NLP Submodalities and the “Swish” Technique

We perceive the world around us through our five senses: sight, hearing, kinesthetics (bodily sensations), smell, and taste. In NLP, these are called information-gathering systems or modalities. Within each modality, there can be differences: images can be black and white or color, bright or dim; sounds can be loud or quiet, and come from different directions; sensations can vary in intensity and location in the body; smells can be pleasant or unpleasant, strong or faint; taste can be sweet or bitter, rich or mild. In NLP, these differences are called submodalities.

Typically, NLP works with three modalities: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

One particularly important visual submodality is “associated/dissociated.” If you are looking through your own eyes and do not see yourself from the outside, you are associated (immersed in the situation). If you mentally see yourself from the outside, you are dissociated (detached from the situation).

If you are associated with a memory, your feelings (happiness, sadness, fear, etc.) about that memory will be more intense. If you are dissociated, it’s more like watching a movie about your life, where any feelings will be less intense or may not be present at all.

Submodalities only concern the way information is presented, not its content. For example, when watching a TV show, you can make the image brighter or darker, turn the volume up or down, but the content doesn’t change—you’re still watching the same show.

Through submodalities, each of our brains encodes our attitudes toward people, objects, and events in its own way. For example, the voice of someone you trust may sound louder and clearer, while things you dislike may appear farther away, darker, and blurrier.

Changing certain submodalities can affect your attitude toward a person, object, or event. These are called critical submodalities.

NLP offers various techniques for working with submodalities to create positive changes. Let’s look at the “Swish” technique, which helps eliminate unwanted behaviors (such as a bad habit).

The “Swish” Technique

1. Image of Unwanted BehaviorRecall and mentally relive a situation where your unwanted behavior is automatically triggered. Identify what triggers this behavior, considering three types of triggers: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. If you only identify two of these three triggers, imagine a third one that fits with the first two.
2. Image of Desired StateCreate a desired image of your new self, free from the unwanted behavior. You should be dissociated—imagine yourself as another person you are observing from the outside. This image should not have a specific context. It should reflect the new qualities, abilities, and opportunities that come from giving up the unwanted behavior, but should not be directly related to the behavior itself. Most importantly, you should like this new image.
3. Ecological Check*Looking at the image of your desired state, consider whether you have any doubts or concerns about becoming this person. Adjust your new self-image so that it fully aligns with your overall worldview.

   * In NLP, a result is considered ecological if it does not conflict with a person’s overall worldview. Otherwise, after achieving the result, the person’s belief system may lose its integrity, which can be harmful or even dangerous. That’s why it’s important to check for ecological alignment, even if the result seems very attractive at first glance.

4. Swish
   1. Mentally picture the image of the unwanted behavior and place a darkened, shrunken image of the desired state in its center.
   2. Mentally push the image of the unwanted behavior away from you, making it smaller and darker until it disappears completely, while simultaneously making the image of the desired state larger and brighter.
   3. When only the bright image of the desired state remains, focus on it for a while, then erase it and replace it with something else.

   Repeat steps a) – b) – c) five times, making the process faster each time.

5. Check the Success of the TechniqueImagine the image of the unwanted behavior. Make sure it automatically transforms into the image of the desired state. If it doesn’t, repeat the “Swish” a few more times, then check again.