According to NLP, information in the brain is coded by the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Each of these senses, also called modalities in NLP, has a subset of qualities called submodalities, which are similar to the controls on a television set. As information is retrieved from the brain through memory, the submodalities determine the memory's shape in terms of contrast, color, and volume. For example, when remembering a person from the past, the submodalities would determine whether in your mind's eye the person appeared near or far to you, if you saw him or her distinctly and in color or black and white, and so forth. The way that the submodalities arrange the memory plays a significant role in how the memory itself affects people. NLP can be used to adjust internal memories and feelings by adjusting the submodalities of the experience. Pleasant memories can be reinforced by increasing their proximity to you in your inner vision, while upsetting memories can be diminished by making them dimmer and placing them further away from you.

  Steve and Connierae Andreas (NLP trainers) studied how the mind codes curing and discovered a technique to engage the body's natural ability to cure. Their discovery was impeled by a personal experience. Shortly after the birth of her first child, Connierae developed a sore lump in her breast. A bright red patch of skin and a high fever soon followed. She was diagnosed with a breast infection, put on antibiotics, and within twenty-four hours the fever was gone and eventually the lump vanished.

  When the symptoms returned after the birth of her second child, Connierae incorporated her NLP experience and began to experiment. She thought of influenza as something her body was capable of healing. Connierae explains that when she saw herself healing from influenza she was lying in bed and the image started out in grayish tones. In a split second she went from that position, like a fast action clip, to standing up-healthy, well, in full color. But when she compared the submodalities of this image to the submodalities of the image she had of herself trying to cure the breast infection, she noticed a difference. The image she had for the breast infection was a grayish, still image of herself lying in bed. There was no movement to it.

  Connierae identified how her brain coded healing influenza in terms of the submodalities of her healing pictures, sounds, and feelings. She analyzed this pattern and then coded her image of healing her breast infection with the same submodalities. At first her image of healing from the breast infection was grayish, inactive, and distant. To adjust the image she changed the location, color, and size of herself in the picture by imagining herself moving up off the bed and seeing the image become colorful as she became larger, until she was standing healthy and well. This encoded her brain with the new imprint for healing and her brain then triggered the necessary immunological responses to cure the breast infection.

 

  By becoming familiar with your submodalities and how they operate, you can learn to adjust your internal memories and feelings. The following exercise illustrates how this process can work for you.

  Close your eyes and allow yourself to recall an unpleasant memory. Depending on how you code and process your experiences, the memory will appear to you primarily as an image, a sound, or a feeling. Whichever way it happens will be the way that is most appropriate for you.

  As the memory arises, become aware of the emotions you are experiencing because of it. Now notice the memory itself. If it is visual, notice its size, its proximity to you, and whether or not you are seeing it in color. If your experience is primarily auditory, notice the qualities of the sounds. Are they loud, grating, or harsh? If your memory evokes a kinesthetic sensation, notice how it feels. These qualities comprise the submodalities of your experience. By adjusting them, you can literally change the experience itself.

  You can adjust the submodalities in the same way that you can use the controls on a TV set. If you are seeing an image, allow it to become blurry and indistinct. If it is in color, allow it to become black and white. Now allow it to recede from you, becoming smaller and smaller, until it is so small that you can hardly see it anymore. You can do the same thing with sounds and sensations, changing them until they are comfortable for you. Once you accomplish this, notice how your emotions with regard to the memory have also changed. You may be surprised to discover how relaxed and in control you feel, and how the memory is no longer able to provoke an unpleasant reaction in you.

  This same exercise can also be used to reinforce positive memories, thereby creating more powerful resourceful states for yourself.

  As you focus on a pleasant memory, allow it to become clearer, closer, and brighter for you, then add whatever other appealing qualities you wish to create your desired state.

  By regularly experimenting with this exercise, you will find yourself gaining greater control over your emotions and the memories that trigger them. This, in turn, will enhance your sense of well-being.

 

  Another way of changing a limiting belief is by a technique called reimprinting. An imprint is a memory formed at an earlier age. Whereas positive imprints are empowering, negative imprints often result from trauma or confusion that is forgotten, but which can serve as a root for limiting beliefs. Tim Hallbom states, a negative imprint laced with unhealthy beliefs can create serious problems when the brain duplicates these messages and sends them out to the immune system where they can serve as a catalyst for undesirable health conditions. Many unhealthy immunological responses result from limiting beliefs created through trauma or confusion. The NLP practitioner can help to identify a limiting belief formed during the imprinting event, and assist in its reimprinting or replacement.