When we registered for Neuro Hypnotic Repatterning™, we had expected Richard Bandler to be the principal trainer. In mid-January, we received email from John La Valle and a phone call from Gabriel (Gabe) Guerrero informing us that Richard was recuperating from an illness and would not be able to be present in Puerto Vallarta for the workshop. We were offered a full refund if we desired.

Although we appreciated the offer, we knew both John, who has been Richard’s principal co-trainer for the past 15 years or so, and Gabe from previous workshops (see our reviews of Trainer Training and Design Human Engineering™) and knew that they would provide participants with an excellent experience. John (http://www.purenlp.com) and Gabe (http://www.neuroing.com) were joined by another Master Trainer, Owen Fitzpatrick, (http://www.nlp.ie) who had also been a facilitator at previous workshops and had impressed us with his skills.

Getting There

The trip to Puerto Vallarta was challenging. We had been scheduled to fly from Kalamazoo to O'Hare in Chicago and from there directly to Puerto Vallarta, but when we got to the airport in Kalamazoo (at 5:00A EST), we discovered that our flight had been canceled because fog the night before had prevented aircraft from landing. We were rerouted through Minneapolis to Dallas/Ft. Worth, and then to Puerto Vallarta. The plane leaving for Minneapolis, however, was late getting airborne and later still arriving, and we missed the connection in Minneapolis. We were rerouted through Houston and finally arrived in Puerto Vallarta after 10:00P CST.

One of Debra’s bags failed to make the trip, and we were beginning to wonder whether we had made the right decision. We also discovered that the facility for exchanging money was closed. Perhaps the Universe was sending us a message, and we reminded each other of Gail Konz’s statement about difficulties creating the expectation of something really great. We knew we could pay for the taxi in U.S. dollars, and we collapsed into the cab only to discover that our cab driver was intent on setting the World Speed Record from airport to hotel. He assured us that the "Alto" signs we were seeing meant that we were to go very fast and honk the horn repeatedly. We also discovered that 50 kph on cobblestone streets of Old Puerto Vallarta was almost as relaxing as a hot stone massage.

We finally arrived at the hotel a little after 11:00P CST. We had just crawled into bed when the phone rang. Debra’s bag had arrived and was delivered to our room a few minutes later.

The Hotel—Dreams Puerto Vallarta (http://www.dreamspuertovallarta.com/puerto_vallarta/index.html)

The hotel was outstanding. Nestled between the ocean and coastal mountains, it offered not only a beautiful setting, but also excellent amenities. The rooms are spacious; the staff is courteous and helpful; and the rates are extremely reasonable by U.S. standards. Any minor quibbles (such as low water pressure and virtually no cold water in our bathroom) were more than offset by other outstanding features of the facility.

Most of the staff spoke enough English and had sufficient desire to be helpful that we could make ourselves understood. The workshop registration fee covered meals, and the food was ample, varied, and well-prepared. For most meals we had a choice between a well-stocked buffet in an open-air restaurant overlooking the ocean or a variety of other restaurants featuring different cuisines.

Registration and Workshop Mechanics

Barbara Castro, Gabe’s wife and business partner, managed the workshop details. Joel had met and worked with Barbara at last year’s DHE training, and we had both exchanged email with her a number of times throughout the process of registering and preparing to travel to Mexico. Barbara gave us good advice, even though not everything went according to plan. She had advised us, for example, to change money at the airport when we arrived. When we arrived, we discovered that the money exchange was closed because of the lateness of the hour.

One of the things that we didn’t ask about and weren’t told was the need for a passport. The last time we went to Mexico (separately and long before we knew each other), neither of us had needed a passport for going into and returning from Mexico. We had taken our passports primarily because of the “Homeland Security” paranoia we’ve been experiencing in the States in recent years, and we were very glad that we had them. If you are planning to go to Puerto Vallarta for the workshop next year, be sure to take your passport.

Barbara had arranged an efficient system for registration and distribution of materials and nametags. Those who had arrived early enough on Tuesday completed the registration process that evening. Those of us who arrived too late for Tuesday registration had time Wednesday morning before the workshop began at 10:00A. On most days, the workshop began at 10:00A, with a 90-minute break for lunch at 1:30P, and ending at 8:00P. Morning and afternoon coffee breaks offered coffee, tea, bottled water, soft drinks, and a variety of veggie and pastry snacks.

The Participants

We weren’t able to get an accurate count of the number of participants. We estimated about 100 people, most of whom were from Mexico or countries in Central or South America. Native English speakers were a minority. We counted 5 from the States. The Europeans who were present typically had English as a second or third language. Many of those whose native tongue was Spanish also spoke good to excellent English. Joel and Debra both had the opportunity to work with participants who spoke no English, and we still had really good experiences relying on nonverbal communication and a little help from our bilingual friends.

The workshop itself was bilingual, with John and Owen conducting their portions in English, and Gabe (who is also highly fluent in English) conducting his portion in Spanish. This was the first time we were the ones who needed the headphones and to listen to the simultaneous translation. We found this both difficult and a worthwhile learning experience in that it increased our appreciation of the effort others often need to make to adapt to the dominance of English.

The Training

As the name of the workshop, “Neuro Hypnotic Repatterning™,” implies, the workshop was about using hypnosis for personal and therapeutic change. William James might have called the workshop “The Varieties of Trance Experience” because so much of the workshop consisted of both formal and informal trances, with formal trances being those deliberately induced for a specific purpose, and informal trances being the kind that commonly result when you are listening to a story, engaged in conversation, reading a book, or even eating a meal.

John, Gabe, and Owen all used both formal and informal trances in guiding us to recognize trance not only in ourselves, but also in others. Knowing the difference is important because we can work only with those things where we can observe a difference. If we are not able to recognize a difference, we need to find a difference we can work with. This idea is a logical conclusion from the original NLP concept of having the sensory acuity to know whether a particular behavior is moving you closer to or farther away from a desired objective. Dr. Ron Perry, a chiropractor, gave a brief presentation of how this concept influences the Feldenkrais method for increasing flexibility.

The principal concepts covered in the workshop were presented three or four times: first, through metaphor; second, through demonstration; third, through an experiential exercise; and fourth, through discussion and analysis.

The recurring themes of the workshop included the concept that clients (including those of us who were participants in the workshop) were already “done” but that we just didn’t know it yet; the concept of “reaching higher,” and the concept of having things be “easy” rather than hard. The workshop also stressed the fact that we make better decisions when we are feeling good than we do when we are feeling bad.

One of the exercises in most Bandler/La Valle workshops is called “Drug of Choice,” in which people go into trance to re-experience the good feelings associated with using their favorite drug. The experiment, however, is about more than generating a drug-like “high.” The exercise actually teaches the unconscious mind how to control brain chemistry. After experiencing the good feelings of their drug of choice, participants share the feelings with others in their group. One of the participants in Joel’s group chose the shamanistic hallucinogen Iawaska.

Although the individual who chose that drug reported that he did not experience the visions often associated with it, when he transferred the experience to Joel, Joel had a full-blown mystical vision of a man walking through a jungle accompanied by a black panther. Debra, who is a “drug virgin,” worked with a woman named Estellita, a nun, who also had no previous drug experience. They used their connection to the Divine through prayer, meditation, and nature as their “drug” of choice. As an outgrowth of that exercise, Debra worked with one of the participants who spoke only Spanish, and one of the staff members fluent in both languages, German (pronounced “Herman”), helped amplify her “contact high.”

One of Richard Bandler’s favorite questions is, “How much pleasure can you stand?” The sad truth is that too many of us have not been able to stand very much. The focus of the workshop was on enhancing our ability to have more pleasure more of the time—to learn how to control our brain chemistry so that we are able to sustain a higher vibration. Whenever we work with others—and we are working with others all the time—it is our job to go first. When we feel good, we automatically share those good feelings with others. We are to “be ever blissful” not only because it feels good, but also because we are at our best when we are joyful.

Another exercise included in most Bandler/La Valle workshops focuses on rhythm. Using language effectively, especially hypnotic language, requires sensitivity to both tonality and rhythm. This section of the workshop was taught by Leonel Castellanos, a member of a popular Mexican band, tiemporeal. Leonel did a great job of helping us (especially those of us from the States who often tend to be “rhythmically challenged”) understand and appreciate rhythm and the concept of being either on the beat or between beats.

Missing Richard

Did we miss Richard? Sure. We have both developed a great deal of affection for Richard over the years and consider him to be one of the true geniuses of our time. At the same time, Richard’s absence this year allowed us to see more of John, Gabe, and Owen than we typically see at a Bandler workshop. They are all excellent trainers in their own right, and each of them did brilliant work during the course of the workshop.

We also saw a relatively new DVD of Richard working with two clients that we probably would not have seen had he been present in person. The DVD and Owen’s commentary following it helped provide a new perspective of client interventions.

The really interesting thing is that in some ways it seemed as though Richard was physically present. John, Gabe, and Owen have been working with Richard for a long time and have been designated Master Trainers for good reason. Each of them has done exactly what Richard expects all those who train with him to do: to become a co-developer of the technologies typically referred to as NLP—to model, to innovate, and to go first.

Along the way, Joel and Debra had the opportunity to become acquainted with Blondie, a magnificent, 5-year-old crocodile, who is used in an educational program in Puerto Vallarta to help familiarize children (and sometimes adults) about wildlife. She graciously allowed us to hold her. We did wonder how gracious she might have been had her mouth not been held shut with duct tape....

According to Ted Andrews (Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Animals Great and Small), the mythology of both alligators and crocodiles is that of primal energies, “opportunity for strong birth and/or initiation that will open new knowledge and wisdom in some area of your life.” We can say only, “Thank you, Blondie.”

The photograph is courtesy of our friend, Erwin van den Boogaard (see http://www.nlpseminars.nl).

The Bottom Line

It was a wonderful workshop in a wonderful location. We enjoyed watching pelicans fishing while we had breakfast in the morning, and, on the evenings we were out early enough to watch the sun set across the Pacific, we were privileged to watch the gathering of albatrosses taking advantage of the updraft created by the sea breeze blowing in against the mountains. The big, magnificent birds—by the hundreds— showed us how they could move easily higher and higher until they practically disappeared into the clouds. The term for that kind of flight, which albatrosses share with hawks and eagles, is dynamic soaring.

If we had to choose just one theme for the week, it would have to be dynamic soaring. The workshop was multilevel communication at its best, drawing on both conscious and unconscious resources and learnings, and creating opportunities for more pleasure in body, mind, and spirit. Neuro Hypnotic Repatterning allows you to take resources from the present into the past to change the way you feel about events that used to cause you to feel bad, and to turn around inside your mind, bringing better feelings into the present and then envision the future you truly desire and then, once again, turn around inside your mind to see how easy it can be to be more joyful now.

Planning Your Trip

We have some suggestions for those who are considering attending this workshop next year. First, if at all possible, add a day or two so that you have an opportunity to arrive early and do some sightseeing before the workshop begins. If nothing else, having a little cushion of time before the workshop beings will enable you to be relaxed and comfortable when the workshop begins.

Pay for the taxi ride to the hotel ($25 USD this year, not including a tip), and change your money at the hotel. Unless you are planning to do a lot of shopping from beach and/or street vendors, you will not need much Mexican money. The hotel and major businesses will be glad to do the conversion for you without charging a special fee. Stateside exchange services charge almost 10 percent for changing money, with a minimum fee of about $5 USD. Remember that a Peso is worth about a penny U.S., so a $20 Peso bill is worth about $2 USD—when you tip those who help you, you aren’t actually passing out $20 USD bills.

If time permits, learn a little Spanish before you go. You won’t need much to navigate, but knowing a little will help you feel more comfortable in your daily interactions with those whose English is limited. You will be glad to know that you really can drink the water at most hotels and restaurants. The water at such places is filtered, and (as is true in the States) bottled water is widely available. You will also be glad to know that Mexican food is not all like what you might get at Taco Bell. The good hotels and restaurants offer a wide variety of cuisine, and not all of it is spicy. For those of you who like things spicy, that, too, is available along with really good Mexican beer (Joel’s favorite is Negra Mondella).

To learn more about our Mexican adventures in Neuro Hypnotic Repatterning, ask your questions on the SCS Discussion list. Not yet a member? Send a blank email message to scs-discussion-subscribe@scs-matters.com, and enjoy.