7 Minutes to Breakthrough any lifelong limiting pattern, with Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins cures lifelong Stuttering in 7 Minutes
I've been listening to his books, listening to CD's, and attending and volunteering at his seminars for about a decade - it's not voodoo, it's not magic, and I didn't drink the Kool-Aid--it really works.
I've seen live interventions ranging from preventing suicide to stopping stuttering multiple times over the past ten years, (two of them from a distance of three feet as I held the microphone). Even *MY* gigantic inner skeptic, is silenced.
The following information can help anyone overcome a lifelong limitation, but is specifically targeted at stuttering (But please, we all have stuff we're working on - try it out for Pete's sake!)
I have heard him mention that he'd developed a cure for stuttering, and had always been curious, as I've had a few students with challenges with stuttering, and always wanted to see how he did it.
Two crazy things happened to me in the past six months
- I've had a very challenging time personally, and needed a breakthrough of my own, to "get my mind right"
- a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a request for help by a dear personal on Facebook - his son was struggling with stuttering. It just happens that I finally witnessed in person Mr. Robbins cure two people who had been lifelong stutterers. I was floored, and wouldn't have believed it, were it not for the past decade of seeing similar transformations, my own positive experiences with his work, and my own suspicions about the root causes of stuttering.
I had grand ideas about writing up the whole intervention I witnessed, then expounding on my own ideas, my own successes working with a few of my own students that had stuttering issues. I didn't let them know I was helping them, but all of them showed greatly reduced stuttering in our interactions, or eliminated it--(yeah, I'm that sneaky).
Two things have saved you from a massive onslaught of text:
- I found this video showing him demonstrating it online. (I'll wait. . .go check it out first.)
- My dog, wife, and son have been violently ill for the past 24 hours, and I've gotten literally one hour of sleep.
I bring up #2 not for sympathy, but to tell you how elated I was to get a message from my friend today--he applied the techniques presented in the video and website with his son, and was successful in removing his stuttering! This news was ELECTRIFYING. I am dog tired, but when I received his note, it was better than drinking a full pot of coffee--so much so, that an hour into this, I'm still writing, and excited to share this with you.
You see, I told my friend a month ago, that I'd write this up, and detail the experience I witnessed, but gave him only the link to that site and about a page of ideas. That said- I unfortunately didn't follow through until now, but armed with the video, and information from that page he was able to have a breakthrough with his son.
Okay, enough buildup. If you're still with me, I dare not risk losing you now- I'm going to cut to the chase and just share my "Cliff notes" from Tony's intervention that I witnessed with two lifelong stutterers this past August in San Jose, CA. I was there. It happened. It's not B.S. Everything that I wrote down, is backed up by my observations, suspicions, and my successes in working with my own stuttering students.
- On a physical level, stuttering is a BREATHING PATTERN. People that stutter often are able to sing and yell- if these behaviors are possible, than there is nothing biologically wrong with the person, it's a conditioned response, similar to a Pavlovian response. The muscles used to produce speech, singing, and yelling are all directly responsive to the state you are in. Often a stutterer is quiet, timid, soft spoken, or introverted--these characteristics would encourage poor posture, low respiration, and a more passive demeanor -- all of which make it extremely difficult to move WIND! Simply by getting the body erect (stand tall, jump around, get some motion in the body), working on deep breathing exercises, playing word games and singing would get all the mechanics for speech primed, and from there, it'd be a quick transition to eliminate the stutter, if it even remained. The other thing that has been highly successful for me when working with these cases I have found is to be playful, irreverent, and mentally playful- keep them on their toes by asking different questions that break their established patterns. I have found that stuttering normally occurs when they are put on the spot and uncertain, then it kicks in as a defense mechanism.
- Stuttering is a strategy - it's often used as a defense mechanism, or delaying tactic to give the person more time when they are uncertain of the answer, or even better, to avoid answering at all, as people often feel sorry for the stutterer and move to comfort them and either supply the answer, or change the topic. Other times, as in the video, it's a way to deal with stress or anxiety, when a situation or topic is hitting "too close to home" or for the person's comfort level.
- Stuttering is associated with a significant event - one of the people I watched in San Jose began stuttering when his father died.
- Key questions he asked them during the intervention: Could I let it go? Would I set it free? When would NOW be a good time?
- "The strongest force in humans is the requirement to stay consistent with their personal identity." -When someone identifies themselves with the label of a "stutterer" (or any label-- stupid, fat, lazy, slow, untalented, can't play high notes, etc.) then you're in DANGEROUS territory. They will subconciously do anything it takes to remain consistent with the labels they have created internally for their personal identity. Use the example in the video, and the seven steps listed here (visit the page for elaborated information on each step).
Phew. I'm beat.
I hope this helps you, or allows you to help someone you know- not only with stuttering, but with anything that is holding them back.
To my friend, Mr. J -- you're a hero to your son, and an amazing father. I can't tell you how impressed I am. To everyone else - godspeed, and hope this helps!
See you at the top!
Best,
Dr. J
Step 1: What is already perfect? (Get SPECIFIC examples of when things are already perfect or working)
Step 2: Where are your Bright Spots? (Focusing on the "Bright Spot" or when it's working, instead of when it's not) - Instead of focusing on the problem and the difficulty, focus on when it's working.
Step 3: Find The Key Decision (Keep asking questions until you get to the root of the issue- What was the key decision/reason that the behavior began?)
Step 4: Update Your Reasons (Get specific and compelling reasons why YOU must change it, and why it MUST change NOW.
Step 5: Access Your Power (Access a strong, powerful state of body and mind. Stand tall, breathe strong, make the sound of victory (or of the warrior inside)
Step 6: Break Through!
My specific notes, observations, and thoughts from the video: Tony Robbins: Seven Minutes to Breakthrough with Rechaud
- Rechaud would get stuck stuttering in the middle of a sentence for 15-20 seconds.
- Chip & Dan Heath - Switch (book) Bright Spots
Rechaud had gone through 3 Stages:
- ashamed
- rejection
- acceptance
- Now was ready for "elimination" of the pattern.
- Stuttering as a "pattern" or behavior.
- What was the moment you started stuttering?
- What is your earliest memory?
Rechaud's Earliest memory was as a child watching a Bullwinkle cartoon as a child.
Tony asked him, "Did Bullwinkle stutter?" and "how did Bullwinkle get out of trouble when someone was going to torture him, or do something bad to him?"
Rechaud answerd: "He would scream out R-r-r-r-r-r-r-Rocky."
Tony replied, "and he ALWAYS stuttered when he said it"
"All patterns like that happen because you've forgotten something that happened right before that moment, and now you are locked into that pattern. There's a decision you made, or something you experienced, or life was very different right before that moment. . .
Go back to right before that moment, and I want you to recapture what you forgot."
Rechaud recalled his parents arguing to the point where his father got physical--he needed clarity and assurance.
Tony asks, "Yeah. . and did you get it?"
Rechaud replies, "I guess I got that. . . from. . . . 'Hey Rocky'" (WITHOUT A HINT OF A STUTTER)
Tony: "Because the one thing that Rocky would always respond to would be"
Rechaud: "a cry for help"
Tony: "Not just a cry for help. . . . a stuttering cry for help.
"Even a child who can't consciously understand it--he feels helpless will find a way to intervene to stop pain going between those he loves.
So you found a way to protect your mother--stop your father from beating her. . . and it worked.
That was perfect for a two year old, not good for a thirty year old Rechaud. . . so now what?
Do we stay two?"
6:32 Notice Rechaud is no longer clenching his fist hiding his thumb, he has made a fist, but not tense--the thumb is outside of the hand, and the hand is not clenched, but firm.
"You're a man now, you've lived thirty years of life. . . .you've been through all kinds of stuff. . .
6:36 There is a warrior in you Rechaud. . . The warrior is the one who can face anything and storm through it.
"Feel him in where he is, breathe him in"
-Make the sound of the warrior- make the first sound that comes to you
-The warrior, once he sets his mind do it, he will do whatever battle is necessary, for his wife, for his family, for himself."
-The warrior does not stutter. . . EVER. Own the warrior:
Tell me what the warrior says now
(JB: as he simultaneously snaps his fingers. Each time he says now, he snaps his fingers, prompting Rechaud to respond instantly-- without intellectualizing it, or over thinking it. The problem with delayed responses is that it gives the person an out, time to come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons (often real and good) to avoid change.)
TR: "Tell me what the warrior says"
7:09
(JB: each time Rechaud answers, Tony anchors in the response by touching him on this right shoulder. By creating a unique physical sensation at the moment of decision or change, he reinforces the response--and new decisions that Rechaud is speaking.)
Rechaud: "The warrior says I am brilliant."
TR: "That's right. The warrior says (snapping fingers)
Rechaud: The warrior says that I am electric.
TR: (with greater intensity, volume, and speed in his speech) The warrior says (snaps fingers)
Rechaud: I am awesome.
TR: Ask the warrior. . . do you need to stutter any more?
Rechaud: No.
(JB: During this entire sequence, there is not even a hint of stuttering. He has complete clarity of speech, control over his voice, and responses. He is responding "authentically" from his true self, without the interference of the ego and conscious mind.)
7:24 They celebrate.
Rechaud: "That was awesome. . . . so. . . what's next coach?" (still no stuttering)
7:46 The video then cuts forward to Rechaud speaking in front of 5,000 people on stage, at Tony's Unleash the Power Within event.
Rechaud grabs the microphone:
- That was a condition that I chose.
- I chose to stay there.
- I chose to identify as a stutterer.
Powerful stuff, right?
The first time that I saw this, it literally brought tears to my eyes.