Changing the Pictures in Your Mind

I just received an email enticing me to purchase Adobe Photoshop 2.0. The message extols the power of this package and how, with it, I could email pictures to friends, edit, delete, colorize, and be very creative with my pictures.

As fantastic as digital photography is, it pales in comparison to our mind’s ability to make pictures. We can make vivid, imaginative pictures effortlessly. Even the best “Photoshop” type software cannot approach your imagination.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to delete certain scenes or enhance others? Imagine if we were able to change the emotions that these pictures generate. What would it be like if we could “edit” negative emotions out of the pictures in our mind?

There is no software program to help us edit our mental pictures but fortunately, there is a system you can learn. By learning to control the pictures in your mind, you gain more control over your thoughts and emotions.

In his book Deep Healing, Dr. Emmett Miller describes the difference between a thought, an image, and an emotion. Thoughts are fleeting, electrical impulses far below the surface of consciousness. When thoughts are held long enough they form an image. Hold the image long enough says Dr. Miller, and you’ll feel emotions. Chemicals called neuro-peptides create emotions. Every emotion you feel is the result of a release of neuro-peptides by your brain.

Try this now. Think of a person you know then quickly check what time it is. What happened? Probably, you saw a face and then immediately checked your watch. Now, think of a person you love. “See” them coming closer to you.  “Hear” their voice as they speak to you. “Smell” their cologne or perfume and “feel” them as they touch you. What happened this time? You got a feeling didn’t you? By holding the image long enough the emotion appropriate to that image attaches. Your “warm-fuzzy” feeling is the result of neuro-peptides. For a fascinating exploration of neuro-peptides read Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert, Ph.D.

Now imagine an event, person, place, or thing that annoys you a little. Try “playing” with the image in your mind.

· Can you notice where the image is located?

· Are you looking through your own eyes or do you see yourself in the picture (as if you are looking at a movie screen or photograph)?

· Is the picture color or black and white?

· Is the picture close to you or some distance away?

· Does it go all around you or is it framed?

We know we make pictures in our minds; what no one has ever told you is that if you change the picture, you change the meaning the picture has. Change the meaning and you also change the emotions.

Try playing with the picture now. Perhaps you can have some one ask you the questions from above and note the details of the picture for you.

Go ahead now and get the annoying picture back. If you are looking through your own eyes, step out of the picture and see yourself in it, as if you are watching yourself on a screen. Notice what happens to the emotion when you do this. If the picture is in color, change it to black and white and again notice the change in emotion.

What happens if you make the picture brighter or closer? Does the feeling change? What if you push it all the way across the room? Does the feeling decrease?

We form images in our mind in five primary modalities. We make pictures, sounds, feelings, smells, and tastes. These are also known as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory. We also have a modality called auditory-digital or self-talk. The details of modalities are called submodalities. Some visual submodalities are associated (looking through your own eyes) or dissociated (looking at yourself), distance, color or black and white, framed or panoramic (all around you), and moving or still.

Most people find there are certain submodalities that make a big difference in the “feelings” associated with the picture. These submodalities are called “drivers.” The most common drivers for pictures are:

· Associated or dissociated. When we are dissociated the emotion (or feeling) of the picture typically diminishes (or sometimes disappears).

· Color or black and white. Black and white typically reduces the emotion.

· Distance. Generally the farther away you can “push” the picture; the less you will feel the emotion that was attached to it.

Some clients have created very imaginative scenarios for dealing with the negative pictures in their minds. One client imagines putting the picture in a box (after stepping out of it and making it a still b&w photograph) then pushing the picture to the far side of the room. He imagines it small and dark, like a postage stamp. Then, using his imagination, he watches the box being blown to smithereens as he detonates it like the “Wiley Coyote” cartoon character. He says “boom” to himself as he blows the image up. He has found that this routine works well for him and, with practice; he has become very effective with the entire process.

Your unconscious mind works in pictures and images. It is extremely creative and efficient. It wants only to please you and serve you. Your unconscious mind also has the emotional maturity of a seven-year-old. Before you decide to say these ideas are silly or illogical, try them. You need not blow up the picture like a carton character to find success in utilizing submodalities. Experiment with changing the pictures. Decide to “play” with your own unconscious mind. Be creative. When you start to gain control of the pictures, you begin to gain control of your thoughts and emotions. Most clients report that after a while the negative pictures simply stop coming. What we find upon examination is that they have trained their mind to change the submodalities instantly. After all, if you aren’t in control of your thoughts, who is?

George Gillas provides public and corporate workshops and seminars across the Valley while maintaining an active private hypnotherapy and NLP practice in Scottsdale.  He also teaches business, public speaking, and hypnotherapy classes at SWIHA.