Sub modalities are the way that we” and give meaning to our internal representations. So what does that mean. When well you think about anything that is thought will be made up of pictures sounds and feelings. Basically it is made up of the modalities. What gives meaning to our internal representations, is not purely the content but how the structure of that representation is made up. For example how bright the picture is or how much contrast is in the picture. For example if you were going for a romantic meal, would you want to be in a room that had right light and loud music with lots of people next to you? Of course not! For most people that would be a nightmare.
On the other hand if you wanted to find yourself feeling motivated or went into a room where people were getting motivated, words going into a quiet dark room be the most motivating thing? For most people it wouldn’t. The way the things luck, the way things sounds and the way things feel are often more important than the actual contents of the situation itself. The same goes with our memories. If you remember a situation at work that didn’t go well, and you make it a big bright picture and here the sounds loud in your head, that situation will feel far worse. On the other hand if you make that picture small and dark, and turn the volume right down, maybe imagine that’s events is like a little picture a mile away from you, then you will find that it doesn’t feel so bad.
So sub modalities are like the distinction is on our modalities. They are the things like brightness volume tonality contrast whether the picture is bright wooden whether it’s near or far. These sub modalities really give the meaning to these internal representations. In NLP we have found that if you change the sub modalities, then it will change the meaning all of these internal representations.
For example if you ever give yourself a hard time with your internal dialogue, if you focus on the tonality of your internal dialogue and made that inner voice sounds like Mickey mouse, or goofy, or some other silly cartoon character, then suddenly that inner voice would have no hold over you. Now these things may take some practice. But imagine how powerful it is when you are truly in control of your internal voice and rather. You can even start to laugh.
