As is usually the case with workshops offered by Richard Bandler and John La Valle, the audience for the 2009 “Adventures” workshop was highly international, with individuals attending from Japan, China, Indonesia, and many European countries as well as those who came from the U.S. The workshop (along with “Persuasion Engineering®” and “Charisma Enhancement: Trainers Training™’were held in Orlando, Florida.

This year, Debra and I elected to drive from Michigan rather than fly. Although we left very early in the morning in a less-than-successful attempt to get ahead of an advancing blizzard, we were glad that we had driven. The blizzard delayed flights out of both the airports in Chicago and Detroit, and other than about 40 minutes of white-knuckle driving through whiteout conditions, we had a good trip down and back. We planned our arrival to give us a day to become acclimated to Orlando and to ensure that we’d be well-rested for the workshop.

Neither of us knew what to expect. Joel had read the book (Adventures for Everybody, by Richard Bandler) and couldn’t see how the content of the book might apply to a workshop. We had heard others say that the workshop was “a really long trance,” and that proved to be at least partially correct. The general theme of the six-day workshop was using hypnotic trance to choose and manage (physical, emotional, and mental) states that help ensure good decisions.

Each day began at 10 a.m., with Richard being on stage until about 1:15 p.m. We broke for lunch at that point, and typically returned to the workshop at 3 p.m., when John took over. Most workshop days ended at about 6:15. The morning and afternoon sessions had one coffee break, which was typically combined with an exercise.

Richard spent his time in the morning weaving “teaching tales” and usually working with one or two individuals on the stage. Richard is a master—perhaps the master—at “looping” metaphors, embedding the principal teaching points deep within the layers of stories. In between, we worked in pairs to induce a trance state, deepen it, and set an anchor for easy access. As we improved our skills as hypnotists and trance subjects, we began incorporating such deep trance phenomena as arm catalepsy and eventually full-body catalepsy.

A number of people said it was as though they had signed up for hypnosis boot camp. Even with all of the experience we have, we both came away with a profound appreciation for the process of fractionating—going in and out of trance, and the benefits of deep trance. Richard said to one of the individuals on stage, “I don’t want to talk to you. I want to talk to the other you, the one who knows exactly how to help you make this change you desire and to allow you to live a really wonderful life.” Richard then proceeded to put the individual into a deep state, used finger signals to demonstrate deep trance, and had the person come out of the trance with a smile.

In ways the conscious mind cannot even comprehend, your unconscious mind is able to make appropriate changes (small changes … infinite results) that move you in the direction of health, happiness, wisdom, inspiration, and joy.

Richard’s stories change from workshop to workshop, and two of the topics he covered in this one were of special interest to us. The first, which was in response to a question Debra had asked covered a variety of ways to help those who had developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or were “stuck” in grief. The second discussed ways to use the brain’s natural ability for patterning to enhance your sense of well-being and enthusiasm for life.

Afternoons with John followed a similar pattern of presentation followed by an exercise, with two of the afternoons dedicated to an exercise Richard and John call “stations.” The larger group is divided into six or seven smaller groups, with each group taking turns with selected facilitators, NLP Trainers who work with Richard and John to help ensure understanding and individual attention during the workshop. Each facilitator has responsibility for presenting a quick overview of and opportunity to practice such NLP and hypnosis skills as sensory acuity, timelines, advanced language patterns, rapid inductions, and double induction.

Although this workshop is designed as a “Meta Master Practitioner” training, a number of individuals with little or no NLP training or experience with hypnosis were in the audience. They were paired with those with more extensive backgrounds for the exercises. In spite of all the deep trance work, this was a “fast” workshop. The time seemed to fly … even for those of us who had entered “slow time.”

I suspect that most of us, in one way or another, will have found this workshop a life-changing or life-enhancing experience. Richard and John were both “hot.” Most participants had a lot of fun learning new things and refreshing old skills. The six days were punctuated by joyous and sometimes hysterical laughter, which is often the case with an exercise called “drug of choice.”

NLP Seminars Group, International, is able to put on well-organized and well-managed primarily because of Kathleen La Valle’s attention to detail. The Bandler and La Valle workshops draw large and diverse audiences, and Kathleen manages it all—from initial contact to arranging for break amenities and catering for the party and magic show to preparing certificates to arranging for books, CDs, and other products of interest to attendees—with grace and humor.

We enjoyed meeting wonderful new folks from all over the globe, and whether the smallest (Ling, from Indonesia), or the tallest (Ingun and Joachim from Germany), or all the others, our hearts were filled with appreciation for the courage it takes to go to an unfamiliar country to learn from some of the best teachers in the world, in a language that is not even your native tongue. We broke bread, shared stories, partnered in exercises, and found the common ground of our humanity. And a profound appreciation for all that is possible….

Perhaps you’re still wondering about the party and magic show, and we didn’t even mention the catered dinner. There’s only one solution. We recommend that you find out for yourself by attending the workshop the next time it’s offered. It is, after all, “Adventures for Everybody™” perhaps even you.