Training Dates
London: 29th - 30th January 2011 Booking
Chichester: 10th - 11th March 2011 Booking
The Metaphors of Movement workshop is open to IEMT practitioners and non-practitioners alike. In this workshop inspired by the work of Charles Faulkner and George Lakoff, Andrew T. Austin demonstrates how to overcome stuck states and create effective movement towards your personal goals. "Not enough people pay attention to their mode of transport," Austin explains, "in trying to move forward in life, people need to know in which direction they are heading and how far they need to go in order to reach their goal. The way they transport themselves towards that goal is vitally important and of course it is their body that is their transport."
Cliients often arrive in therapy complaining of a lack of movement in their lives, both metaphorically and literally. Common expressions of how the person feels that reflects this lack of movement include:
I feel stuck
I don't feel like I am going anywhere
I am stuck in a rut
I feel like I am going around in circles
I'm not making any progress at all
I am not moving forward
I feel like I am going backwards
There are many expressions that reflect a lack of movement in a person's life. In addition to this, many people lack direction:
I don't know where I am going
I don't know which way to turn next
I feel lost
I lack direction in life
I feel disorientated
I feel like I'm going the wrong way in life
I don't know the right way forward
Instead of paying attention to these metaphors of movement and direction, all too often in therapy there is an excessive attention paid to the kinesthetic system and the emotions. As a result we often find a person who finds themselves unable to move forward until they have the right feeling in place.
It is often noticed that many martial arts and systems of physical movement are highly philosophical in nature, an example that is well known to many people is from Aikido, where an opponents movement is not blocked, but instead is redirected. In this Metaphors of Movement workshop, Austin demonstrates the relationship between the way a person moves their body and the way a person moves through their mind and through their life.
This workshop also details the type of path on which a person moves. Life is often describe as a journey and we walk different paths. This can reflects the type of terrain, or environment, with which the person interacts. Common expressions of a person's terrain include:
I have fallen on hard times
I am on shaky ground
It's an uphill struggle
I'm skating on thin ice
I'm out in the open here
I'm at a crossroads in my life
I'm walking a dangerous path
It's a jungle out there
It's a long road ahead
The mode of transport is important too, and is something that is so often overlooked. for example in order to feel like we are getting somewhere in life, we may need to:
put our best foot forward
put one foot in front of the other
stand up for ourselves
take one step at a time
jump in with both feet
leap ahead of ourselves
But sometimes we may feel as though we are moving too slowly or that we are not the driver of this transport, but rather are a passenger:
we are racing ahead
we are driving this forward with great haste
ploughing ahead
it's all plain sailing
it's all rolling out of control
I'm being taken down a path I don't want to go
it feels as though the wheels have come off
"Attending Metaphors of Movement was enlightening and I think you have
began to add a very important intervention to a Therapists tool box and
created another model for creating personal change. Focusing on
behaviour and what we do when in a situation that is causing distress is
liberating and as designed enables movement instead of inertia and
sometimes paralysis. The content was clearly delivered and as always
with fun and humour." J. Bissett
"Wow! I have just returned from co-training with Andy Austin in the Advanced Mastery Training sponsored by Tools For Transforming. I would have gladly given up my training days to Andy so that I could have learned even more (and I can’t recall saying something like that before—ever.)
When I edited Andy’s extraordinary book, The Rainbow Machine, I kept thinking, “How on earth did he know that would work?” Now I know at least some of the answers to that question...
Metaphors of Movement is a very effective—and easily learned—development of one aspect of “Clean Language” that provides a way of getting people “unstuck” with a multitude of problems—particularly useful with clients with very little access to their internal experience, such as seriously depressed clients." Steve Andreas
"After attending a workshop with Andy I put into practice within a week my new found skills - WOW! - amazing and rapid results. I believed I listened to my clients, I now knew that I didn't hear their movement, or lack of it!! Within 2 hours a client who had spent thousands of pounds seeking a cure from others found the right way forward, and could engage their gear. Previously everything was going wrong (and the movement metaphors were going left) and when things went the right way she found movement. We had walls that could be seen over, but couldn't be got over; scared of falling on their bum....... and literally a numb bum, that triggered instant movement, and a desire to move forward through engaging their gears.
Applying a bit of filtering and a walk down a funny road and she had successfully made a way forward, specifically the right way forward.
A 3 day check in for feedback and the feedback was good - the best session ever, and the best technique I had used. A succesful outcome? Yeah - even the client left feeling good!! I would recommend that all practitioners who want to support their clients achieve movement learn this great skill." Lesley Hoyle (NLP Practitioner, registered nurse in previous career)
Training Dates
London: 29th - 30th January 2011 Booking
Chichester: 10th - 11th March 2011 Booking
