Use NLP Submodalities to change how you think

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In the Content Lesson I asked you to remember different people, and think about how you represented them, and you changed the way you felt about them by changing the content of the images, sounds, and your own kinesthetic responses.

In this NLP Lesson we’re going to work on something different.

Rather than change the content of a memory, we’re going to change the structure.

This time we’re going to work with two of the three main modalities, starting with visual, as that is, for most people, the easiest submodality to work with, then we'll move on to the auditory modality. For an introduction to submodalities, read the article NLP Submodalities - what are they and how do you use them.

So here goes – remember a time when you were outside or a sunny day and were having a wonderful time.

I want you to concentrate on the image you make, and for this exercise, remember this memory as if you were there, so you are not in the picture, but are seeing the scene as if through your own eyes.

Concentrate and notice what feeling the memory evokes.

Now, what you’re going to do is play around with the structure of the memory and see what happens to the feeling.

In NLP, as well as the 5 modalities there are numerous submodalities.

These are the properties of modalities.

For instance, the following is a list of some of the submodalities that can be adjusted within the visual modality:

1. Distance
2. Size
3. Brightness
4. Location
5. Contrast

A simple way to think of the difference between changing the content and changing the structure is to use the metaphor of a television set.

Changing the structure is like using the controls on the tv to change the brightness, or contrast, rather than changing the actual picture.

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