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 ..read more

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 even if you are not stressed or sad, there are several reasons why our energy levels might drop on a Monday: Weekend habits: On weekends, we often stay up late and indulge in activities that can disrupt our sleep ..read more

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 overwhelmed, when you feel influenced by negativity coming from others, or when your inner critic doesn't leave your mind at rest. Or you can use this technique to simply take a moment for yourself, and retreat from the stress ..read more

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 afraid (#emotion) that I will fail or not obtain my goal (#negativethought) because I am not good or smart enough (#limitingbelief). This kind of self-induced pressure (the « I have to slay this or e ..read more

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 qualities and capabilities that fit your values. And then set an intention, to become that person, one baby step at a time, by finding the right tools and the support you need to do that. In this guided ..read more

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 or personal failure, or concerns, about our financial situation, our loved ones, or our future, our emotions can lead us to do or say things in the heat of the moment that we may later regret.  ..read more

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 as we do.   And even though the form of those fears and stressors may be different, the way they are able to describe their expression in the body is no different from the way adults describe accu ..read more

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 can I stop my (negative) thinking? There are many tools and practices available in Mindfulness, Sophrology, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help us with automatic negative thoughts. In this podca ..read more

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 in recovering respiratory function in chronic pulmonary diseases. And you can do it in just 5 minutes a day and almost everywhere. This one is recorded on my home veranda, so enjoy the birds singing a ..read more

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 circadian rhythm, deregulates our sleep-wake cycle, and can pose serious health risks, such as stroke and heart attack, especially in the week following the time change. It’s important to recognize how se ..read more