I attended this year's first Members' online event yesterday, which was very fruitful and memorable. Having recently been at a crucial turning point in my life, I proposed an agenda on illness. I am going to share with you some thoughts on how we think about illness at Metamorphic Technique.
The agenda I proposed was: ‘How can we view illness in terms of the Metamorphic Technique? I think that facing illness is an opportunity to practise the three principles of the Metamorphic Technique - Notice the fact, Acknowledge the presence, and Let it be - but in practice it is difficult to let it be. What can we say to someone who is struggling with illness?’
I have recently had a change of heart and started to think about having medical treatment for breast cancer.
I have tried various things for improving my health, but have finally realised that I may be trying too hard to manage the disease, and surrendering myself to medical treatment might be a new way of healing for me who have tended to try so hard at everything.
Having thought this way, I felt relieved and relaxed. It seems to me that this state of being has led me to 'noticing the fact and acknowledging the presence, that is, full acceptance that I have breast cancer, and ‘letting it be', that is, having medical treatment.
It is difficult to interpret ‘let it be’ in this situation, but for me it means accepting the fact that I have the disease, and as a result, accepting the opinions of doctors and undergoing proposed medical treatment.
As discussed at the Members' event, there is a strong belief among naturopathic practitioners that medical treatment is harmful to the body, and they often refuse to accept the treatment they need.
However, is it true that, in terms of the Metamorphic Technique, medical treatment is harmful? It may indeed be true in some aspects, but such idea may be brought by our own limited beliefs.
It was thought-provoking for me to hear someone say that some people find it difficult to make a decision because they cannot accept that they are ill.
Now, let me share with you that the Metamorphic Technique focuses on the theme of 'transformation'.
By looking at the phenomena in nature as examples, we believe that the life is a series of transformation which in fact is creation.
A typical example of this is a butterfly. A caterpillar becomes a chrysalis and then a butterfly is born.
First, the caterpillar's body is completely broken down and as a caterpillar, it dies. At this point, the butterfly does not yet exist, but on the energy level out of time and space, a new being has already been created.
Then after a certain amount of time, the caterpillar is reborn as a butterfly with a completely new form.
Changing a form is a way to survive in nature, but as humans are afraid of change, we try to stay in the same state.
After listening to this story, it occurred to me that getting sick might be an opportunity for transformation.
It is true that being ill is difficult to accept and it can feel terrifying to undergo the physical changes that medical treatment may bring.
However, if we consider that it is a process of moving on to a new stage, and that even if we lose a part of our body by surgery, it may be like that a caterpillar loses its body with the possibility of becoming a butterfly with a new vibration, then getting ill and undergoing medical treatment may not be so negative as we think it to be.
I also thought that when we look at the facts and accept them - when we stop struggling and let the life flow -, the power that lies dormant inside us may awaken and transform us into a new being.
I have been questioning undergoing medical treatment, and as a naturopathic practitioner, I have been searching for a way to heal through alternative therapy, but when I regard this as an attempt to cure illness, there may be no difference between Western medicine and such therapy.
The important thing for me is to accept the fact and stop struggling to do something on my own, and for me that would be undergoing medical treatment.
Another analogy in nature in terms of the Metamorphic Technique is a story of acorns and the soil.
When acorns germinate and take root in the soil, they eventually become oak trees, but they cannot become trees on their own and they need the soil.
In the Metamorphic Technique, an acorn is likened to a client with the potential of transformation, and the soil to a practitioner.
Just as the soil does not directly do anything to the acorn, the practitioner just touches the specific parts of the client while grounding without an intention to work for a specific symptom or to give advice.
The practitioner stays with the client with love, and the client receives the energy they need.
As a result, a space for the client to acknowledge and accept the fact would be created where the possibility of transformation may arise.
Before closing this blog, I am sharing some striking words from a German practitioner:
'We fear death, but it is energetically more difficult to be born with a physical body, than to die. Therefore, we can say, with the fact of having been successfully born, we have the power to overcome illness and create a new life on our own.'
My wish as a practitioner of the Metamorphic Technique is to work for people suffering from breast cancer and reminding them that we have such great power.