Birth, childhood and teenage years.
Milton Erickson was born the second of eleven children on December 5, 1901 in Aurum. He grew up in a poor farming environment, where he learned from a very early age to use just about anything that could be used. He helped with farm work as soon as he was old enough. His childhood development was anything but normal. At the age of four, Milton still did not speak, and he also had great problems with learning. The teachers in that environment and time did not pay attention to the fact that Milton perceives and experiences in a special way.
It was not until a few years later that they discovered that he was color blind, tone deaf and markedly dyslexic. He knew how to turn these inconveniences to his advantage:
"We communicate a lot in the way we speak. Being tone deaf, I was forced to follow the voice modulations. This meant that the content of the speech distracted me less than it does for most people. Many patterns of behavior are reflected more in the way someone says something than in the content of what is said."
At the age of 17, he experienced an extremely severe attack of poliomyelitis, his muscles were paralyzed and he could barely speak. Doctors told his parents he wouldn't make it through the night. Milton, who heard the doctors, saw the pessimistic forecast as extraordinary insolence and used his anger to spend the night until sunrise. After three days he woke up completely paralyzed, he could only move his eyes. He heard well, but spoke only with the greatest difficulty, and could not move at all. Everyone was sure that he would be lame for the rest of his life. The doctors told him that he would never be able to walk again and that he only had a few months to live. Instead of resigning to his fate, Erickson discovered how to use his own mental abilities and inner resources to deal with his problems.
"I was lying in bed without any feeling or awareness of my body. I could not feel the position of my arms and legs. I spent hours trying to locate my hand, my leg, or my toes by trying to feel any sensation in them. In this way, I became very aware of what was happening in different parts of my body."
During his recovery, he created special techniques to regain control of his body. He used self-hypnosis, intense recall, to reactivate his muscles and gradually regain mobility. In the weeks and months that followed, Milton searched through his sensory memories and tried to learn to move again.
"First I learned relaxation and exercises to build muscle strength. I made myself rubber bands and stretched them every night. Then I learned to walk, and when I got tired, the pain subsided. Then I came to a surprising discovery: I could achieve relaxation and pain relief just by imagining walking and being tired."
After eleven months of intensive training, he was able to walk with crutches, but he quickly learned how to limp with as little effort as possible, using as little muscle strain as possible. Thanks to his ingenuity, he recovered quite well, but it became clear to him that he would not be able to become a farmer. He enrolled in medical studies, which further helped him in his self-rehabilitation.
"During my medical studies, I learned about the properties of muscles. I used this knowledge to sufficiently develop the muscles I still had left from the disease and to limp with the least amount of stress, tension and strain possible. It took me another ten years to learn this. I became acutely aware of my body movements, which turned out to be very helpful…”
By the end of his first year, his body had recovered, but he still needed crutches to walk. The doctor advised him to spend the summer in nature. Intrepid Milton went down the river alone (a friend canceled the trip just before now) and without money and with very modest equipment.
After more than two months, he could paddle against the current, with only a slight limp, and carry the canoe by himself. Above all, he developed much more resilience, became physically independent and gained a lot of pride and confidence in himself.
The experience of a polio attack gave him a deep insight into human suffering and the power of the inner human mind. Erickson's recovery was not only physical, but also psychological and spiritual. His own story of overcoming paralysis became a source of inspiration and a powerful example of how a person can overcome even the most difficult obstacles in life.
In the next installment, we will learn how this experience inspired him to become known as the Phoenix Sage.