Sophrology: body and mind at the service of well-being and personal development
Alternative and accompanying medicine, sophrology is at the crossroads of different cultures but also of different ways of approaching and improving individual well-being. It takes its sources in Western sciences (such as psychoanalysis and psychology) and Eastern (in particular yoga and Zen spirituality). Practically, a subtle mixture of psychic and physical exercises, it aims to create, strengthen and rebalance the link between body and mind, thus allowing the development of potentialities that are often sleepy and therefore unexploited. Lisa Vidil, graduate of the Sophrology Training Institute, sophrologist in Roanne, accompanies her patients in this journey of reunification of body and mind.
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Summary
Dynamic relaxation
Made naturally, without artifices such as sound accompaniment or subdued lighting, dynamic relaxation is the first part of sophrology. It is based on muscle relaxation and relaxation exercises as well as breathing exercises often performed in coordination with body movements. The different degrees of dynamic relaxation constitute a process made up of concentration exercises, of reinforced perception of the body in its immediate spatiotemporal environment and of tension release. This mobilization and this increase in body awareness are essential since they lead the patient to fully appropriate his body rather than simply being its host.
The union of body and mind
Once the first degrees of dynamic relaxation have been mastered, the patient, accompanied by his therapist, will learn to unite his physical “me” and his spiritual “me”. In other words, if at the beginning of the process it was about a form of meditation « on » his body at the present moment, the continuation corresponds to a meditation « with » his body. The distance between the body and the spirit is blurred to leave room for an increased quality of consciousness of the whole of the individual, physical and psyche coming together and merging into each other.
At this last stage, the evocation of existential values and the internal visualization of positive images lead the patient to consider himself as a whole. It becomes part of a present but also future environment that it now sees from another angle, as if it were the first time, and that it apprehends in a different way and more beneficial for its development.
Sophrology: for who ?
Without even talking about specific issues, we live in a society where this holistic approach to the individual has been lost, for the most part initiating a distancing of body and mind. Many patients are not aware of it before starting the process and do not discover it until after. But of course sophrology also helps to solve more specific problems. In the first place, this approach applies to all those who are anxious to improve their daily life by sleeping better, by regaining their lost energy and by knowing how to manage stress, whether personal or professional.
Moreover, without claiming to treat them alone, sophrology also helps to cope with behavioral disorders: phobias, addictions etc.… The search for performance is also a motivation and can be addressed to students or artists for example. Most high-level athletes, professional poker and chess players, now have their appointed sophrologist who accompanies them in their quest for performance.
Finally, sophrology also finds its raison d’être in a purely medical context as an accompanying medicine. : its effectiveness in issues such as pain management, postoperative follow-up and certain psychological disorders no longer needs to be proven.
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