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Clean Language is like… Origami
Metaphor is to the human mind what folding is to science.
Everything is made of folds - the earth, our DNA, illness and health in the folding and unfolding of protein molecules, the human brain, our clothes, the folding and unfolding of our memories, metaphors and dreams ...
A few weeks ago, as I was watching a documentary about origami (Between the Folds by Vanessa Gould) I found myself thinking about Clean Language, what it means to me, my experiences with it and how I have formed a…
Posted on 22 Nov 2011 by Sharon Small in Clean Language, Creativity, Metaphor
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Weight Loss: If at First You Don’t Succeed…
…do you try again, or give up? If change is hard, do you see it through, however long it takes, or do you compromise on what you really want? There are plenty of stories about how one or two Clean Language sessions radically changed someone’s life. And what about all the sessions that gave someone a fantastic insight or two, but which did not result in the desired behavioural change?
My story is about losing weight. Not based on a single flash of inspiration, but with repeated attempts – and Clean Language sessions - over a long period of time, each of which has moved me forward in my quest to eat in a healthy way for good. After five years of accumulated learning, I believe I am now finally doing this.
Posted on 05 Aug 2011 by Charlotte Ellis in Client Stories, Health, Metaphor, Outcomes
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Clean Language is like… Permaculture
Permaculture is the practice of working with, rather than against, nature, in order to optimise the output from any piece of land. For example, by observing its natural resources in detail, practitioners are able to design an allotment to minimise weeding and to maximise yield. And although permaculture principles are derived from nature, they can be applied to all kinds of living systems, including business and community design.
Charlotte has been taking a course on permaculture, one weekend a month, for most of this year – and in talking about it, we’ve noticed that there are a number of similarities between permaculture and Clean Language.
Posted on 28 Oct 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, David Grove, Emergence, Metaphor
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Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do
Book Review
Predicting human behaviour – is it possible? That’s one of the questions posed by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, in his new book, Bursts.
We are all predictable to a lesser or greater degree. I can tell which topics are going to cause my husband to rant about the government – and I know the rants off by heart. My sister’s husband always does the ironing at 4pm on Sundays.
Posted on 11 Aug 2010 by Marian Way in Book Reviews, Clean Language, Health, Metaphor
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Clean Gymnastics
I went to Coggeshall in Essex on Thursday to spend a day in a primary school classroom, with Julie McCracken, who has introduced her 5, 6 and 7 year-olds to the joy of Clean Language. Julie and I are writing a book together on Clean in the Classroom, so I’ve heard many tales of clean goings-on, but this was the first chance I got to see for myself how the children responded to clean questions (they call them the ‘Detail Detective’ questions). It was an action-packed day, with children both asking and answering the questions. This post is about what happened in the gym lesson.
Posted on 14 Jun 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Education, Metaphor
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Developing Resource Metaphors
Practice Group Report
Welcome to Terry who joined us for the first time last night. And thanks to everyone else who came along - it was good to see you!
Our topic this month was Developing Resource Metaphors and we started with a discussion about what is a resource, concluding that anything could be a resource, depending on how it is used / perceived. Then we looked at how to develop a resource metaphor, including finding the source of the resource and discovering the effects of knowing that. The group worked in threes with a facilitator, client and observer in each group, which took most of the evening, with time for a just a mini-debrief at the end.
Posted on 17 May 2010 by Marian Way in Metaphor, Practice Group
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Metaphors and Values
Practice Group Report
Welcome to Jewels, Marion and Judith who joined us for the first time this month. Marion and Judith had already attended Less is More, so were able to benefit from the practice opportunity straight away. We hope you enjoyed the meeting and will come again!
Our topic was Metaphors and Values. This was inspired by conversations with coaches who want to practise their Clean Language skills but do not yet feel confident to use Clean Language for a whole session. One way to achieve this is to use Clean Language for a specific task. Many coaches spend time with their clients looking at their values, which are ideally suited for metaphor work.
Posted on 15 Mar 2010 by Marian Way in Metaphor, Practice Group
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Metaphors for Aches and Pains
Practice Group Report
Welcome to Jane and Gilli who came along to the group for the first time last night - and discovered they knew each other! Both joined in our 'first-timers' part of the evening, when we covered some of the basic principles of Clean Language as well as some of the questions.
The topic for the main part of the meeting was physical symptoms, and what difference it could make to pay attention to them using metaphor and Clean Language. We started by developing metaphors for the symptoms, such as:
Posted on 20 Jul 2009 by Marian Way in Health, Metaphor, Practice Group
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