You can scramble an egg but can you scramble a memory?

Today we will be working with our first NLP technique - so get excited! These techniques are designed to be simple and effective. There is only one rule I will insist you follow as you go through the process - that you do it quickly! The idea is that you move through the steps as quickly as possible to confuse your mind and break / scramble the pattern that you have programmed in your mind.

     

Now before we get stuck into the process there are one or two things that we need to cover first. In the last blog we talked about the different ways that we experience things - visually, auditory and kinesthetically or what are known in NLP as modalities. Each one of these modalities have sub-categories which are called sub-modalities. Its important to understand sub-modalities because they indicate how YOU code each experience - if you cast your mind back to earlier blogs you will recall the example I used of the movie vantage point where one event occurred BUT each individual experienced it differently. The beautiful thing here is that if you make a change to any of these sub-modalities you can change how you feel about the situation.

So why would you need this I hear you ask? You may not...after all I don’t know you but if you are anything like me at some stage there will have been a time in your life where you have relived an experience...replaying the events in your mind causing yourself to be less powerful than you are capable of being. Does this ring true for you? You may have replayed an argument with a boss or a loved one or re-experience a traumatic event etc.

Now before we move on to the exercise I have included a limited list of sub-modalities at the bottom of the blog. I would encourage you to scroll down and have a look over them first before you begin the process otherwise you will have no idea what you are doing.

Exercise
There are two stages to this process. Take your time with stage one. Its important to become aware of the various characteristics of the memory that you want to change and spend the appropriate amount of time to alter them.

Stage One
Steps:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths...just relax.
2. Allow your mind to become aware of the situation or event that has been continuing to bother you.
3. Notice how you represent the event. Use the list of sub-modalities below to see how you have coded it visually, auditory and kinesthetically.
4. If it’s a movie I want you to pause/freeze frame at height of the movie leaving it as a still picture.
5. Are you associated of disassociated in the new picture? If you are associated step out of the experience and see yourself in the moment as looking at a photo of the event. Strip the picture of all colour leaving it black and white.
6. Now for the sound. Is there any? Perhaps a voice (your own of that of the other person), background noise etc. Imagine you have a remote control - push the mute but so that there is nothing but silence.

Now the fun begins - this is the part that you need to do quickly - when I say quickly I am talking super quick...you should be able complete all of the steps in stage two in 2-3 seconds max.

Stage Two
Steps:

1. Take the newly modified image/memory. Shrink down the picture into the size of a postage stamp
2. Exhale with force and blow the picture off into the distance until you can barely see it
3. When it is a mere dot in the distance allow it to explode with a flash of white light
4. Repeat steps 1 - 3 of stage two 7 times.

  

Once you have completed the exercise try and think of the memory that you started with. If you have followed the steps correctly and moved through the process with lightning fast speed you will find that it may be difficult to process it like you did before - it will not feel like it has a hold over you anymore nor will you feel as much emotion. If it is still troubling you attempt the exercise again but FASTER! Some of you may have been reliving the event for some time and the connection you have made in your mind will be deeply engrained meaning you may have to do the exercise a couple of times until it is scrambled.

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Until we meet again...

Dan

Sub-modalities
So lets have a look at some of the sub-modalities...

Visual

•  What is the format of the experience? Is in movie for or if it is still picture?
•  Is it coloured or black and white?
•  How bright and vivid are the colours?
•  Is the image sharp or blurry?
•  What size is it and where is it located? In front of you? Behind you? To the left or right?
•  Are you seeing it through your own eyes (associated) or are you seeing yourself in the image like you are a third party to the event (dissociated)? 

Auditory

•  Is the noise loud or soft?
•  What direction is the noise coming from?
•  Is it internal (like an internal commentary where you are talking to yourself) or external?
•  What is the pace of the sound? Fast or slow?
•  What pitch is the noise? High or low?

Kinesthetic

•  Can you describe the sensation?
•  What is the intensity of the feeling?
•  Where is it located?
•  What is the weight of the feeling? Heavy or light?
•  Does the feeling have a temperature?

In reality there are many others that I could list but for the purposes of this exercise these should be sufficient. If you would like more simple Google sub-modalities and there are loads of sites that can provide you with a comprehensive list.