Just returned from a reunion of my father's side of the family.  A glorious hot summer's day in the Lake District, UK, starting with a boat ride on Lake Windermere and ending up with a delicious buffet supper in the garden of my cousin's house.  
We had spent many family holidays together when we were children but as the older generation had moved on we had not seen each other for 20 or 30 years.  The family tree was brought out along with photos of our ancestors and many discussions involved around old family stories and memories of the times we had spent together when we were young.

It is interesting how many different memories there are of the same holiday and how some people's memories fitted in or added to mine and with other's it was as if they were talking about a completely different holiday.  It is strange when somebody talks about a holiday and remembers parts that others don't remember at all but I notice it happens often and shows how differently we each see the world.  It is as if we each have our own spectacles that show the world differently to each of us.
  
If I was to tie this into sophrology it would be a level 3 exercise where we would go back in time to find our earliest memories of people we loved and who loved us.  We would search out moments in the past where we were happy and enjoying life.  Watering the happy moments and letting the memories of not so happy moments become weaker and less easy to remember.  In this way we build up and reinforce our foundations making our springboard for the future stronger and  building our self-confidence.

If I were to see the family gathering through the eyes of Reiki I would be looking at the energy vibrations, aware that each one of us has our own individual vibrational signature that plays into the family vibrational signature.  The day was harmonious, fun, enjoyable and so the orchestral music of our family group was also upbeat, healthy and supportive.  The co-ordinates of our personal energy signature are: Name, Date of birth, time of birth and place of birth. Nobody has ever had or ever will have the same co-ordinates as you.  In some cultures names are not mentioned as they are too sacred to be said out loud.
Energy healing modalities like reiki work by retuning the body vibrations so that each cell is vibrating in harmony.

Writing this I am reliving the happy memories of the day and looking forward to our next reunion.
Wishing you a happy summer
Dorna

I just arrived back from the Summer University of the International Sophrology Academy in Andorra. With lightening storms and driving rain, the long journey Geneva to Andorra wasn’t for the faint of heart, but as the conference started, the sun broke through the clouds and the smiles came out.

The Summer University is held every year in Andorra, where Dr Alphonso Caycedo, the founder of Sophrology now resides. Although he retired in 2010, his daughter Dr Natalia Caycedo now runs the Sofrocay Organisation. Over 260 professional Sophrologists attended the conference from all corners of Europe, and it was great to see so many friendly faces and hear the new developments in the field.

This year, Natalia and her team presented a course of 8 session with the theme Well Being and Sophrology.  As well as spending 2 beautiful days immersed in this de-stressing programme where the stress just melted out of my body, we also received all the literature, slide presentations and recordings of the exercises required for the programme.   

The aim is to gradually train the mind and body so that you build a resistance to stress and it becomes easier to cope with. For those already dealing with high stress levels, the mini exercises are a way to release the stress throughout the day so that it doesn’t accumulate.

Although it was suggested that we do these 8 sessions over 2 weeks with clients, it was amazing to do them all in 2 days. I hadn’t realized just how much stress I’d been carrying, having recently moved house, re-organized my business and done lots of travelling. The intense stress-release programme of 4 sessions per day was perfect for me and I came out feeling lighter and happier, the stress having vanished into the now blue skies.

I look forward to passing on the benefits of this training to my clients! I’ll be running a stress relief workshop over 8 weeks starting in the Autumn, as well as a stress-busting weekend retreat in the peace of surrounding Switzerland. Watch this space!

If you are impatient to start the de-stress programme there is also the possibility of doing it individually with Sophrology one-to-one.

Experience Sophrology for free by signing up to our Sophro Sunday Online. Once you register you’ll receive 10 free Sophrology sessions delivered on Sundays over a 10 week period.