What is Sophrology?
We caught up with Liz Murphy, Director of The Sophrology Academy, to get her thoughts on Sophrology’s rising popularity and how it could benefit your teams.
First up, what is Sophrology?
Sophrology is a uniquely structured mind-body practice for self-development, enhancing performance and overall health and wellbeing
With sophrology, we’re activating this amazing power – the mind-body connection – to help meet our daily challenges and opportunities in optimal ways. Our minds (thoughts, feelings, images, what we pay attention to) can impact our physical bodies and brains, and likewise our muscles, breathing and nervous system can change how we think and feel. so we can
What’s unique is the way that sophrology adapts techniques from several valuable sources – yoga, mindfulness and meditation – and embeds them in principles from positive psychology to form simple exercises that can be done in just a few minutes, often anywhere
How does it differ from other practices such as meditation or visualisation?
Meditation and visualisation are mind-based practices and usually involve sitting still, maybe in silence, for periods of time. When it’s our minds that are the problem in the first place – jumping all over the place, chasing one distraction after another, leaping from a worry about this to a doubt about that. When intense emotions or thoughts of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if only’s’, hijack our best intentions, then using that same mind to try to get back on track can be a pretty hard place to start.
This was my own experience. I found focusing on my breathing uncomfortable and an image alone was not strong enough to hold my attention – and in no time at all, my mind was dashing all over the place again. For sure we have to use repetition to build the concentration muscle but there are easier ways to start. And that starting point I discovered was the physical body
Sophrology involves the body, it’s more active, dynamic. Our practices do include mental imagery and awareness exercises but it’s much more than that. We also use breathing exercises and gentle movements, starting with these to re-establish a strong connection with the body before we get back to the infinite power of the mind
It’s really helpful to have a couple of ‘pocket exercises’ to use in the moment, when you’re having a difficult interaction with a customer, say, or needing to speak in a high stakes meeting . You can’t press pause and plug into an app for a few minutes and then carry on later. Sophrology is very adaptable so people are encouraged to experiment to find the techniques that work best for them that they can go on to use on their own whenever and wherever they are
And why is it only now becoming popular in places like the UK?
Good question! Maybe over here we’re a bit more naturally suspicious of ‘ologies’ and alternative approaches? Sophrology started life in the medical world and initially set out to be a field of study like psychology. Because of its subsequent success in areas such as sports performance, sophrology became more widely practiced in Europe, mainly French-speaking countries over the past 60 years where it is still very popular today in hospitals, schools, sports teams and businesses
Now in the English-speaking world, mindfulness is mainstream, CEOs are meditating, and neuroscience is showing more of why these practices are so beneficial. There’s a huge growing interest, and whilst meditation and mindfulness isn’t for everyone, so there’s a new openness to the territory of mind-body practices
Cue sophrology – despite its mouthful of a name, it is quick and simple to learn, Sophrology is ‘on tap’ to use whenever needed, and only takes a few minutes to practice. The method is increasingly gaining a reputation as an effective tool for mitigating issues such as work-stress, burnout, and anxiety
One of the things people often say is – it’s something I can DO, to create a shift when I need it. I feel like I have more control of my life back.
If I wanted to try sophrology out for myself, where is the best place to start?
There are various practices you can find online. Here’s a session explained and guided by Audrey Zannese, Sophrologist and Director of Education at the Sophrology Academy (in her lovely French accent 😊).
Listen to Sophrologist Alice Bull talking with Jonny Wilkinson about sophrology and the pressures and demands of peak performance
Or you can join an online group session. There a few options on our website here, one of them is free
If you want to take it further you can work 1-to-1 with a sophrologist on a particular goal, similar to coaching
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