Mindful Sophrology

On this International Stress Awareness Day, I talk about a very specific manifestation of stress, namely overwhelm, often due to low doses of constantly present, chronic stress, which ultimately can lead to anxiety, depression, compassion fatigue, burnout, and other stress-related illnesses. Reach out if you struggle: https://calendly.com/sophrosolutions/have-a-one-on-one-with-me

Wouldn't it be nice to give your mind a break and put it on pause? Forcing yourself not to think is almost impossible. According to research by Dr. Fred Luskin of Stanford University, a human being can have around 60,000 thoughts per day—and 90% of these are repetitive. And 70% to 80% of those are negative! Here's a short guided exercise to stop the chatter.

Are you dreading the new work week? Having dealt with the Sunday scaries, have you fallen straight into the Monday blues? Here's what you need to start the week with an energy boost to help you through the upcoming week! The phrase "Monday Blues" is a common expression used to describe the feelings of stress or sadness that some people experience at the beginning of the workweek. But...

We are not made to be "on" 24/7. Tight deadlines at work, commuting home in heavy traffic, screaming children... wouldn't it be great if we could retreat and escape when the pressure starts to build up? This guided mindful Sophrology practice for self-protection and inner peace called The Protective Bubble is a visualisation technique for when you're feeling exhausted or overwhel...

Performance anxiety can be absolutely crippling. It has nothing to do with how smart or well-prepared we are, it is all about feeling vulnerable and stressed about having to prove yourself to others, and being afraid to fail. Anxiety is a feeling, secondary to the emotion of fear. A feeling is an emotion, to which we have attached a meaning, a thought, and a belief. I am #anxious because I am afra...

Knowing that 60% of resolutions don't even make it through the first month and only 9 % of people successfully keep their resolutions, why not do things differently this year? Instead of forcing ourselves to completely change ourselves to become better, let's first try letting go of what's getting in our way to live a satisfied and fulfilled life. Meet the person you would like to be, with the qua...

Emotions shape our lives in powerful ways, they give us the ability to feel and experience the world around us. They influence us on many different levels and are closely linked to our thoughts, behaviors, and overall mental health. With everything that has been going on in the world and in our lives lately, emotions can spin out of control. Whether provoked by an argument, feelings of professional...

Studies show a direct correlation between authenticity and mental health. Authenticity is linked to lower levels of anxiety, depression, and loss of behavioral and emotional control. People who cannot live from a true place of authenticity, have higher stress levels created in their minds and bodies. Being our true self leads to higher levels of happiness and fulfillment. I have seen from personal...

Going back to school after the holidays is not always easy, especially when the whole world is still in turmoil. Children face numerous daily stressors that can negatively affect their learning and development. Unlike many of the colleagues in my area, I love working with children (and adolescents). They are just tiny humans, pretty much suffering from the same basic fears, doubts, and stressors a...

When I first started meditating over 15 years ago, I had the hardest time not having all kinds of thoughts running through my mind. The harder I tried to stop the distracting thoughts the louder their voices became. The same thing happens when we are stressed and try to repress our worries, we fall into the trap of rumination. It is one of the issues that my clients mention all the time - how...

When we breathe normally, we don't use our lungs to their full capacity. With Breathwork having become so popular, let's discuss one of the most important, basic, and maybe even the most simple breathing technique there is, Diaphragmatic breathing, which allows us to use our lungs at 100%. Easy to learn and quick to implement.  It has a ton of benefits and is proven to play an important role...

Our bodies are very aware of seasonal changes, even if we don't realize it. Our head, our hair, our hormones all respond to spring's return. Another change that happens in Spring is moving the clocks an hour forward into the artificially constructed Daylight Savings Time. A shift that has a bigger effect than we may realize. Researchers found that Daylight saving time goes against our body’s circa...

Today we are going to profoundly relax our bodies and our minds. Our physical health and our emotional health are intimately intertwined in what is known as the mind-body connection. In Sophrology we make use of this connection and the way our body responds to stress by increasing our present body awareness. Where does, what affects you on a daily basis, physically, mentally, or emotionally, expre...

Welcome to a fresh start of a new year. Let me begin by wishing you all a happy, healthy and lovely lighthearted 2022. I do not know what kind of rituals you have around this period, but I will tell you a bit about mine. At the beginning of each year I set Intentions, instead of Resolutions.  In this podcast, I want to take you through a simple mindfulness intention setting meditation, where...

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆: Lifesaving Trait number 2. Adversity and stress are a part of life, but how we respond will determine our level of wellbeing. We can wallow in self-pity or we can creatively explore new ways to overcome. Being resilient does not mean that we don’t experience (dis)stress or emotional upset. Some people associate resilience with mental toughness, but demonstrating...

{  "𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔  𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉  𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚  𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅  𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚. 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕  𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚, 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎.  𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚  𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖."— 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒂...

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆. – 𝑨𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑬𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏 I am not alone in putting adaptability and flexibility at the number 1 position on my "overcoming challenges" "life-saving" skills set. Cognitive flexibility – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behavior to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment - is essential for society to flo...

With over a year of Covid, there are lots of reasons to take some time to look back and reflect.    Life is never boring, filled with curveballs, major "bouncing back" moments after hefty disappointments, and we regularly have to reinvent ourselves. In short, it is a learning adventure. And change is a constant. The life-saving traits that I have learned over the years and that have help...

Like with positive visualization affirmations can be used to reprogram the subconscious mind. The word affirmation comes from the Latin affirmare , originally meaning "to make steady, strengthen." Affirmations also have the ability to rewire our brains. Much like exercise, they raise the level of feel-good hormones and push our brains to form new clusters of  “positive thought” neurons. In th...

In this audio, you'll be guided through a simple Multisensory Imagery practice from #Mindfulness to practice #visualization. Visualization is incredibly powerful. If practiced daily, it can help in all aspects of your life, from accomplishing your goals, being more productive, growing positively as a person, to reducing pain and stress, and much more. When we are using "visualization" and "picturi...

Why try Positive Visualization or Mental Imagery to improve our Mental Health? Positive visualization is one of the tools we use in Sophrology and Mindfulness to help you shift your life in a positive direction. The interesting thing about the mind is that it has a difficult time distinguishing between reality and imagination. Whether we are really living a situation, or simply imagining it with a...

Patience is not my strong suit, my forte. And it often leads to irritability which can make me snappy. What can I say, I am not perfect. I use a Sophrology technique, similar to Mindfulness to dial the feeling down, and it involves an imaginary feather. You can watch the video on @mindfulsophrology IGTV.  #sophrology #mindfulness #bodyscan #freeasafeather #impatience #irritability #downanotch...

It is important to relax our body and our mind, even for a short while during a busy day. If this is your day off, put on comfy clothes, remove yourself from distractions and listen to my voice 🙏 If you are at work, close the door, put on your headphones and take a 10-minute break.  Enjoy 💫

Do you feel trapped at the moment, because of this pandemic ? Recently a lot of people have told me that they feel limited and kind of trapped, either because of being in lockdown or having to wear a mask. Now I could say that it is all in our head, which, as long as we are not actually "bound and gagged", it kind of is. Feeling trapped or stuck is nothing new. Even before this pandemic and outsid...

Week of Wellness Day 7: As my lockdown gift to you, on the last day of a Week of Wellness, a 15-minute Sophrology practice to activate and reinforce vital energy in our chest region, followed by a dynamic relaxation movement to help us with grounding.  The exercise starts at 5.45'.  It is common practice in Sophrology to explain the sequence we are about to do, including the way we're go...