Mindful Sophrology

This week I am offering you a Week of Wellness exercises. It is my opinion that we have a responsibility towards ourselves but right this moment towards all the health care workers and our fellow humans as well, to be or become as healthy as we can be. To boost our immune system and create as much physical and mental resilience as we can. 

Today we start easy-peasy with the Arm Swing Exercise, a traditional Chinese exercise that improves lung function, reduces blood pressure, increases dynamic body balance, improves circulation, oxygenation, and lymphatic drainage. We are up in our minds a lot, this is some nice movement, preferably done outdoors. Have some fun with it, too!

The rest of the week I will take you through Sophrology practices including breathwork and the Kin-hin (walking meditation), a Mindfulness Breathing exercise, and some Lung Capacity exercises.

#wellnesswork #sophrology #wellbeing #zoombies #workplacewellness #caregiverstress #stressreduction #holistichealth #mindfulness #armswinging #chinesemedicine #restore #bodybalance #lungexercises #immunebooster #zoombies

Social distancing is very unnatural for humans, this is why we see so much resistance against the restrictions worldwide. We crave human connection. Human connection is essential for our mental health. Research has shown that feeling socially connected increases our level of happiness, reduces stress, anxiety, and depression, and improves our self-worth and confidence.

Me personally, what I miss the most is human warmth and touch, because I'm a hugger. It's a well-known fact that a good hug is the fastest way for us to get oxytocin flowing in our bodies.

Today we are going to give ourselves care through physical touch. Our hands can give comfort and encouragement. This soothing touch meditation is an easy way to support ourselves when we’re feeling a little bit out of touch and it is something we can offer to comfort ourselves. We are going to give ourselves a really big hug, mentally and physically. (The guided meditation starts at 4'). 

#guidedmeditation #mindfulness #anxietyrelief #stressreduction #hugyourself #socialconnection #freemeditation #freehugs #socialdistancing #covidstress #lockdowntip #mentalhealth #immunitybooster #sophrology #touchyourself #selfcare #supportyou

Who has not heard of the expression: what we resist persists? This is an abbreviation of psychologist Carl Jung's viewpoint that “what you resist not only persists but will grow in size.” 

Persisting thoughts are actually perfect teachers, and signals from our body  trying to alert us that ‘an important something’ is needing our attention and we can no longer continue the way we have been doing. Pushing these thoughts down will only temporarily bury them. It's our responsibility to investigate and acknowledge them so we can then generate more effective coping strategies.

Life is all about balance especially in times of contrast, no light without dark. Sometimes we have to be the change, and sometimes we have to accept what we cannot change and move positively and balanced forward within the framework when the framework is not budging. Pick your battles wisely, it may be better to stop fighting, trying to crush the obstacle, and create flow within and around the obstacle instead.

In this basic Attention and Accepting Mindfulness practice (starting at '3.25), we are going to connect with ourselves, relax, and create mind space. It's the first step to recognize the signals, allowing an opportunity to choose change.

Hello lovely listener! In this episode, I guide you through a Mindfulness Meditation to release whatever kind of unnecessary tensions are present in your body, whether it is physical, psychological, or emotional tension. This time not by releasing them through the exhale, as we do in Sophrology, but by visualizing our tensions disappearing from our body and seeping into the earth.

#mindfulness #stressreduction #releasetension #relaxationexercise #identifytensions #grounding #bebetter #wellnesswork

Sophrology is a method that is not only helpful for stress. It is also extremely beneficial for people suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia, discomfort from muscle contractions in Parkinson's, and so on. It provides you with your own set of personalized power tools to reduce the impact of your circumstances on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

It is very comforting, satisfying, and empowering to know that we can consciously counteract our pain by influencing our perception of pain.

There are four ways to do so, all of which are used within Sophrology.

1. Reduction

2. Mindset

3. Distraction

4. Relaxation

In this podcast I will discuss how pain works and what we can do to reduce our pain levels.

#sophrology #painperception #chronicpain #fibromyalgia #painreduction #musclecontractions #gatecontroltheory #neuroscience #mindset #overcomingpain #holistichealth #mentalhealth #wellnesswork #mindmedicine #positivepsychology #healthymind #homeostasis #parkinson #sophrologie #painmanagement

“𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂” 

Confidence is something we all need to overcome our fears and doubts, to perform to the best of our abilities and to move forward.  Now we are all born with huge human potential. I always say that there is this package of seeds of capabilities installed in us, just waiting, ready to germinate and grow under the right conditions. Real confidence is a capability and when you know how to create that capability, that resource for yourself, you can have it in endless supply.

#mindfulsophrology #performanceanxiety #sophrology #vanbuuren #realconfidance #confidencecapability

This episode I will guide you through a 15-minute Mindfulness Meditation called "Affectionate Breathing".  With everything that is going on, we could all use a little kindness at the moment.

Kindness is an interpersonal skill and being kind often requires courage and strength. Darwin argued that sympathy and caring for others is instinctual and he did not associate our basic instinct to survive ("survival of the fittest") with selfishness. He actually believed that we are a profoundly social and caring species.

There are numerous studies showing that practicing kindness is an important factor for lasting well-being, successful relationships, stability in life, and success. This includes being kind to yourself. Do you treat yourself kindly?

𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑮𝒊𝒇𝒕, 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆

#affectionatekindness #bekind #survivalinstinct #successfactor #mindfulnessmeditation #mindfulness #meditation

𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚? 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 - Shakespeare Sonnet 18 

Comparison is the thief of Joy, Possibilities and Progress! 

In this podcast episode, we discuss courage, confidence and that what holds us back regularly, “Comparisonitis”. A coaching client of mine wanted some clarity before making a major change in his life and not owning his self-worth was holding him back. I want you to value what you have to offer. Nothing compares to You!   

#selfworth #comparisonitis #sophrology #mindfulness #selfconscious #doubtsandfears  #mindfulsophrology #value #youareunique  #selfdoubt

In this episode we practice the Sophrology exercise we usually start with. Sophrology uses synchronized breathing and although breathing comes to us naturally, when we start to think about it too much our breath often goes up in our chest. Many of us still underestimate the power of breathwork whilst it is the one part of our autonomic nervous system that we can consciously control to get back to calm. I hope you'll enjoy the exercise. It starts at 4.44! You can do this for as long as you want to if needed. It is a practice that is very well known to improve lung capacity, for its ability to reduce stress levels and to make sure that our body hormonal response goes back to a state of calm. 

I like practical hands-on techniques that I can pull out of my hat the moment I need them. Because we never know when we might become triggered and our nerves hit. A deceptively simple but highly effective breathwork exercise that can guide us through moments of stress and anxiety is "Breathing through our Feet". It lessens the grip of our emotions on us, it allows us a little headspace and gives us a sense of being more grounded and centered. There is a reason why breathwork has become so popular. Our breath is powerful. Through it, we have the potential to 
re-energize, heal, ease, and empower ourselves. Let's practice together!

#anxietyattack #anxietytips #stressrelief #breathwork #groundingexercise #headspace #mentalhealth #breathingexercises #emotionaltriggers #empowerment