So far we have talked about the main ways of thinking - in sounds, pictures, feelings, tastes and smells - these are known as the ‘representational systems’ or ‘modalities’, but this is only the first step. If you wanted to describe an internal picture you have seen, there is a lot of detail you could add. Was it in colour or black and white? was it still or like a moving picture? was it near to you or far away? Similarly you could describe a sound; was it loud or soft? high or low in pitch? A feeling could be heavy or light, sharp or dull etc. If you are seeing something you can see it either through you own eyes ‘associated’ in NLP, or as if you are someone else looking at yourself ‘dissociated’. Associated images tend to be more powerful to the emotions than dissociated images. These distinctions are known as ‘submodalities’ in NLP.
Submodalities can be either on/off switches (called ‘digital’ in NLP) or like dimmer switches (called ‘analogue’ in NLP). For example, associated or dissociated would be consider on/off (digital), not both. Brightness or darkness would be more like a dimmer switch (analogue). Submodalities can be present in predicates with in the phrases we use when we speak. ‘I see, but it looks hazy’, ‘That rings loud and clear’ etc.
Submodalities can be thought of as the most fundamental operating code of the human brain. It is simply not possible to think any thought or recall any experience without having a submodality structure. The most interesting aspect of submodalities is what happens when you change them. Some can be changed and nothing happens. Others may be crucial to a particular memory and changing them changes the whole way we think about the experience. Typically the impact and meaning of a memory or thought is more a function of a few critical submodalitites than it is of the content. Some changes will have a profound impact on how you fell about that memory. You may like to leave the memory with the submodalities at the values you like best. Changes in submodalities are called ‘submodality shifts’ in NLP. In this lesson we will be learning about ‘submodalities’.Below, you will find lists of qualities or submodalities for each of the three main sensory systems (visual, auditory and kinesthetic):
Visual: Associated or dissociated, Colour or black and white, Location (e.g., to the left or right, up or down), Distance, Brightness, Framed or panoramic, Blurred or focused, Contrast, Moving or still, Speed (faster or slower than real life),Size.
Auditory: Loud or soft, Distance from sound source, Words or sounds, Location of sound source, Stereo or mono, Continuous or discontinuous, Speed (faster or slower than usual), Clear or muffled, Soft or harsh.
Kinesthetic (feeling): Temperature, Texture (rough or smooth), Intensity, Pressure (hard or soft), Duration (how long it lasts), Weight (light or heavy), Shape.
Submodalities apply to any representation. They make the representation clear or confusing, pleasant or unpleasant. In other words submodalities determine not only what you see but how you interpret what you see and how you feel about it. Submodalities give unique meaning to every sensory experience. For example, a visual image comprises more than light waves measured through a clever optical tool called the eye. It consists of your personal interpretation of the experience based on millions of neural firings that take place in your brain (which in turn interact with an existing network of billions of synaptic recordings). This enormously complex process makes the colorless energy waves of the universe into a beautiful red rose, a dramatic sunset or the face of a little child. It works a bit like tuning your television, but with infinitely greater richness and variety.
