I have been conspicuous in my absence on this blog for rather a long time. I have had rather a lot going on in my life, some medical issues, partial unemployment and a complete redoing of my home, to mention but three.

And I have not always been putting my money where my mouth is. I have not always been practising Sophrology as  I should have been.

And paradoxically this has led me to believe even more in the strength of  Sophrology.

Why?

Well, when I am practising I am  happier, more contented, and my life is generally in a better place. I also tend to be in better control of my weight, and health.

So it is very simple, really isn't it, time to get back to practice, and that is what I am doing, not going to do, but doing, and coming back to the blog is part of that.

Oh, and actually doing some sophrology too............which I am doing as soon as I post this!

Patience

"Be patient with yourself. Self growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no greater investment" Steven Covey.

I read this today, and it resonated on so many different levels.

Be patient with yourself. Hmmmm. How many people can honestly say that they are patient with themselves. I for one cannot.......yet!

Students who become teachers

The above is a bit of an oxymoron at first sight,

yet, in fact, it is usually quite logical.

Before becoming teachers

most were first students

There is a problem as I see it, with many teachers, and I have to say this is true in France; most teachers teach a subject that they are good at.

So why is that a problem?

Well it make them less likely to understand why their student may be having a problems with something that for them is as clear as crystal

I consider that fact the learning French, i.e. a foreign language, was my worst subject at school helps me to be a better teacher of English as a foreign language. I know the problems that my students, be they students or adult learners might be suffering from, because I had those difficulties too.

Which takes me to sophrology.

Well, if the worst students make the best teachers, I am going to be wonderful! it is taking me along time to truly accept some things, and I am learning the hard way that the only way for it to work is to do it!

So, the stress management is doing along not too badly.

And now to put my money where my mouth is, and out in the open....

Next objective

Weight management

I may not be quite at the start, however, not yet at the current, although definitely hoping for the goal.

Once I have achieved this, and I shall, then I can pass that hard won knowledge onto others....hopefully!

Empynestitis

Today I was writing on my daily practice, putting it down on paper, so that I could record it and listen to it in the morning. And it brought home to me, to the point of tears, my fears for the future.

In sophrology,we do not use simple visualization, it is more than visualization….it is a sophro perception using all our senses…..in other words, we do not imagine it, we really live it! We feel the heat from the sun, the cold of the snow; we smell the perfume from the rose; we hear the sounds of the waves; we taste the first strawberry, we see the beauty of the sunset.

As in the passage above, I have been avoiding my fears, putting them to the back, pretending that as they have not yet come to pass, I can ignore them for the moment.
But I can’t.

Very shortly I shall be living on my own; my four children will be in four different countries and my partner and I have a long distance relationship. I shall be coming home to an empty house, and leaving one in the morning. All contact will be by phone or skype. Yes, that is a lot better than nothing, and it is not as if I don’t have people in the world who love me. But it is scary all the same; more than scary. So now I need to face my fears.

I even had a “methinks he doth protest too much” moment during the holidays, when I was explaining to a friend, why I could not go and live with my partner (we have very different characters, are both very independent, different styles of life…..blah blah blah)

So, having had the tears, nox it is the time to work on the positive, to enjoy…..and that brings a sinking feeling to my stomach!

A lot of work to be done.

I’ll let you know how it goes

Bonheur vitale

Last weekend I spent in Sitges, near Barcelona for the first International Symposium of Caycedian Sophrology, and the 50th anniversary of its birth. And what a weekend it was!

Natalia, as always, and maybe even more than usual, was the very personification of "bonheur vitale". This is a phrase that I have been having a problem translating, to get the correct meaning. Vital Happiness,it just doesn't have the same ring, especially as "vitale" doesn't just mean vital, it also has the idea of life itself....

One possibility is "The Force of Happiness"

And in many ways that sums up Sophrology, the force of happiness.

Another is Essential Happiness.....

The jury is still out!

So my weekend, full of many many highlights.

On a practical level, I shall be involved in the translation of the new site. That is very exciting for me.

However, there was another highlight. As I am hard of hearing, I sit near the front, so that I can lip read. This time I was beside two visually impaired ladies, one of whom, I spent a lot of time with. I became aware of the difficulties for the visually impaired when speakers depended on powerpoints, and demonstrations and I ended up at times describing what was happening on the stage, or reading the slide. I was reminded of when my very hard of hearing sister taught at a blind school, and of the pupils remarked "We see with our ears, you hear with your eyes"

This was even more true the following day. We had a walk of the tridimensionality of the being, that is the past, present and future, with an emphasis on love. These walks are wonderful, we look at things as if it were for the first time. I feel a closeness with nature that is awesome. My neighbour asked to walk with me. She has not always been blind, and colour is still very important to her. As we walked, I described what I could see; as we left the hotel, whe asked if the sky were blue. I remplied that it was, but that there were some clouds; she particulalry liked the desciption of the clouds as being candy floss! Another lady spoke to us, as we went towards the beach.



She remarked on the complicity between us, and I could see that she asumed that we had know each other for a long time. We explained that we had only just met. That was such a lovely thing, that we were seen as being so close.

I learnt a lot as I was desribing what I saw, I really did look at things as if for the first time, with the positive aspect always being first. It is somthing I am trying to keep on doing, looking for the positive in whatever I am doing. Not always easy, but worth the effort.

One thing I did not descibe in detail were the three nude men sunbathing....the other lady did however make the following observation "It's brings a whole new meaning to tridimensionality!"

Where I am now

Well, sophrology has been a big bit of my recent life. I have finished the training in Andorra, and am now a Speacialised Masters in Caycedian Sophrology. And I am am my own best advert as fas as stress managment goes.

Just before I came to the end of my formal training, I had a powerful example of just how important sophrology was in my life, and just how far I had integrated it, at least on certain levels. The school where I had worked for almost 14 years was threatened with closure. It was not an easy time, the school was small, and we were close. Our principal financier, and the entity which had originally founded us, decided to withdraw all funding. Moreover, even though they were setting up another school, they refused to employ any of us. This latest had followed a series of events, meetings, etc, where we were told that we would know within a fortnight etc etc etc. To everyone’s surprise, not least my own, I was calm, serene; I shared practices with certain colleagues, those who seemed to have the hardest time dealing with the situation; I shared the serenity prayer with all my colleagues; and I tried to put it into practice.

Since then we have had the redunancy notices, my job is safe,at least until the end of the academic year. However, my nightmare scenario has come to pass, and my immediate boss is leaving, along with nearly half of the permanent members of staff.

The next few months are going to be trying for me, the atmosphere is not likely to be great etc etc etc. However, a friend send me this quote today "some of the most terrible things in my life, never even happened", Mark Twain... Add to that the book I have just finished, Man's Search for Meaning by Voctor Frankl, one that is well worth reading, and holds a real meaning for me.

So where I am now? Well, in a time of change, trying to use the tools at my dispositions, and working on several projects of my own, preparing myself for the next stage in my professional life.

And I've decided on this for my website, etc https://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/a/alchemilla_mollis_select.htm
now I need to take a decent photo of it!

L and M

I am loyal and loved and likeable and loquacious

and I admit, I do sometimes lallygag


Whilst I am never going to be long limbed and leggy

I am going to be laughing and lovely and a Little Loopy and Lively and Light and Luxurious and Lucky and Lean

though not the engineering we teach at school.

As for M, well I am motherly

I am going to be Merry and Modest and Muddy and Majestic and Motivating and Mild and above all Mindful

of all that I eat

when I am sitting

When I am moving

And that is the other major M

MOVING!

I am moving!