Visual Submodalities

We have talked recently about submodalities and their role in NLP.

Each representational system has its own set of submodalities, and depending on the individual, its own driving submodalities.

Visual submodalities include the following:

• Location. If we see a picture in our mind, where is it? And yes, I know it is inside your head. But if it was outside your head where would it be? Would it be on the left of the right? Would it be up or down? How far away would it be?
• Size. How big is the picture? Is it large or small?
• Framing. Is the picture framed? If so, what is the frame like? Does it have a particular style or color? If it is not framed, is it wrap around? Or does it end? If it ends, how does this happen?
• 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional. Is the picture three dimensional or two dimensional like a photo?
• Movie or still. Is the picture still like a photo? Is it more like a movie? Sometimes it is in-between, it moves but only a little, essentially it stays as the same scene, but has some movement.
• Associated or dissociated. Does the client see themselves in the movie, or are they seeing out of their own eyes?
• Color or black and white. Is the picture in color or in black and white? 
• Brightness. How bright is the picture? Is it bright or dim? 
• Contrast. What other aspects of the picture are key? For example is there a particular degree of contrast between the various aspects of the picture, for example foreground and background?

Shawn Carson

NLP Training in New York

Visual Representational System

The representational systems of NLP are Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic VAK.

The visual representational system includes the things we see around us, the visual memories we have of things we have seen, and other pictures that we make up or fantasize in our minds.

When we "see" the real world around us we are actually taking in visual data through our eyes and converting that data into meaningful representations in the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. So when we are looking at the face of a loved one, light enters our eye and triggers receptors in the eye. Data from these receptors travels along the optical nerve to the brain.

Once the data reaches our brain we begin to spot patterns and recognize that this is the face of a loved one. We also begin to make associations, remembering other times that we have seen that face, and we see what we see as a representation including all the memories and associations that we have.

Try a thought experiment now. 

• Think of a person you love, think of their face, and notice how you feel as you look at it.
• Now think of a person you dislike, think of their face. Notice how you feel as you do so.

The chances are you felt good when thinking of the face of the person you love, and not so good when thinking of the face of the person you dislike. There are emotional states attached to the simple visual image you see.

Shawn

NYC NLP training

Representational Systems

A representational system is simply the NLP term for a sensory system

The five representational systems are:

• Visual (seeing pictures)
• Auditory (hearing sounds)
• Kinesthetic (feelings)
• Olfactory (smell)
• Gustatory (taste)

The representational systems are sometimes referred to as VAKOG (i.e. the first letter of each system).

The three systems which are used most in NLP are visual, auditory and kinesthetic systems, sometimes called VAK.

Many NLP patterns are based on changing how we represent the world around us in VAK.

Shawn

New York NLP