The Power of Metaphor: Onami the Great Wave!

Onami was a powerful sumo wrestler who lived in Japan about 100 years ago.

Onami was so strong and skilful that he was able to beat his own teachers during wrestling matches in private training. Indeed, Onami never ever lost a practice match.

However, Onami had a problem of stage fright. Crowds made Onami nervous.

He was unable to perform at his best during public matches in front of large audiences. During public matches, Onami was beaten even by his own students and also by untalented wrestlers only half his size. Onami’s stage fright became so serious that he lost twenty consecutive matches.

Troubled by his stage fright problems, Onami consulted a Zen master.

The Zen master told Onami, “Your name means Great Wave. Imagine you are a Great Wave. Visualize yourself sweeping your opponents aside like a powerful unstoppable wave.”

Onami did as the Zen Master said. He spent the days and nights visualising himself as the Great Wave, an earth shaking wave, big as the ocean itself, sweeping his opponent aside with great unstoppable power.

When the day of the competition came, Onami went into the ring of a public match with this mental movie of himself as the Great Wave. The moment the referee started the fight with the wave of the fan, Onami the Great Wave surged forward with tremendous power. He swept his opponent away with an unstoppable shove.

Visualisation is a powerful yet simple method to manage your feelings and your body for peak performance when facing acute challenges such as during a crucial contest, final examinations, or during public speaking.

For example, when making an inspirational speech, imagine in detail that you are Martin Luther King. When playing goalkeeper during a soccer match, imagine in detail that you are a cat. You can imagine anything you want as long as it gives you power.

Try it, you will be amazing.

Describing a Person Using Metaphors

This is an interesting use of metaphors to get a richer description of a person than what is possible with just using words.

This is how it is done.

First draw lines on a sheet of blank paper to divide it into 9 boxes like this.

Next put a picture of the person you wish to describe in the centre box like this. In this case, it is a young lady named Peach.

In the remaining 8 boxes surrounding the picture of the person, we put in pictures of different chosen categories of objects that we feel best represent that person. The different categories can be of any groups of objects.

Examples of categories are animals, cartoon characters, colours, furniture, fruits, vehicles, food, clothing, famous places, celebrities, popular songs, countries, beverages, sports, weather - the possibilities are literally endless.

Next, in the chosen categories ask yourself the question - If this person were a __________, what would she be like?

In this example, we have chosen the following.

Here we go, describe what comes to your mind about the person using the chosen metaphors.

If Peach were a panda, she would be rare, special, exotic, cute, lovable, adorable, exceptional, charming, friendly, huggable, the center of attention, sought after, precious, well looked after, attractive, intelligent.

If Peach were the cartoon character Lucy, she would be wacky, funny, humourous, intelligent, firm, confident, steady, cool, clever, quick, naughty, unique, sharp, creative, smart, playful, comfortable with herself, brave, sensible, knows what she wants, authentic.

If Peach were the colour yellow, she would be cheerful, cheeky, happy, joyful, bubbly, good company.

If Peach were a sofa, she would be comfortable, steady, approachable, warm, soft, friendly, dependable, reliable, trustworthy, supportive.

If Peach were a peach, she would be wholesome, sweet, radiant, rosy, healthy.

If Peach were a mini Multi-Purpose Vehicle, she would be energetic, dashing, ambitious, curious, flamboyant, cool, fashionable, quick, rugged, tough, steady, adventurous, playful, going places, on the go, has plenty of potential, free spirited, confident, fun loving, sporty, bursting with energy.

If Peach were a bowl of sweet glutinous rice balls, she would be sweet, filled with substance, wholesome, appreciates tradition, generous, family oriented, harmonious, courteous, considerate, respectful, nurturing.

If Peach were a pair of sneakers, she would be stylish, youthful, comfortable with herself, energized, sporty, trendy, practical, sensible.


From this example, it is obvious that using metaphors to describe a person, produces a much deeper insight on her personality than a written description could.

Try it.

You'll be amazed because it is so simple, yet so effective.

Board Breaking

Board breaking was the Grand Finale at the Mind Transformations 12-day NLP practitioner training.

The participants were each provided a wooden board.

On one side, the participant writes a specific desired outcome - an important personal goal that is yet to be accomplished.

On the other side, the participant writes the three main obstacles that must be addressed in order to achieve that desired outcome. These are the three inner demons that stop us or slow us down as we head towards our goal.

The participant then steps forward, prepares herself mentally and physically using the following strategy.

The participant places the board between two columns of cement blocks.

Rehearses the stance and movement.

Get into the mental state of confronting her inner personal demons head on, feeling the tension rising.

Get into position, poised to strike - physically and mentally.

Summon strength and GO! breaking the board neatly in two.

The moment the board is broken, a deep sense of great relief floods the body. A feeling of finally standing up and breaking through against the inner demons that limit our lives fills us with great pride and confidence.

The board breaking exercise is a metaphor for confronting and successfully overcoming our inner personal demons that are preventing us from taking that all-important first step towards achieving our desired outcome.

The exercise puts us in the state of being strongly motivated for ACTION! towards our goals.

My personal reflection of the board breaking exercise.

The wooden board is a deliberately created metaphor of our inner personal demons.

In our lives, there are metaphors of our inner personal demons which are part of us. We cling onto them unconsciously just like Linus holding on to his old blanket.

What are the Linus Blankets in your life?

Linus Blankets come in many shapes and forms. Besides objects, they can be a person, a group of people, a job, or even an idea about yourself.

What do they represent? How and when did they become a part of your life? Why did you need them at that time? Do you really still need them now? Can you let them go? What will you lose, if you do let them go? Can you trade them in for something else that will free you? Open your world? Open your eyes to opportunities that have always been there?

Dumping our Linus Blankets has the same effect as breaking the wooden board.

Please share your thoughts with us.

We love to hear from you.

Metaphors