Written by Michelle Shelton

May 14, 2024

As a dietitian, I am passionate about helping people live healthier lives. However, as you may have experienced for yourself, this can be much easier said than done. How many of us have set intentions or specific goals to change our lifestyle patterns, to be more well, only to find ourselves falling back into old patterns. We want to start exercising, only to see the treadmill continue to collect dust. We want to eat more fruits and vegetables, but vending machine snacks just seem to call our names too persuasively - we can’t resist!

This is why I also decided to become a coach. As a coach, I am also passionate about helping people transform - not just resolving or willing ourselves into new patterns, but actually transforming to become a person who nourishes their body well.

Transformation is an interesting word. It is a process of change. But not just a simple paint job to improve the exterior. It’s deeper, inside work on the structure itself. And because it is deep, it is lasting. Transformation is like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly.

When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, the whole form is changed. It is almost unrecognizable, both in form and in function. How does it achieve this massive transformation? 

Caterpillars have something in their bodies called imaginal discs. These carry their potential to grow wings and fly, to grow long, graceful legs, to develop new eyes and antennae. These imaginal discs carry all the DNA the butterfly needs to grow into its adult form. To unlock these imaginal cells, the butterfly must first undergo a process of breaking down. It releases an enzyme inside its chrysalis that breaks down its caterpillar parts, softens them, and allows the imaginal cells to begin their growth. This protein rich substance from the caterpillar’s body becomes the nourishing substance that allows these imaginal cells to grow and take shape. And slowly this caterpillar’s potential to be much more than it was begins to emerge. It becomes a beautiful, graceful, butterfly. 

What if, as humans, we also have imaginal cells? Not in a literal sense that our bodies will suddenly take new shape. But rather, that there is potential within us beyond what we can see in our current form. What if we are simply walking around in ‘caterpillar shells’? Perhaps that is all we know and all we can see, and so we begin to believe that all we will ever be is a caterpillar. While there is nothing wrong with being a caterpillar, if you stay a caterpillar, you will never know what it means to fly. 

If a caterpillar can transform, perhaps you can, too. And maybe the journey of the butterfly can teach us a little about our own journey. 

These are my 3 ‘butterfly’ principles for transformation: 

1. Trust your “imaginal” cells, even when you can’t see them. When a caterpillar looks in the mirror it sees a caterpillar. That does not mean it doesn’t have the potential to be a butterfly. Transformation is the ultimate act of trust. Believe in your own potential, even on the days when you can’t see it yet. 

2. Transformation isn’t fabricating “wings” that you attach to your external being. In transformation, you discover them inside of you and allow them to unfold. Imagine if a caterpillar knew it had the potential to fly and it looked around at other creatures that also fly. It might try to replicate the wings of a bird, too large and heavy for its own body. Or the wings of a fly, too small and missing the vibrant colors inherent to butterflies. Only by going inside can it discover the beautiful, delicate, perfectly sized wings it was meant to have. 

3. Don’t criticize the caterpillar, bury it, ignore it, deny it, or otherwise push it away. Work to see it, understand it, and soften it so that it can become part of the transformation. Meet yourself where you are with love and compassion. Understand the story, maybe even the pain, behind some of your tougher parts. Hold them with understanding and kindness. Once they are witnessed and learn to trust you, they will be ready to transform. 

You have the potential to become more than you are today. Every day is an invitation to transform. Some days the transformation will come more easily, some days will be harder. Some days it will move more quickly, some days more slow. And some days you just will feel stuck. But never lose sight of the reality that you have greatness inside of you, that transformation is possible.