Language, Somatic mind, Inner imagery, and Psychogeography (LSIP)

Maitri Thakker

Shakespeare quotes, “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” (Brooks & Brooks, 2022). Automatic thoughts liaise between situations and their precipitating emotion and it is imperative to understand that it is not the situation that causes an emotion but the automatic cognition, exhibiting the meaning made. Albert Ellis’ ABC Model explains this well, with A being the activating event, B being the beliefs about the event and C being the consequences, the physical or emotional effects of the event (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2005).

The views we take and the thoughts we have determine the trajectories of our lives. Thoughts are the primary route to change, and behaviour modification is viewed through the lens of “changing minds” and change work is eliminating the emotional investment in a situation. The outcome of therapy is to empower clients and enable them to co-exist with their pasts (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2005). Attention and perception precede thinking and when we direct our attention towards a stimulus, perception becomes conscious. The brain’s interpretation of sensory stimuli is perception, and a whole other filtration process precedes perception; individual filters are determined by one’s perception of time, space, energy, language, beliefs, memories, decision-making, and attitude. These filters are subsets of the larger universal filters–generalisation, distortion, and deletion. Generalisation is making general conclusions about an event by attributing an experience of one event to other experiences. While the application of overarching principles to single events enables rapid adaptation to novel situations, generalising beliefs may be dangerous in certain contexts. They may hamper self-beliefs and negative emotional states by establishing rules that are detrimental to health and well-being, reinforce maladaptive behaviours and manifest as phobias, and lastly may also lead to the drawing of incorrect conclusions that have no structural base. Deletion is filtering out information from an experience through selective attention. While it helps focus on critical parts of experiences and ignore the vast amount of less relevant information, it impacts the accuracy and relevance of information to oneself and others. Some information may be important but due to deletion be regarded as insignificant or impractical, thus leading to an error in judgement and decision-making. Distortion is misinterpreting incoming sensory information and modifying the interpretation of experiences. It happens outside of conscious awareness and is mediated by cognitive biases due to which people fail to adequately assess their capabilities, resulting in errors in thinking, judgement, and decision-making (NLP Education World, 2023).

Internal representations are formed by sensory perceptions gathered by sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch and trigger corresponding states and behaviours. Each person exists at the centre of a constantly changing world of experience. Even when we believe we are being objective, our subjective perceptions and the meanings we attach to our experiences create a map of reality and it is this map that we respond to, rather than reality itself, when faced with any situation. Therefore, personal perceptions, and not the facts of experience, create a response.

Everybody possesses a different map or lens of reality, and the skill in understanding a client is to start from a position that is compatible with their beliefs. Memories are formed based on cognitions and maps.

The modes that input data into our neurology and activate memories to produce behaviour are called modalities, and there are five different modalities that form the acronym ‘VAKOG,’ and is the representational system for how we make sense of the external world.

• Visual– the eye. Visually preferred would be quick to form images while communicating or reading and create meanings.

• Auditory– the ear. Auditory preferred people are talkative, direct focus on the phonological aspect of communication.

• Kinaesthetic– touch. Kinaesthetic preferred people are expressive, communicate using gestures, and focus on feelings and bodily sensations.

• Olfactory– the nose.

• Gustatory– taste- the tongue.

Finer distinctions, or sub-modalities define the quality of our internal representations and changing the sub-modality or the locus of focus changes the experience. Given that VAKOG is how we store memories, if we introduce a change in the ‘how,’ we can change the way we recall memories. Memories can be recalled easily and are stronger when anchored in more than one modality. For example, if a client while holding their stomach talks about how they are feeling, they are relying on the somatic and kinaesthetic modalities (Saxena, 2021).

NLP encompasses three powerful elements: Neurology, Language and Programming.

Neuro: Alluding to the mind and how states of the mind and body influence communication and behaviour.

Linguistic: States manifest in language and communication.

Programming: An interplay between the mind and body and reflects the capacity to change states; comprises the instinctual and habitual thoughts, feelings, and values.

Elementally, NLP grounds itself based on two presuppositions:

• The map is not the territory

As humans, we can only know and be aware of our perception of reality. Primarily, we experience and respond to the world around us via representational systems and our ‘neuro-linguistic’ maps of reality govern how we behave.

• ‘Life’ and ‘Mind’ are systemic processes

Our bodies, societies, and universe collaboratively form an ecology of complex methodical systems and subsystems, all of which mutually influence each other. It would not be possible to entirely isolate any one part of the system from the rest of it. The most efficient people are those who have a map of the world that lets them perceive the highest number of choices and perspectives available and are open to making NLP a way of refining the choices one has and perceives as available. People expand more when they let go of what they think (Surati, 2022). 

VAKOG is how information is stored and Language, Somatic mind, Inner imagery, and Psychogeography (LSIP) become the storage folders. An effective way of helping or guiding

a client through change work would be to identify how they have stored information and where it is being saved.

State and Behaviour

The calibre of one’s consciousness as it relates to perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and identification with the outside world elucidates the state of mind (SoM).

Changing the state of mind exerts synergistic effects on attention, perception, thoughts, affect, and behaviour; we can even regulate and bolster performance to effectively fulfil the demands of a particular situation.

“Mood” refers to an emotion and “mental state” refers to cognition, and state of mind is a combination of thinking and feeling, therefore, emotion and cognition. Behaviour is directly influenced by the state of mind one is in in any situation. The integrative mood-behaviour model (MBM) provides evidence for the effects of moods–it is predicated that moods can influence one’s behaviour via two processes: (a) effects of information on judgements and appraisals related to behaviour which lead to behavioural adjustment and (b) influencing behavioural interests and preferences per a hedonic motive. The impact of the informational mood depends on the mood's informational weight for the judgments and mood-primed associations. The intensity of the directive mood impact is speculated to be determined by the strength of a hedonic motive and the instrumentality of possible acts for affect regulation (Gendolla, 2000).

The state of mind can be regulated by the storage folders–language, somatic mind, inner imagery, and psychogeography. 

Language

Language creates experiences and elicits a variety of emotions, and every language is a cognitive universe of its own and the representation of one’s narrative changes based on the language–different sounds, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciations, and structures. Do individuals who speak more than one language also perceive and think about things differently? Yes, language moulds and defines the way we think, feel, and act. People, in actuality, can only perceive elements of the external world for which they have words–their language. This, however, does not connote that language restricts our capacity to make sense of or perceive the world, and instead propels attention and thoughts on particular elements of the world. The cognitive consequences are that different cognitive universes entail different perspectives and ways of remembering information so two people who witness the same event remember very different aspects of it, and the real meaning gets lost in translation. 

The role of a therapist is to help the client realise that the narrative they create of their reality is not actually their reality, and so they can change it in a non-threatening manner to replace it with a healthier one. Language is the metaphor of an experience, not the experience itself, and the truth, thus, is merely a game of different perspectives and altering narratives. The language we use sends messages and manifests in our bodies leading us to explore the somatic mind.

Somatic Mind 

The somatic mind processes information related to the body and physical sensations; proprioception (awareness of the positioning and movement of our body), nociception (ability to detect and feel pain), and thermoception (ability to detect and feel a temperature change) are included as part of processing and homeostatic regulation. Sensory receptors transmit information about touch, pain, pressure, and movement to the spinal cord and brain after which it is processed by the somatic mind. The somatic mind functions based on the signals it receives from the respective receptors and sends them to relevant areas for processing. There is a bidirectional communication system between our mind and body/nervous system enabling comprehending and responding to sensory input in a coordinated manner (Biga, 2019). 

Somatic therapy functions on the notion that the body keeps score. How safe and grounded one feels is largely attributed to environments, situations, and relationships. Perception and neuroception are ways in which human beings assess safety and danger. Perception requires conscious awareness to detect cues that imply safety or danger while neuroception describes how one’s nervous system, without conscious awareness, evaluates risk and scans for cues of safety and danger; listening beneath the words for sounds of safety. While people are unaware of the process occurring in our subconscious, they may consciously notice their heart rate either slowing down or speeding up, an uneasy feeling in the stomach, or other physiological changes. However, it is important to know that neuroception can sometimes be inaccurate; one may fail to detect danger or detect danger when there is none. If one incorrectly senses danger, the older defence circuits or mechanisms such as avoidance, projection, or displacement, can be triggered unnecessarily, and the nervous system can become stuck in the fight-or-flight mode or become immobilised. Safety and danger are viewed not only in the context of physical harm but also in relationships. In actuality, physical sensations are never something to be afraid of, what makes them scary is the meaning people make about them irrespective of the context in which they occur. Developing a keen awareness of one’s body and its sensations, practising grounding exercises and mindfulness meditation, regular movement such as walking, yoga, acting out, alternating focus between stressful and non-stressful stimuli and recapitulating past events to replace old associations with new and alternative ways of thinking aid in developing healthier ways of being (Porges, 2022).

Emotions have a noteworthy effect on breathing patterns. When an intense emotion is experienced like fear or anger, breathing is shallow and rapid due to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood leading to symptoms such as tingling toes and fingers, muscle spasms, and light-headedness. When in a state of calm or relaxation, breathing slows down and is regular. Activities like meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, and grounding techniques induce a state of relaxation. The link between emotions and breathing is bidirectional implying that emotions affect breathing and breathing affects emotions (Porges, 2022).

Innerneurology/ Inner Representation

Everyone has a favourite meal; the anticipation builds up till one gets it, every bite is relished, and a feeling of joy prevails. Every meal consumed is digested in much the same way by the digestive system; food is swallowed, and it goes through the stomach, intestines, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder. Once digestion is completed, the components of the food that are no longer required by the body are excreted. The internal representation of an external event works in a similar manner. The human mind keeps essential information based on experiences and beliefs, and the rest of the information is deleted, distorted, or generalised. 

Inner representations are the internal representations of the external world which is perceived through the five senses. The representations can be understood as mental models within a neural network which can be used to manipulate, tweak, and represent information. Schemas are cognitive structures that comprise thoughts and feelings towards people, events, and objects, and help group similar or relevant information together. A script is a schema, and both play a role in how information is represented which are used to comprehend and make sense of our surroundings, environment, and the world, and also govern planning and execution of actions. They are a product of learning and experience and with every new situation encountered, there is a revision in representations; thoughts, feelings, physiology, and behaviours are influenced by the inner representations. When something is experienced, the brain scans for information associated with it through the beliefs, decisions, and memories acquired throughout life (Michalak, 2014). 

Internal representations can be shaped by a multitude of factors (Galotti, 1993):

• Experience: By imparting new information and connecting different units of information together.

• Attention: The aspects of experiences that one’s focus and attention are directed towards shape internal representations. 

• Learning: As and when new information is learnt, either the existing fields of representation are updated or new ones are created.

• Emotion: The emotional reaction one has to an experience determines whether or not that experience will be stored and represented in memory.

• Social and Cultural Context: One’s ideas of gender, race, class, socioeconomic status and stances on worldview are influenced by social and cultural contexts.

• Memory: Through the processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval, experiences progress to form memories which further determine internal representations.

Internal representations are perpetually changing based on the new information and experiences being accumulated. In the broad field of psychiatry, inner representations serve to be important in treating and understanding mental health. If one has a positive internal representation, a repertoire of healthy behaviours is developed and influences how one deals with stress and adversity (Galotti, 1993). Essentially, this is what inner engineering is.

Psychogeography

Psychogeography is multidisciplinary and surveys the prospects between individuals, their environment, and their perceptions, emotions, and behaviours that stem from their interactions. In practice, psychogeography involves activities that require walking, like wandering aimlessly or exploring the city and experiencing the psychological and emotional effects of the environment. Walking with the intention of paying heed to how different areas, elements, and features make us feel and behave is the crux of psychogeography. Additionally, walking purposefully and mindfully, meaning taking the time to observe our surroundings and the thoughts and feelings that arise, helps us see familiar spaces from a new lens (Lyons, n.d.).

Psychogeography influences our thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and non-verbal communication. Our gestures can also be affected by our surroundings, such as exhibiting more exaggerated gestures in open spaces and more controlled gestures in smaller environments. The emotional tone of a conversation is also influenced by the rearing environment, such as being more energetic in a park and subdued in a cemetery (Reed et al., 2020).

The size and capacity of one’s consciousness, awareness and perception, are directly proportional to one’s understanding. Experiencing a city is subjective and involves one’s whole body; it’s akin to poetry, but in motion.

Review of Literature 

An increase in helping behaviour is attributed to a positive mood (Isen, 1999). People tend to do more when in a good mood, and are likelier to help more on receiving any pleasant news. Research has found that trivial things like finding a penny in a phone booth, having someone smile or wave at you, smelling a pleasant fragrance, or listening to a funny recording slip people into a good mood and yield the expected results: them being helpful (Baron & Thomley, 1994; Gueguen & DeGail, 2003; Isen & Levin, 1972).

A positive mood leads people to think that their surroundings are not dangerous and are fonder of others, increasing helping behaviours. People possessing positive affective states are likely to help even more when they believe that the outcome would be a lasting positive mood. Similarly, if people think that helping someone might spoil their positive mood, even when in a good mood, they are reluctant to help and most likely refuse to help (Erber & Markunas, 2006). The notion that helping others can taper the intensity of the negative feelings one is experiencing may lead to people helping others more (Cialdini et al., 1973).

A study by Regan and colleagues (1972) conducted on students manipulated into believing they were responsible for breaking someone else’s camera, leaving them experiencing a heavy sense of guilt. Those experiencing even the slightest amount of guilt were happy to help the person who approached them later. People experience guilt when they believe they are responsible for causing harm to their relationships with others, and the lingering guilt drives them to find ways to repair these ruptures (Baumeister et al., 1994).

The Connection

Information accessed through VAKOG and organised in the LSIP is based on content, context, process, emotions, or a mix. Content fused with the process is what grows and stays. A grave example would be trauma with more in the context, process, and emotion. Individuals exposed to trauma remember it strongly because it has been processed entirely by the VAKOG and seats itself in linguistics, cognition, the somatic mind, or the body. Once we have identified the location and origin of where the trauma-related information is stored, the next step is distortion. Techniques like systematic desensitisation, exposure, and gradually moving up the hierarchy of least to most distressing events can be employed. Gradually, with perceptual reframing and visual imagery, the intensity reduces and the thoughts or memories that once caused significant distress no longer act as triggers. Throughout the process, the goal is to help the individual manage their thoughts and emotions better and to reduce distress. 

Conclusion

Re-wiring the LSIP is the key to eradicating the effects of trauma by building new layers of information. By incorporating the VAKOG into the LSIP, we give importance to the context and the process behind our experiences to reduce emotional distress and enhance coping.