Let’s see if, in a visualization, you are the center of properly placed senses.

1. Select a difficult situation. Pick a situation that is challenging for you and involves another person, such as having an argument with someone. Imagine yourself in that challenging situation.

2a. First Position, Visual:

Consider how you see and how your imagination represents your visual sense. Is your vision 100% exactly where it would be if you were really there, or would you say it is placed a little off from where it should be?

2b. First Position, Auditory:

Let’s try this with hearing. In the imaginary and challenging situation, imagine the sounds you might hear in it or add some appropriate sounds. Do they feel that they are coming to you in the same position that a real person does? Imagine what the person might say to you. If they are saying what you are thinking, or if they are saying things that are truly how YOU feel about yourself or what YOU are insecure about, you are hearing your own thoughts from a different perceptual position. That is a significant misalignment. This type of misalignment can make people feel self-conscious or jump to the conclusion that people are judging them too much.

Aligning a problem like this is very empowering because you own your own thoughts, and you feel much more grounded and confident. Include your thoughts as well, as though you “hear” your thoughts. Ask yourself if those thoughts are really yours. Do they feel like they are really from your values and from the core of your mind, or is there anything alien about them, such as a resemblance to someone else’s style of speaking? Or are some of your thoughts actually what you think the other person is thinking?

Adjust so that you hear your thoughts as your thoughts. If someone else’s thoughts or thinking style have intruded, turn this into thinking about what they think instead. If you have a judgmental voice, see what it feels like to try to own that voice. See what it feels like to place that voice in your throat and speak those judgments. Many people find it very awkward. They send those thoughts off to some mean school teacher or bully who isn’t even on the scene. That means those thoughts should be gone and no longer even audible.

2c. First Position, Kinesthetic:

We will do the same thing with feelings. Do you have emotions, tension, or any other feelings in this situation? If you are aligned, your feelings are coming from the part of your body that they should come from. But if your kinesthetic response system is not aligned, then your feelings may seem to be coming from elsewhere. They might be a little off or way off, like when you project your feelings onto someone else.

A more common problem, though, is when people mistake other people’s feelings for their own. This makes them easy to manipulate. Con artists, addicts, and other destructive people seek out these overly empathic clients. Codependency involves the problem of being at the mercy of other people’s feelings.

3.a. Third Position (Observer), Visual:

As you look at your challenging situation, move your point of view out and away so that you are looking at yourself and the other person. Now you are in third place. Place your point of view so that you and the other person are both at the same distance from your point of view as an observer. Have them at eye level. From this perspective, you may notice any changes in your experience. See if you find it helpful to move closer or farther away to feel like you have a good sense of perspective. Is there anything else to adjust, such as any sub-modalities? For example, is your view dark or fuzzy?

3b. Third Position, Auditory:

Explore your auditory sense. Are you hearing what is going on from your point of view? Remember that your thoughts are only those of an observer. Your reactions are not as the “you” in the first position, but as the observer of that “you” and as the observer of whoever else is in the scene. You are unable to hear the thoughts of the “you” that you are observing.

You can only guess as to the content of others’ thoughts. You might feel emotional about what is going on, but only as an observer. Thus, you might feel empathy or some other emotion about what you are observing.

Here is a powerful alignment move: take what you think the other person may be thinking and have them speak the words. This allows you to be free of distraction and occupied by your thoughts. Instead, you are actively imagining. This helps to secure you in the observer position and to see if those words are coming from the right person. Does it really sound like what they would say?

Are you imagining it coming into your ears as if you were hearing it instead of thinking about it? If so, you are aligned with your auditory observer (third) position.

3c. Third Position, Kinesthetic:

As you look at the situation as an observer, with “you” and the other person at the right distance from you, you are hearing from the observer position. You are also thinking as an observer who has some distance from the emotions in the situation. Notice what feelings you do have as the observer. If you have strong feelings that belong to someone in the scene, place them back in that person and feel what it is like to really be the observer. What feelings do you have about the scene as an observer? If you need to, adjust your feelings so that they are in the appropriate areas of your body. Notice which feelings are the most resourceful. What feelings best support you as an observant, curious, creative person—a person who generates solutions and excellence? This process can really liberate your unconscious mind as a problem-solving force. Allow yourself to relax in observer mode for a few moments, creating some space in your unconscious mind to benefit from this objective point of view. Open your mind to wisdom as it becomes available to you. The novelty of this experience can trigger unconscious resources. The unconscious is always looking for ways to connect the dots and help you pursue a meaningful agenda, even though you begin without knowing what will emerge. And now, the observer’s perspective is a resource that you can draw upon whenever you like. It is not only a position for a fresh perspective but also a safe position that can give respite from raw personal feelings because it is a relatively dissociated state.

4. Return to First Position (Self):

Lastly, we will return to the first position in order to fine-tune its alignment. Bring your perspective back to yourself in the scenario. Do you notice anything different about being back in your own position?

4a. First Position, Visual:

Check each rep’s system. Are you looking out through your own eyes? If there is any kind of offset or misalignment, correct that by shifting directly into your normal vision and seeing directly out of your eyes. You should now view the other person as you normally would. Adjust any sub-modalities you care to, such as brightness, clarity, and size.

4b. First Position, Auditory:

How’s your voice? As you speak, make sure it is coming from your throat. Of course, any internal dialog, thoughts, and judgments should really belong to you and emanate from your mind. Make sure your thoughts are in the first person, using phrases like “I think this” and “I think that.” Your thoughts are not talking about you; they are coming from you; they are yours. And your hearing should be coming directly into your imaginary ear. Adjust the placement as needed so that it sounds natural and normal.

4c. First Position, Kinesthetic:

What has changed about your feelings? Do you have your own feelings coming from the normal areas of your body where such feelings come from?

5. Final Verification:

Perform a final check and see if you feel aligned in the first position. Make any final adjustments you like. You do not need to spend time trying to make it perfect. You are learning just the same. Since we are at the end of this pattern and we know adjustments can spread, spend a few moments back in the third position as the observer and see if there have been any other improvements.