NLP Submodalities are those things that structure our perceptions through our senses. But what kind of things are they? Well, to tell you the truth they’re not things at all. They are qualities that are exist within all of our experiences; they are the fundamental components of experience. All of our memories have a structure and that structure can be modelled, and models can be changed. These perceptual blocks of information are unconscious, or in other words, out of our conscious awareness, so let me give you an example.

Think of your last birthday. Now think of your birthday 10 years ago. As you begin to think about those times, without realising it, Submodalities will be playing a part.

1. Direction? When you think of your birthday, in what direction do you feel the memory is coming from, or where are you seeing or hearing it? Is the direction of the memory coming from behind or in front of you? Is it to your left or to your right? You have probably never been asked this question before so it my seem strange to contemplate at first. Direction is a Submodality.
2. Location is another Submodality .You know the memory of your last birthday is a lot closer than your birthday of 10 years ago. The question is, how do you know?
3. Size. Think of something you really like doing. Now think of something you really don’t like doing, something you may even keep putting off. The chances are the one you like doing is a different size to the one you don’t and the one you dislike will seem further away.

Submodalities may be likened to coding and coding can always be changed.

Frequently, there will be a difference in the way we perceive doing something we like to that of an action for which we have no motivation. This is because of the structure of the images in our minds are made up of submodalities. NLP techniques can help change those qualities to increase motivation.