Senses and submodalities: We don’t just think in words. We picture, hear, and feel our world from the inside. The subtle qualities of those inner experiences matter. This page shows how to notice and gently shift them.
NLP Submodalities. The Building Blocks of Experience
Submodalities. 30+ Exquisite Keys to Change Experience. Our senses or modalities give us information about ourselves and the world. The better we listen, see, feel (and taste and smell), the better chance we have of understanding what’s going on.
Submodalities are some of the qualities of our senses. They add more information and richness. For example, some qualities of sight are light or dark, focused or unfocused, and colour or monochrome.
How senses and submodalities can alter our memories.
Our memories are built from sensory experience. Memories aren’t fixed; they change as we gain new experiences. By exploring the qualities of the sensory language of our memories and changing them, we can change the memories themselves in valuable ways.
The same can be said about imagination – how we imagine things within our minds and how we paint a picture through language as we communicate our ideas to others.
Being aware of sensory language.
It pays to be aware of the incredible variety in the types of sensory language that we use.
A drummer, an artist, an athlete and a businessman are likely to describe memories differently. They have different sensory experiences, and this is reflected in their language.
Some things can be described in digital, on/off terms – For example, something can be either 2-Dimensional or 3-Dimensional, but not somewhere in between. Most sensory information, however, falls somewhere on a continuum; for example, brightness or colour can only exist on a spectrum. Therefore, it is far harder to express it accurately. The first step is understanding some of our senses’ qualities or submodalities,
NLP Submodalities List
Visual
- Association (associated or dissociated)
- Size (large or small)
- Motion (still or moving, slideshow or movie)
- Colour (colour or black and white)
- Brightness (bright or dark)
- Distance (near or far)
- Focus (focused or unfocused)
- Clarity (clear or fuzzy)
- Location (top, bottom, left, or right)
- Depth (2D or 3D)
- The frame (framed or panoramic)
- Number of images
Auditory
- Location (mono, stereo, surround)
- Tonality (flat or engaging)
- Tempo (slow or fast)
- Pitch (high or low)
- Pace (fast or slow)
- Intensity (intense or soft)
- Clarity (clear or fuzzy)
- Volume (loud or soft)
- Rhythm (regular or irregular)
Kinesthetic
- Location (Where do you feel it?)
- Vibration (Is it still or pulsing?)
- Movement (Is it still or moving? If it’s moving, trace the movement with your hands.)
- Pressure (Is there any pressure? If so, is it light or intense?)
- Shape (What shape is it?)
- Size (How big is it?)
- Temperature (Does it have a temperature? Is it warm or cool, or something else?)
- Direction (Does it have a direction? If so, describe it.)
- Steady or intermittent (Is it steady or intermittent?)
Taste and smell
- Taste / Smell (Sweet, Sour, Aroma, Fragrance, Salt, Sweet, Essence, Pungence.)
Senses and Submodalities Essentials
- When we access memory and identify its submodalities in closer detail, we tend to bring back the details of that memory and amplify its associated feelings.
- When we change the submodalities of the memory, we also change the memory and its associated feelings.
- By making our images brighter, more colourful and closer, we amplify the power of the memory over us. We weaken their power by making them less bright, less colourful, and further away.
- By associating with the image, we connect with how we feel. Disassociating and looking at ourselves in the memory makes us more analytical and distant from how we feel.
- We can learn to ‘spin’ our feelings – sometimes, emotions present themselves as physical sensations that seem to move and loop somewhere in the body. By first recognizing this feeling and then amplifying the movement through visualization, we allow ourselves to be ‘bathed’ and ‘massaged’ by good feelings.
- The more we can influence our feelings, the more we can influence those around us.
Suggested Senses and NLP Submodalities Exercise
Write down 5 activities that you enjoy. Explore the submodalities of your most recent experience of each. Then explore the submodalities of your most intense experience of each. In what way are the submodalities different?
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NLP Techniques – Senses and Submodalities: FAQs
Q: What are senses and submodalities in NLP?
A: Senses refer to how we receive information (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.), and submodalities are the fine details within those senses, such as brightness, tone, or texture, that shape our inner experience.
Q: Why are submodalities important in NLP?
A: Submodalities allow us to understand how internal representations influence emotions and behaviours. By changing them, we can shift how we feel and respond.
Q: Why are submodalities important in NLP?
A: Submodalities allow us to understand how internal representations influence emotions and behaviours. By changing them, we can shift how we feel and respond.
Q: Can anyone learn to work with submodalities?
A: Yes. With practice, most people can learn to notice these inner differences and adjust them consciously to support desirable states and outcomes.