The Metamorphic Technique – a tool for transformation

Many of us want to change our lives and the options to do so often seem to involve effort or self revelation. One method which is easy, relaxing and effortless is the Metamorphic Technique.

A practitioner of the Technique works by a gentle stroking touch - first on the feet, then the hands, and finally the head. During a session, which takes about an hour, you can talk, drift into a state of deep relaxation or do whatever feels natural. Without the need to discuss them, old patterns of behaviour and life can drop away.

Created by a British man, Robert St John, in the 1960s, and developed by Gaston St Pierre, the Technique has travelled around the world although most practitioners are still based in the UK. No fancy equipment is needed, only the detached presence of the practitioner. The wonder is only that this almost shy modality is not better known.

The Metamorphic Technique can be taken up by anyone and is a wonderful gift to the recipient. Not only is it healing to adults but it is the perfect simple practice for developmentally challenged children or adults. It tends to bring balance to life, and its teachers describe how everyone is on a spectrum of ‘afferent’ and ‘efferent’. The most afferent individuals might be inward looking, even autistic, and inclined to think without action, whilst the most efferent would be inclined to act first and think later. Use of the Technique can provide a catalyst towards balance.

A simple practice which you can do anytime is derived from the work. It is the ‘conceptual pattern’ or healing circle. Place one hand over the other in the opposite direction, making a space inside the hands. Now, with any finger, touch the outside of the first knuckle of each thumb. 

Visualise or think into the space you have created, a person, name or situation which you wish to allow energy to flow to. Now move your hands to make tiny circles onto those places which your hands touch. Allow the energy to go where it may without trying to influence the outcome. Continue for a minute or two or until you feel a shift.

  

You can find out more about the Metamorphic Technique online or from the Metamorphic Association. In the USA, the practice of Metamorphosis is available, which follows the work of Robert St John more closely.

Image: Cindy Silverlock, Metamorphosis Center