Healing Metaphors
Magic is the art and science of changing consciousness at will.
Relaxed Like a Tree
Kelly L.'s husband left her for a younger woman. I saw her as she was struggling through the divorce process, trying to raise four children, attending classes for professional certification, and working in a demanding environment. When she entered my office, she was frazzled. Normally an organized person, she had locked herself out of her car twice the previous week and was unable to remember where she had left an important work assignment. She joked about lying on the couch, so I told her to make herself comfortable. Kelly is not a particularly visual person, so I had her close her eyes and notice her breathing.
Let your breath flow in through your nose . . . and out again, through your mouth . . . That's right . . . Now . . . breathe deeply, so deeply that your breath travels all the way down to your feet, so deeply that it travels all the way down, deep into your toes . . . Let go of it now . . . release it through your mouth. In through your nose, out through your mouth . . . Yes, like that . . . all the way down to your toes.
As her face began to relax, I commented on that and suggested that she might let the muscles in her face, forehead, jaws, and scalp melt into relaxation. Then I returned to the breathing metaphor:
You know . . . and I know . . . everybody knows . . . that you don't have lungs in your toes . . . But still your breath is traveling all the way down into your feet, into your toes, making them feel warm, relaxed, and comfortable. Now, let your breath come in through the center of your forehead . . . let it flow down your spine . . . and through the back of your legs . . . until it reaches your feet, your toes . . . feeling warm and relaxed and comfortable. As you exhale from your toes, let the warmth and relaxation and comfort travel back up through the back of your legs, back up through your spine, back out through the center of your forehead. Yes . . . like that . . .
After playing with her breathing for a while longer, Kelly entered a deep state of trance. Although she enjoys the relaxation of the hypnotic trance just for itself, we had additional work to do.
Now, Kelly, I want you to be as relaxed as a tree . . . that may sound silly . . . many people might snicker about it . . . but that's OK. Think of the sequoia tree . . . it doesn't struggle . . . it just stands there, tall and relaxed . . . The tree just lets its roots find strength in the ground . . . it knows its center . . . You know what it looks like, seeing the cross section of a large tree, don't you? Remember how the rings radiate out from the center of the tree? Yes . . . You, too, have a center, just like the tree . . . You, too, have roots, just like the tree . . . Imagine . . . your roots . . . sinking . . . deep . . . down . . . into the warm, nurturing earth . . . Imagine . . . being supported . . . roots from your center . . . reaching deep . . . into the center of the earth . . . drawing up nourishment . . . finding strength . . . anchored . . . that's right, you are solidly anchored . . . and from that anchor point, standing tall and relaxed . . .
I spent more time playing with the image of the sequoia towering above the earth, rooted in the earth, solid and centered, then moved on to another tree image:
Have you ever seen a bristlecone pine? . . . you know, one of those trees that lives thousands of years . . . they have a difficult time of it . . . their environment is quite harsh . . . the first time I saw a bristlecone pine, I thought it was dead. It looked like a piece of driftwood clinging to a rock on the mountainside . . . but it had a little strip of bark . . . and it had some green needles . . . it was twisted by the wind . . . shaped by the snow . . . but it was still alive . . . it had been alive for two thousand years . . . and it would live for another two thousand years . . . because it sent its roots down and hung on . . . just like you are hanging on . . . holding on tight to what is important . . . not letting go of your roots . . . remembering your center . . . still breathing . . . taking in and letting go . . . remembering how the bristlecone pine survives, you survive . . .
I spent more time with her on the survival abilities of the bristlecone pine, then returned to the sequoia, emphasizing how centered it was, how contained it was, how she could be centered and contained, too, standing tall and relaxed. Then it was time to end the session. I had her walk back from the bristlecone pines, through a grove of sequoia trees, down a short forest path, and back into my office. Then I had her follow her breath back to normal waking consciousness, feeling relaxed, vital, and refreshed.
Although Kelly continued to wrestle with the emotional debris of the divorce and all
the issues it raised about her self esteem, she found a sense of calm self-possession
which lacked before. As we help our clients with the "Talking Cure" it is a good
idea to remember that metaphors can often reach deeper than simple words, providing deep
healing for our clients.
(This article previously appeared in the Long Beach/South Bay CAMFT newsletter)
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