HOW SOPHROLOGY CAN HELP
I use sophrology to provide tailor-made treatment for a wide variety of stress-related issues, both on a 1 to 1 basis and with groups. A powerful self-development tool, the technique helps to build resilience and self-confidence and bring balance back into our lives.
Sound familiar?
Do you feel overwhelmed by the demands of day-to-day living? Do you feel you can never quite get on top of everything and find yourself making endless mental lists?
Do you find it hard to focus and wish you could quieten that incessant internal chatter just for a moment? Does the same little voice keep you awake in the middle of the night?
Do you lack energy and verve even when you’ve had a good night’s sleep?
Are you easily annoyed or irritated by people? Do you often feel put-upon and taken for granted?
Our perception of stress is highly personal and varies as much as the impact it has on us. Is modern-day living more stressful or are we just becoming less resilient? Sophrology can make a real and lasting difference to how we deal with everyday challenges and maintain a sense of balance and harmony in our lives. Here’s how ……
Taking control of our well-being
Sophrology aims to achieve ‘an alert mind in a relaxed body’. This mind-body focus is central to the technique: it is difficult to feel stressed or negative when our bodies are relaxed. When our minds are calm and uncluttered our bodies reflect this state and we feel physically more at ease.
Relaxing the body, releasing the mind
Sophrology is about awareness, both of ourselves and the world around us. By relaxing our body and releasing the tensions it holds we can calm the mind and help to free it from its clutter of ‘internal chatter’ in order to connect with our wiser, more intuitive mind and focus on what really matters. With a clear and focused mind our body is also able to stay more relaxed for longer.
Negative head space
Most of us are subject to feeling overwhelmed, under-valued or under-performing at some time in our life but these negative feelings can easily get the upper hand and spiral into unmanageable proportions. The impact a negative or anxious state of mind can have on our physical and mental health is surely apparent, isn’t it? But the fact is, we are still far more likely to take a pill than consider changing our life style.
A more holistic approach
Today stress is commonly recognised as the number one reason for work absenteeism as well as a major cause for physical and mental disease. Treating symptoms alone is often neither effective or sustainable and interest is growing in looking at the ‘whole person’ in order to re-establish their levels of optimum health. A more holistic approach to our general health and well-being is becoming widely embraced, not only in the medical arena but in education, sport and the corporate world.
Mind over body
Finding the time to relax and clear our heads can be the one thing we don’t have time for. How many of us are aware of the actual physical damage this negative ‘internal chatter’ can produce? Heart palpitations, night-time sweats, teeth grinding, muscular cramps and tension headaches may all be physical reflections or representations of our unhappy mental state and, if left uncorrected, can lead to more serious conditions.
Body over mind
The significance of the relationship between mental and physical well-being is hardly new – going back millennia in Chinese and Ayurvedic medical traditions – and the good news is that just as our mind can adversely affect our physical state, so we can ‘trick’ our minds into thinking all is well by relaxing our bodies and releasing any physical tension we are holding onto.
Full circle
In sophrology we begin by working with the body, bringing our attention to all the different areas and gently releasing any tensions as we go. By focusing on relaxing the body the mind also starts to calm down which, in turn has a positive effect on our physical well-being…… and so it goes on.
Focus and resilience
As we learn to switch off the internal chatter and conserve mental energy we start to focus more clearly, relax more efficiently and build vital mental and physical resilience to better meet the challenges of everyday life.
Positive chain-reaction
We also learn how to focus on the positive aspects of our present, past and future, exploiting these inner resources to alleviate the cycle of negative thinking we are so often prone to adopting as our ‘go to’ approach to the world and our place in it. In this way we can build a positive chain-reaction that, once activated, requires only a little maintenance but whose benefits can be literally life-changing.
Some issues sophrology is used for:
- Stress and anxiety management
- Lack of confidence and motivation
- Burnout, insomnia and chronic fatigue
- Exam, interview and performance preparation and optimisation
- Weight problems and self-image
- Phobias and addictions
- Digestive problems such as IBS
- Pain management.
If you would like further information on how sophrology is used in the world take a look at our the collective online magazine www.sophromedia.co.uk