Sophrology: Europe's alternative to mindfulness

When I recently visited my friend Marie in Nantes, her 5-year-old daughter Daphne was about to start attending sophrology classes at school. Neither Marie nor I had been particularly familiar with sophrology (I had personally read an article in the Guardian, and that was pretty much all). So, we understandably struggled to explain it to Daphne.

Since my return to England, however, I have tried to learn more about sophrology. Amongst the resources I used were the books ‘The Life-Changing Power of Sophrology: A practical guide to reducing stress and living up to your full potential’ by the Swiss sophrologist Dominique Antiglio, and ‘The Sophrology Method: Simple mind-body techniques for a calmer, happier, healthier you’ by Florence Parot, a sophrologist from France.

Having gained a good understanding of sophrology, I would now like to share my new knowledge and insights. But, before I do so, I’d like to make it clear that I have neither been to a sophrology class nor taken part in a sophrology session (either online or face-to-face). My knowledge and insights are therefore based primarily on what I’ve read about sophrology, and secondarily on talking to Marie about Daphne’s sophrology experience.

So, what is sophrology?

The Sophrology Network defines sophrology as “the science of consciousness in harmony”, a definition based on the etymology of the word. According to Dominique Antiglio, a founding member of the Sophrology Network, “sophrology, a popular self-help method in continental Europe, uniquely combines Western science and Eastern wisdom to help you manage stress, sleep better and discover mindful living”. Florence Parot writes that “sophrology is a transformative healthcare philosophy that helps people to achieve a calm, alert mind in a relaxed body”. According to the Sophrology Center Online, sophrology is “a structured method created to produce optimal health and well-being. It consists of a series of easy-to-do physical and mental exercises that, when practiced regularly, lead to a healthy, relaxed body and a calm, alert mind”. I think that this last definition sums it up pretty well.

Overall, sophrology combines traditional Eastern practices (such as yoga and meditation) with modern-day stress-management techniques often used by clinical psychologists in the treatment of anxiety disorders (such as body scans, visualizations, breathing techniques and other relaxation exercises).

What are the benefits of sophrology?

As such, sophrology has been used as a tool to help people relax, especially those struggling with mental health difficulties, such as stress and anxiety. However, it is not limited to clinical populations (those who suffer from mental health problems). Other settings where sophrology has been introduced include education (like Daphne’s school, where pupils and students can learn the basics of relaxation to help them better cope with academic and other pressures), business (as a stress-management tool and to help prevent burn-out), and sports (to enhance athletic performance). As a matter of fact, sophrology is practiced by the French rugby team. In Switzerland, sophrology is often used as a treatment for sleep disorders, as well as to help people manage their anxiety before undergoing operations or giving birth (birth preparation).

The 12 levels of sophrology

Sophrology sessions/classes are structured around 12 steps or levels, which are known as the 12 degrees of Caycedo Dynamic Relaxation (CDR). According to a recent post by Tegan Hedley, “level one focuses on the concept of using the body as an anchor; combining simple movements and breathing techniques, it’s designed to make you feel more grounded, bringing your mind to the present moment rather than your thoughts, and in doing so, decrease anxiety and increase confidence”. Level one is inspired by yoga, whereas level two by meditation. Level two focuses more on the mind (rather than the body) and makes use of the technique of visualization. Inspired by Japanese Zen, level three brings the body and mind together. To get the benefits from sophrology, one does not have to go through all 12 levels; self-help sophrology books and face-to-face or online sessions tend to focus on the first levels.

However, one must practice these techniques on a regular (daily) basis. Repetition is key, Parot says.

Or, as the saying goes, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

The origins of sophrology

In 2017, Emma Ledger wrote the article “‘Learning to live’: why sophrology is the new mindfulness”. The title of the article may be rather misleading, for sophrology has been around for 60 years, whereas mindfulness has been ‘a thing’ for a bit less than that. In fact, it was in the late 1970s when the American professor Jon Kabat-Zinn adapted the Buddhist teachings on mindfulness to create a type of therapy known as ‘mindfulness-based stress reduction’ (MBSR). It was basically then when mindfulness was introduced to the West.

Both sophrology and mindfulness, however, have roots in Eastern religions dating back millennia.

Sophrology, on the other hand, was actually founded in the West (in Spain to be more precise). It was founded in 1960 by a doctor, the neuro-psychiatrist Alfonso Caycedo. Having studied Medicine at the University of Madrid, Colombian-born Caycedo later specialized in Psychiatry and Neurology, before becoming Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Barcelona.

In 1970, the First World Congress of Sophrology was held in Barcelona. Then, twenty years later, Caycedo founded Sofrocay, the International Caycedian Sophrology Academy. This is based in Andorra, a European micro-state located in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by Spain to the south and France to the north.

During its relatively short life, sophrology has spread from Spain to other European countries, notably France and Switzerland, and has fairly recently arrived in the UK too, which perhaps is why considering sophrology as the new mindfulness may not be entirely wrong.

Sophrology in London

The Sophrology Center Online and the Sophrology Network were both founded in 2011. The latter has now expanded from London, where it was originally founded, to other parts of the UK. They offer face-to-face and online sessions, both one-to-one and in groups, and also organize events such as workshops.

Sophrology sessions were due to take place at the Balance Festival in London in April 2020; however, the festival has now been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But, what about mindfulness and meditation?

Mindfulness

Derived from Buddhist traditions, mindfulness is a psychological process of bringing our attention to experiences occurring in the present moment. It has gained increasing popularity in the West since 1970, and has been extensively studied as a therapeutic intervention in the management of mental health difficulties. At the same time, it has often been heralded as a way to improve our mental wellbeing (even in the absence of mental disorder or mental health difficulties).

To better define mindfulness, I’m going to quote Dr Jane Hutton, Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Psychological Medicine at King’s College Hospital.

“Mindfulness can be defined as paying attention in a particular way in the present moment. It can be cultivated in every moment of our everyday lives – for example, walking down the street looking around us rather than looking down at our phones. It can also be cultivated through structured practices, for example, meditations on the breath and on the body. Our intention in practicing mindfulness is to cultivate an enhanced awareness of what’s going on in the present moment, and that’s both externally in the world around us but also internally: our thoughts, our emotions, our bodily sensations and how they can all affect one another. It is about cultivating awareness of things as they are right now, but it’s also making deliberate, conscious choices that can help us to change things where that’s possible and where that might be helpful”.

Meditation

Quite often the word ‘meditation’ is used alongside or even interchangeably with ‘mindfulness’. So, is meditation the same as mindfulness? Not quite. Mindfulness is a skill that can be practiced through meditation. It can also be practiced through other activities, such as mindful moving, walking or running, mindful coloring and drawing (a large number of mindful coloring books have recently become available, and they’re not just for kids), body scan, breathing exercises, and yoga.

So, how can mindfulness help?

As already mentioned, mindfulness strategies can be helpful to most of us and not only to those affected by mental (or even physical) illness. Mindfulness can help us become less reactive to stress, build resilience, cope better with health problems (including long-term physical illnesses) and reduce psychological distress. It can be practiced independently (via self-help books and online videos and apps, such as Headspace), but there are also many courses and structured programs available.

Mindfulness can help us:

become more self-aware
feel calmer and less stressed
feel more able to choose how to respond to our thoughts and feelings
cope with difficult or unhelpful thoughts
be kinder towards ourselves

Clinical trials have also shown that mindfulness can help reduce the experience of physical pain, and improve physical health. For example, it can improve cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure and the risk of hypertension.

Mindfulness-based therapies, such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), use mindfulness as the main therapeutic approach. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is another mindfulness-based therapy; it differs from CBT in that it teaches us to notice, accept and embrace distressing experiences (such as feelings or physical symptoms) rather than trying to change them. This does not mean resigning to these experiences, but acknowledging that they can be outside our control. ACT encourages us to rather change the way we perceive and view them. Essentially, a mindfulness approach can help us become less reactive to stress, build resilience, cope better with health problems (including long-term physical illnesses) and reduce psychological distress.

My personal reflections…

As a Psychiatrist myself, I would now like to offer my personal reflections on sophrology as well as mindfulness. Once again, I would like to stress that I have neither been to a sophrology class nor taken part in a sophrology session (either online or face-to-face), and that my knowledge and insights are mostly based on what I’ve read about it.

I have previously written about the concept of the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’. Dave Brailsford, the cycling coach and manager of Team Sky, explains the marginal gains as ‘the 1 percent margin for improvement in everything you do’. The doctrine of marginal gains is all about small incremental improvements in any process adding up to a significant improvement when they are all added together. Brailsford believed that if you improved every area related to cycling by just 1 percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. I believe that the same approach can also be used in key areas of our daily life, to maximize our wellbeing and contribute to a happier and healthier life.

In fact, as a Psychiatrist, I use the so-called ‘bio-psycho-social’ model or approach in the assessment and the management of the people that seek my help. Combining this ‘bio-psycho-social’ model with Brailsford’s concept, I have previously come up with some simple yet effective recommendations, which can maximize one’s wellbeing and contribute to a happier and healthier life. I have grouped these recommendations in 10 key areas (or pillars) of daily life:

Sleep
Nutrition
Physical activity/exercise (incl. yoga)
Relationships (incl. psychotherapy)
Reading well
Mindfulness/meditation
Positivity/gratitude
Routines/structure
Purpose
Pleasure

…on sophrology and mindfulness

Coming back to sophrology, it appears that it taps into some of these key areas, and, as such, it is in tune with my recommendations and my approach to mental wellbeing. Compared to mindfulness and meditation, it has a wider scope, at least as far as the techniques used as concerned. On the one hand, it incorporates psychology-informed stress-management techniques and skills. On the other hand, the focus is not just on the mind, but on the body as well. In fact, many of the techniques used are physical and involve movement. As such, it may be preferable to mindfulness or meditation, especially by those who struggle with concentration and staying still. Antiglio, quoting one of her clients, writes that “meditation is like opening a window a little, whereas sophrology is like opening the door wide”.

Having said that, sophrology is neither something drastically different nor ground-breaking, and its benefits are more or less the same ones as those of mindfulness. Some of these techniques are often part of my yoga practice even. In fact, sophrology appears to bridge the gap between yoga (a largely physical practice) with mindfulness and meditation (largely mental practices).

In conclusion, incorporating different techniques and skills that can all contribute to stress reduction and improved mental wellbeing, sophrology provides a toolbox to help people optimize their mental wellbeing and ultimately improve their daily lives.

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Sophrology: Europe’s alternative to mindfulness