the event happening, you hear the teacher correcting you, and you feel the
embarrassment (sight, hearing and physical sensations are the most
common and powerful ingredients used in internal movies).
For most people, if you make that negative movie larger in your mind,
the bad feelings will get stronger. Likewise, if you make the teacher’s voice
louder, the bad feelings are likely to get worse. And you could focus on the
sensations or feelings of embarrassment and move them faster in your body,
again making them stronger. By changing how the movie is played in your
mind, you change its power.
These movie qualities are called “sub-modalities.” They are the specific
qualities of each sense used in your internal movies. Each of the senses has
several sub-modalities that can be controlled and changed.
Visually, for example, you can change the colors of a movie, or remove
color completely to make it black and white. You can change the size of the
images in your mind, making them larger or smaller. If you imagine the
movie showing on a screen inside your mind, you can change the distance
to the screen, bringing it closer or pushing it away. You can change the
brightness of a movie. You control the movement of your internal movies
and can make them fast, normal, or slow motion. You can change the
“camera angle” of your movie, changing the view of any scene.
Internal movies have soundtracks, and these too can be controlled and
changed. You control the loudness of the sounds in your movie. You control
the rhythm. You can change the tone and pitch, making sounds higher or
lower.
And you also control the feelings or physical sensations in your movies.
You control the temperature (colder, hotter), the pressure (more, less), and
the location of sensations. You also control the intensity of emotions and
can make them vibrate faster or slower in your body.
Essentially, you are the movie director of your own mind. The question
is, will you control these movies and consciously direct them, or will you
let them control you? A good director controls the images, camera angles,
sounds, etc. in a movie to create exactly the thoughts and feelings he or she
