Submodalities give the fine distinctions to any modality and transform the objective, physiological processes of seeing, hearing and feeling into subjective experience. We all know that the same external sensory inputs can have very different effects on different people. What makes one person happy will make another person sad, for example, because we code these inputs in the brain, and filter them according to our past experience, beliefs and values. This produces the varied thinking characteristics that NLP terms submodalities. Modalities and their submodalities, together, make up your experience your reality. They represent your 'map' of the world. But, as you have learnt, this does not constitute the 'territory' of reality. Submodalities give meaning to experience.To discover how submodalities function, the first step is to learn that they do indeed exist. Try this next exercise:
Think of a pleasant memory and write down as many of its submodalities as you can. Use the checklist above if you need help.
Now think of something you are not interested in. Maybe a paper cup or a pen for example. This is to break your memory from the first step.
Now recall an unpleasant memory, and similarly make a note of its submodalities.
Now compare each set of submodalities and you will probably find that they differ. Those differences account for the different way you feel about each experience.
The circumstances or content of each memory differed, of course. But you can probably think of memories with very similar content which nevertheless evoke different feelings. For example, you may have won an event on two occasions but now feel differently as you recall each one. And sure enough, the memory submodalities will also probably differ. To take another example, you may meet two different people for the first time, and each first meeting might evoke very different feelings or 'chemistry'. The content did not differ greatly - you had no earlier knowledge of either person and no logical reason to form particular impressions. But you unconsciously coded the two memories very differently. Each had different qualities. All this helps to explain apparently random, illogical feelings and reactions. The secrets of our hang-ups, prejudices, irrational feelings and perceptions boil down to the way we code, in submodalities, our representation of the world around us. In other words, Our personal map-making system depends on the qualities, or submodalities, of our thoughts.
You can't do much about content when it comes to memories, of course. You can't turn the clock back and change what happened. But you can do something about the way you represent those experience recordings now. You can change the qualities or characteristics of the mind-pictures, sounds and feelings that constitute your experience. These, we have already learnt, do not equate to reality. They have already gone through the personal mental filters that result in the memories we record and the feelings they evoke. So it makes sense, if you can change these representations, to do it in a way that supports your goals in life and enhances your state of mind. Once you can identify submodalities, you can then start to manipulate, them to create experience and change behaviour. Try this out. Go back to the unpleasant memory you recalled, but this time switch the characteristics of the picture to match the submodalities you identified in the happy memory. Replace the 'unhappy' submodalities.
For example, if in your happy recollection you saw big, bright images, then make them that way as you recall the negative memory. If your unhappy memory appeared blurred, out of focus and not in 'real life' colour, replace it to match your happy memory. You will probably meet many of the visual qualities in the checklist above.
Take another example. Perhaps in your unhappy memory you could see yourself there in the picture, whereas in the happy recollection you occupied your own body looking through your own eyes and experiencing it your-self. NLP uses the terms associated (seeing things through your own eyes) and dissociated (looking as if from the outside). This one important submodality can have a dramatic effect on how you feel about an experience. Switching to the associated state may, along with the other submodalities, apply the 'happiness' code to an unhappy memory content. These submodalities do not apply universally. But they usually remain valid for you as representing particular states. Association tends to intensify a feeling. Conversely, recalling a traumatic experience in a dissociated way will typically cause less pain - you distance yourself or 'step outside' the experience. Thus, changing the main submodalities of thought means changing how you feel. And it makes sense to create more pleasurable, empowering feelings.
You can switch submodalities in any of the representational systems. Change the sounds or feelings. Change that nasty voice for the voice of a little child, or a cartoon character, and see whether it creates the same fear in you. Change that cold sensation for warmth and comfort. External experience involves all the senses, and changing internal experience requires the same multi-sensory realism. Switching submodalities gives you a powerful technique for change. You may already have experience of manipulating your thoughts in this way and noticed the change in how you feel. On the other hand you might think it impossible, incredible or just strange. This basic skill, which we all had as children, just needs imagination. It means doing what you want in your own mind, having your own identity, and changing what you want. If your powers of imagination have atrophied over the years, start with something simple, then practice, practice, practice. You can hone your mental skills, like any skill, through repetition and practice.
Imagine your boss with a silly hat on. See your desk sawn in two. Visualize your TV swinging from the ceiling. Imagine a blue dandelion. Change some colours, sounds, and feelings. Start saying different, more empowering things to yourself. Imagine a blue triangle/a short piece of string/a tree a mile high. Pretend that when you lost you actually won. Pretend that when you failed you actually succeeded.
Enjoy yourself. Treat your mind as a priceless, personal treasure. Most educated Western people tend to think more objectively, having a preference for rational 'left-brain' processing. But you can now enter your precious, subjective world and relearn childhood imaginative skills more associated with your right brain. In this way you can start to access your creative, unconscious mind. Explore your mind and get it to do what YOU want. Once you become proficient in changing submodalities using non-threatening situations from your own experience, you can start to use your new skill more positively to create the internal experience and feelings you want. This, in turn, produces more positive, useful behaviour, enabling you to make important life changes.
It helps to relax when using any of these mental techniques. Most of us unwind at some time and have our own methods that work, such as listening to music, soaking in a hot bath, or getting away to a quiet place in our minds. It usually helps to think of each limb relaxing, one by one, then your neck, head, face and jaw. It also helps to breathe deeply and slowly. Some people, however, seem to like imagining their body as very light, and floating up rather than sinking down. And particular kinds of music can have a very different effect. Some people, for instance, find Baroque stringed instruments really relax them. You can only do so much to change the world. But you can do a lot to change how you represent or interpret the world, by identifying and changing your thought submodalities. You can change for the better how you think, what you do, and what you achieve.
