MetaphorsofMovementblog

7 Ways to Idiomize in Metaphors of Movement

Written by Dale Turnbull | Oct 16, 2025 1:14:38 PM

 

When you sit with a client and they offer a metaphor, you might find your brain freezing, wondering: how do I give this metaphor life, meaning, and resonance? That’s where idiomization comes in.

Before we look at 7 initial ways to idiomize, it helps to understand the three overarching categories of idioms used in Metaphors of Movement:

  • Idioms of Effect: sympathetic idioms that connect to the client’s plight.

  • Idioms of Cause: idioms that suggest agency or responsibility within the metaphor.

  • Idioms of Identity: the rarest and most challenging — idioms that reflect who the client is in the metaphor.

Within these broad categories, there are many ways to work. The seven methods below are fundamental. They are not the only ways — but they are the best place to start if you want to get past the “brain freeze” and learn to idiomize with confidence.

7 ways to Idiomize - Free Handout

In this handout you will get:

  • 7 ways to Idiomize to help improve your confidence
  • Examples to see how they work
  • Cut out section so you can have the prompts close to hand.

 

⬇️ Download 7 ways to Idiomize - Free Handout ⬇️

7 Initial Ways to Idiomize 

1. Direction

This is the foundation — the backbone of Metaphors of Movement work. Direction provides orientation: front, back, left, right, up, down, above, and below.

  • In front: What lies ahead? What’s in the way? Example: “You’re up against a brick wall.”

  • Behind: Your past, your background, or what “has your back.” Example: “Your boss is behind you — maybe supportive, maybe ready to stab you in the back.”

  • Left: What’s left for you? What remains? Example: “There’s a path left for you — winding, natural, but not straightforward.”

  • Right: What’s right for you? What feels aligned? Example: “A couple stand on carpet to your right — comfortable, maybe eye-to-eye, maybe in opposition.”

  • Underneath: What supports you? Example: “You’re standing on grass — a natural grounding.”

  • Above: What’s hanging over you, what’s on top of you?

Mastering direction gives you the basic structure to start idiomizing any metaphor.

2. Qualities

Instead of focusing on the thing itself, focus on its adjectives.

  • Example from the video: to the right, instead of saying “there’s a pink fluffy bunny,” notice the qualities — it’s colourful, comforting, playful, maybe childish.

  • To the left, a picket fence: stable, structured, dividing.

  • Behind, a monster: scary, unreal, monstrous.

Qualities allow you to deepen and expand the metaphor beyond the object itself.

3. Relationships

How do elements relate to one another? Who comes first? Who follows?

  • A glass placed in your hand: what you put first is fragile, easily broken.

  • A boss behind you: you lead, they follow — but they could also undermine you.

  • Two people talking to your right: aligned with each other, but perhaps leaving you out.

Relationships make metaphors dynamic, showing power, precedence, and positioning.

4. Support & Understanding

What holds you up? What foundations exist — both literal and metaphorical?

  • Grass: natural support, grounding.

  • Carpet: manufactured, comfortable, but also easily pulled away.

  • Concrete: solid, immovable, rigid.

Support isn’t only physical — it’s about shared understanding too. What structures hold the metaphor (and the client’s experience) together?

5. What Could or Would Happen

Metaphors are alive, and you can explore them by asking: what happens if…?

  • Step forward into the wall → collision, resistance.

  • Step left into the forest path → a winding, natural but uncertain journey.

  • Step back → a sheer cliff, falling into water, struggling to keep your head above.

  • Step right → caught between two people in conversation, stepping into their dynamic.

This invites movement and consequence into the metaphor.

6. Senses

Metaphors aren’t just visual — they’re sensory.

  • The wall feels rough, unyielding.

  • The forest smells woody, sounds rustling.

  • The cliff has wind, height, vertigo.

  • The couple to your right can be heard in conversation.

When you idiomize through senses, metaphors become embodied and real.

7. What It’s Not

Sometimes meaning comes from exclusion. Define what something is not to sharpen its shape.

  • The forest is not a clear direction, not man-made, not constructed.

  • The wall is not a doorway, not a path forward.

  • The cliff is not supportive, not stable.

Polarity helps make metaphors precise and powerful.

7 ways to Idiomize - Free Handout

In this handout you will get:

  • 7 ways to Idiomize to help improve your confidence
  • Examples to see how they work
  • Cut out section so you can have the prompts close to hand.

 

⬇️ Download 7 ways to Idiomize - Free Handout ⬇️

 

Practice Makes Perfect

The more you play with these lenses, the easier idiomization becomes. Once you know how to idiomize a wall, you know how to idiomize a fence, a door, a mountain, or a person. Once you know a path, you know a road. You’ll develop faster when practicing with others.

Join community practice sessions see where you can practice below:

Each session is unique, because you’ll see idioms others spot that you would miss. Together, we build precision, playfulness, and power with metaphor.