Core Transformation

Starting when I was fifteen, I would occasionally have brief moments in which I suddenly and unexpectedly felt a deep love and connection within me. There was no external trigger. Somehow, this feeling was just there. I began to search for it and wanted to consciously and deliberately recreate this feeling. But no matter what I did, I couldn't succeed. A few months later, it suddenly returned out of the blue. It was so beautiful that tears welled up in my eyes. I savored these moments, but after a few minutes, they had vanished again. How I wished I could have discovered a way to deliberately bring about these states.

Years passed before I came across the book "The Path to the Inner Source" by Tamara and Connirae Andreas, and with it, finally, a method that regularly led me—and later many of my seminar participants—into such states and similar ones. Core Transformation is a simple and elegant method for achieving states within half an hour that other people spend years sitting on mountains and meditating to attain.

The method is applicable to a wide range of problems and challenges. It transforms an aspect of our lives with which we are dissatisfied in a profound and fulfilling way.

I will now explain the method using a case study: Up until that day, the NLP Master group present had viewed Christian as a rather sober, rational academic, as he had rarely shown any emotion up to that point. But now the time had come, and he was sitting in front of me—ready to do a demonstration of Core Transformation with me. His initial issue was that he kept losing his temper when he helped his children with their homework and they simply couldn't "get certain things into their heads."

1. Experience the part you want to work with.

I ask Christian to recall a situation where the children were doing their homework and he lost his temper because they weren't making any progress. He closes his eyes and imagines it with all his senses. After he has tuned into the feeling, I ask him about the part within him that is responsible for this behavior. He identifies a little red devil who is snarling angrily and raging. I ask him to welcome this little red devil: "Hello, little red devil, nice to have you here. You are a part of me. You belong to me." Then I ask Christian about the devil's reaction. He replies that the little devil pauses in his raging for a moment and looks at him curiously.

2. Ask the part about its intention.

"Now ask the part what it hopes to achieve with its behavior—what its positive intention is." Christian waits a moment until the answer rises within him: "The little devil wants them to work hard so that they do better in school than I did. He simply wants to do everything he can to support his children as much as possible so they can succeed in school." I ask him to confirm that this is truly a good intention from his perspective as well. He acknowledges this and thanks the part.

3. Discover the chain of consequences and question further outcomes.

"Christian, now ask your part: 'If you support your children as much as possible so they can succeed in school, what good does that do?'" He replies: "Then I've done everything in my power, and I can be relaxed and at ease."

"Okay," I reply, "then imagine that you've done everything in your power and you can now be completely relaxed and at ease. Take a moment to feel this sensation within you. Allow yourself to perceive the feeling of relaxation and calm very intensely."

After a while, I continue: "And now ask yourself: If you are completely relaxed and at peace and have fully realized this feeling within yourself, what is the point of that—what is even more important?" Christian answers after a few seconds: "Then I can look forward to life and feel great joy and confidence within me."

"Good, then allow yourself to feel this joy and confidence very intensely within you.... Imagine how you have fully realized this joy, how you are completely permeated by this joy."

"That feels wonderful!"

"And now imagine that you have fully realized this joy and confidence within yourself—what good does that do, and what is even more important?" After a while: "Then happiness shines within me and radiates outward through my eyes. I am filled with happiness."

"Enjoy that for a few moments and allow this happiness to spread further and further within you, permeating every aspect of your being." (Some time passes)

"And when you can fully live this happiness, what good is that?" Christian: "Then I feel connected to my children, my wife, myself, all people, all living beings, the whole world. Then I am a part of the world."

"Allow yourself to experience and enjoy this feeling for a while." (Some time passes)

"When you fully experience this feeling of connection, what good is that?" Christian: "Then I rest in the midst of my being and feel a deep love for life within me. It is beautiful."

4. Enjoying the core state.

I give him some time to enjoy this state. Sometimes it makes sense to keep asking until no further answer comes.

5. Revise the chain of results using the core state.

"Christian, ask that part what it would be like if it had this state of deep love for life as the starting point for its existence in the world—that is, as something you wake up with in the morning, and the state is already there. What would that be like? How does it fundamentally change the situation?"

"Wow, that would be a completely different life! I could be and act completely differently."

Now let's go back through the chain of results step by step from top to bottom. I guide Christian by asking him a question about each result. He simply thinks of the answer and doesn't have to say it out loud.

"With this state—'resting in the midst of being and feeling a deep love for life within you'—as the starting point, how does it enrich and expand the sense of connection with everything? Take a moment to feel into that."

In this way, I now explore the other outcomes as well.

"With the core state of love as something that is always present in your life, how does it transform the image of the little red devil?" Christian: "It's changing now and becoming a sphere of light that radiates a great deal of love."

"How does this change the context of homework, where you've occasionally lost your temper in the past?"

Christian: "I now see myself as completely calm, serene, with a smile on my face, and I am full of love for my children, ready to accept them just as they are and offer them exactly what they need right now. I don't have to prove anything to myself or to them. I'm simply there for them, whatever they need from me."

6. Letting a part grow up.

In the demo with Christian, we skipped this step and the next two. Sometimes it's worth asking about a part's age. It happens that parts originated in the past and fulfilled an important role for us there. Some parts then get stuck and don't realize that we've since grown older and wiser and have entirely different ways of dealing with such a situation.

7. Fully integrate the part into your own body.

It can also happen that a part is perceived as existing outside our body. In this case, it is good to reintegrate the part into the body so that the core state of this part can flow through the entire body into every cell.

8. Revise the chain of results with the help of the part that has matured and been fully integrated into the body.

If steps 6 and 7 were necessary, you would only now carry out the fifth step or, if necessary, perform it a second time.

9. Look for opposing parts.

In this format, the Ecology Check consists of asking for parts that object to the core state being available as a starting point for life from this moment on. In Christian's case, no part speaks up—on the contrary: he is very happy with this state. If a part does speak up, then that part would also be guided through the core transformations.

10. Generalization on the timeline.

To conclude, I have Christian visualize the timeline of his future, and we lay it out on the floor in front of him. Then, starting from the present, we let the Core State flow into his future timeline. As he does this, he imagines his entire future being flooded by the Core State of love. Alternatively, we could have gone back to before his conception and let the Core State flow from there into the entire timeline.

Then Christian slowly moves into the future, imagining many situations in which he has this Core State available as his starting point. He experiences scenes internally with his children and other people. In this way, he internalizes the transformation and plants it in his future.

Happy and grateful, he eventually returns to the present.

The 10 Steps of Core Transformation

1. Select the part to work on
   • Experience the part
   • Acknowledge it as belonging
   • Welcome it
2. Discovering intention: "What do you want?"
3. Discovering the chain of results
4. Reach and enjoy the Core state
5. Revise the chain of results with the help of the Core State
6. Let a part grow up
7. Fully integrate the part into one's own body
8. Revise the chain of results with the help of the part that has matured
9. Look for opposing parts
10. Generalization of the timeline