I just completed my NLP Basic Practitioner certification program (hooray!), and would like to pass on one of the most simple and effective NLP techniques I’ve learned. This technique is good to use if there is a particular food you want to eat less of (chips, candy, cheese), an addiction you want to discontinue, or a person you want to stop having feelings for. For the purposes of giving an example, I will use the idea of wanting to eat less of a particular food.

If you know how to do self-hypnosis, it might be helpful to first bring yourself into a state or trance. Any really relaxed state will do. You should be laying down, or in another comfortable position. Once you are comfortable, simply close your eyes and take a nice, deep breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Now imagine that there is a grid, either around you or in front of you. It can be any kind of grid you like. Somewhere on this grid, bring up an image of the food you want to eat less of, which in the past you’ve enjoyed a little to much. Notice the image, and where on the grid it has been placed. Also notice whether the image is still or moving, whether there are any shapes or colors that represent the image, any sounds that might be associated with the image, any smells that might be involved, and any emotions that might come up. All these little details are submodalities, and they represent your overall feelings about the subject in question.

Once you have gathered all of the sensory details surrounding the image of the food you want to eat less of, think of a food (or basically anything) that you would never eat, or that you absolutely detest. Bring an image up of this thing you would be disgusted to ingest, and place it somewhere on the grid. Just as you did with the other image, notice if this new subject has any movement, particular shapes, colors, sounds, smells, or emotions attached to it. Really notice those details. I know, not the most pleasant experience, but it’s for a good cause!

Once you have placed both images on the grid and have acknowledged the qualities you attribute to them, then slide (or otherwise move) the image of the food you want to eat less of over to the same box on the grid of the subject matter that really grosses you out. As you slide the image of the food you were eating too much of over to the image of the stuff you have no desire to eat, notice its qualities and submodalities morphing. The once “yummy” food should actually begin to feel like something really undesirable!

After you’ve moved the object from its happy place to its not so happy place, with all of its aspects altered, LOCK IT IN. Lock it however you want, as long as it’s stuck there.Then open your eyes. Think about the food you used to really like, and notice if your feelings about it have changed. You can repeat the entire process again, test it again, and even repeat it a third time. If you do this each day for about a week or so, it is likely to take the effect you were seeking.

Best of luck!