Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Sophrology
Summary
Sophrology is a dynamic relaxation method developed by neuropsychiatrist Alfonso Caycedo from 1960 to 2001 and includes physical and mental exercises to promote health and well-being. Sophrology has been called “a method, a practice and a philosophy” that uses the mind-body connection to increase awareness and conscious living, with the aim of enabling individuals to create more balance and harmony in themselves and in the world around them.
The influences on Sophrology include phenomenology, hypnosis, yoga, Tibetan Buddhism meditation, Japanese Zen meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, psychology, neurology, and the method created contains a set of exercises that combine breathing and relaxation techniques, gentle movement, creative visualization, meditation, and mindfulness.
It claims beneficial uses in a number of areas ranging from self-development to well-being. As of 2023, there are limited published studies that scientifically validate beneficial effects, quantitative or qualitative, of the Sophrology method.
The practice is popular in parts of Europe. In Switzerland and France it is offered to students in schools and at least one insurance company offers reimbursement under their most expensive plan.
Since 2007, leading French cancer center Institute Curie has offered patients in the Outpatient Medical Oncology unit the opportunity to attend individual sophrology sessions to "help cancer patients manage the distress caused by the disease and its treatment, including anxiety, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, and body-image disruptions."
The word Sophrology comes from three Ancient Greek words σῶς / sos ("harmony"), φρήν / phren ("mind"), and -λογία / logos ("study, science") and means “the study of the consciousness in harmony” or “the science of the harmony of consciousness”.
Professor Alfonso Caycedo (1932–2017) a neuropsychiatrist (doctor, psychiatrist, and neurologist) of Spanish Basque origin was born in Bogota, Colombia, in 1932 and studied medicine in Spain.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.