The power of you
Pamela Boutin Bird - Sophrologist
The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be silent and listen.
Rumi
Become the driving force for change in your personal or professional life
Find balance, harmony and calm
Increase your energy levels and vitality
Reduce stress and anxiety
Enhance your performance and focus (exams, presentations, events....)
Boost your confidence and self-esteem.
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are,
far more than our abilities."
J.K Rowling. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Pamela and I'm a sophrologist.
I moved to France from my native Ireland over 20 years ago and I share my life today with my extraordinary French husband and our three beautiful children. My life has had its share of trials and tribulations as well as moments of great joy.
My professional career has spanned the legal, educational and business sectors as a lawyer, teacher and entrepreneur. I have been lucky to have a varied and enriching professional life and to know the immense personal joy of living with two languages and two cultures. The human element is what links my various professions and my motivation to listen to the unique problems of my clients and together to find solutions for their personal situation.
Today as a sophrologist I accompany people on their journey to make positive change in their lives. I help them to reconnect with their body, their mind, their inner resources and potential, to find calm, balance and focus.
Personal growth, gratitude, a sense of humour and my desire to understand the human condition have been my guiding principles and are at the core of what motivates my practice as a sophrologist.
WHY SOPHROLOGY ?
The power of listening
I spent many years working in highly demanding work environments, juggling my professional life and my role as a wife and a mum. Like many of you I have experienced first-hand the negative effects of extreme stress, exhaustion and diminishing levels of self-confidence. After the birth of my third child I called ‘time out’ : I knew in my heart there had to be a better way and therein started my journey with Sophrology.
Sophrology helped me to reconnect with my body, my sense of self, my values and my natural strengths and resources. In short, I started to listen to me. The regular practice of Sophrology has helped me become calmer, more focused, kinder towards myself and others. It has empowered me to become the driving force in my life and in my own well-being.
Having started my journey to becoming a more empowered self, the decision to train as a Sophrologist was a very natural one, and was motivated by my desire to share the power of Sophrology with others and to help them on their journey.
Today I offer individual and group Sophrology sessions in both French and English to private clients and groups as well as group sessions and workshops in companies.
MY TRAINING
I studied at the Institut de Formation à la Sophrologie in Paris where I obtained my professional Certification RNCP (Répertoire National de la Certification Professionnelle). I am a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Sophrologie and I abide by their Code of Conduct and Ethics.
TAKE TIME OUT TO TUNE INTO YOU
WHAT IS SOPHROLOGY ?
The study of consciousness in harmony
Sophrology is a therapy and personal development technique.
Developed in the 1960s by Professor Alfonso Caycedo, a Brazilian neuro-psychiatrist, as a gentle but effective form of therapy for his patients, Sophrology offers a unique blend of Eastern philosophy and practices (yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Japanese Zen...) and Western science and techniques (phenomenology, autogenic training, hypnosis, auto-suggestion... ). The word Sophrology comes from the Greek sos (harmony), phren (consciousness) and logos (study) and means quite simply the study of consciousness in harmony.
This mind and body therapy and personal development technique consists of simple physical and mental exercises used to promote well-being, create balance, stimulate positivity, increase self-awareness, develop your potential and initiate change.
The exercises are based on breathing and relaxation techniques, and mental stimulation and use controlled breathing, muscle relaxation and positive visualisation.
The exercises help you to reach a state of relaxation, known as the sophroliminal state, a state in which the body is relaxed and the mind is alert. In this heightened state of awareness you are better able to access your inner resources and achieve a more lasting state of calm, balance, focus and well-being and make positive changes in your life.
WHO IS SOPHROLOGY FOR ?
Sophrology can be practised by people of all age groups (adults, seniors, teenagers and children from 4 years old upwards) and can be adapted to suit all abilities. Practised in one-to-one or group sessions it can be readily adapted to the specific needs of the individual or the group. My role as a sophrologist is to accompany each person towards an autonomous management of their personal well-being and potential.
HOW CAN SOPHROLOGY HELP YOU ?
Are you stressed? Are you going through a difficult moment in your professional or private life? Would you like to be able to better deal with changes in your life? Do you have low self-confidence or self-esteem? Do you lack the confidence or energy to achieve your goals? Are you suffering from pain? Are you tired all of the time? Are you looking to boost your performance?
Sophrology can help you!
Manage your stress
Learn how to manage your emotions, to release your physical, mental and emotional tension and find your inner calm.
Improve your everyday life
Learn how to find a quality, restorative sleep. Learn how to manage your emotions and deal with the changes in your life with calm and serenity. Find a more lasting state of personal well-being and a healthy life balance.
Develop your confidence
Develop your self-awareness, stimulate you positivity and grow in confidence. Learn how to listen to you.
Optimise your potential
Learn how to stimulate your natural skills and creativity. Develop your inner strength and follow your internal compass.
Mental Preparation
Stimulate your motivation, your concentration, your memory and optimise your chances for success when preparing for an important event (presentations, exams, a job interview, ...).
Increase your health
Learn to listen to your body's signals, enhance your breathing, boost your metabolism and reinforce your natural bodily functions. Learn to manage pain. Learn to manage your phobias and addictions.
Childbirth
Prenatal sophrology helps you prapare physically, mentally and emotionally for labour and childbirth . Postnatal sophrology accompanies you in the period of adjustment to motherhood.
5 KEY CONCEPTS OF SOPHROLOGY
- 1
Body awareness
Through simple exercises you learn how to observe and listen to your body
2Positive Action
By focusing attention on your positive thoughts, actions and feelings you create a positive chain reaction thereby strengthening and reinforcing the positive within you.
3Objective Reality
By learning to look at people, things and situations and accepting them for what they are, without judgement.
4Adaptability
The Sophrologist must adapt his or her practice (exercises, rhythm, intensity, intention) to the physical, emotional and psychological needs of his or her client or group of clients.
5Repetition
The more you repeat an experience the more real and lasting it becomes. Simply put, the more regularly you practice your Sophrology exercises the more benefits you will see and the more lasting the positive effects of change will become.
PRICES
Individuals
Adults one to one sessions
1h : 60€
4h : 220€
Children and students one to one sessions
45 min : 50€
3 sessions : 135€
* I offer sessions in both French and English at my practice in Asnières sur Seine.
Groups & Corporate
Please contact me to discuss your objective and obtain a quote.
* I offer individual and group sessions and themed workshops in both French and English. I organise workshops and sessions for companies in house at your place of work. I organise regular workshops in and around the Paris and Ile de France region.
- CORPORATE
NURTURE YOUR TALENT
Nurture your company's talent and provide the right environment and conditions for growth and development within your company. Creating positive work practices and encouraging the health and well-being of your staff has a positive effect on competitiveness and performance, decreases the level of absenteeism, helps combat stress related problems including burn-out and promotes a more productive work environment.
Physical, mental and emotional well-being are essential ingredients of a state happiness at work. Happy employees are two times less sick, six times less absent, nine times more loyal, 31% more productive, and 55% more creative according to studies carried out by Harvard Business School, London Business School and Henley Business School.
Promote a healthy, positive work environment
Alleviate work stress and help prevent burn-out
Increase focus, performance and creativity
Promote healthy communication
Reinforce team cohesion
Boost motivation and confidence levels
CREATE THE APPROPRIATE ENVIRONMENT
Sophrology provides a simple and accessible technique which can help your employees thrive and your business prosper. The method readily adapts to your employees needs and your company objectives. Sophrology can be introduced and practiced easily at work through individual and group sessions and workshops.
I organise themed workshops around identified objectives and challenges such as stress management, team cohesion, positive communication. I also offer mental preparation sessions to enhance skills, improve confidence, and stimulate the performance of individuals or groups preparing for presentations or major corporate events. I offer sessions in both French and English depending on the needs of my clients.
TESTIMONIALS
Patrick LG.
I was and still am so happy to have gone to individual sophrology sessions given by the charming Pamela Boutin.
The experience was both challenging and rewarding for me. I learned how to take time out for me and to concentrate on my breathing, which I tended to forget. The stress of life, health concerns and general life difficulties tended to interfere with my breathing which I felt was no longer natural and effective. I really needed to do something about it and my physiotherapist advised that I try sophrology and recommended Pamela, I really thank her for this. Pamela's approach is very simple and caring. I really felt secure and was able to start reconnecting with my body and my breathing. I say 'start' because as the sessions go by you can really see an improvement and the benefits of regular practice follow naturally. Before seeing Pamela I had heard of Sohrology but had never practiced it. I now think I have understood the principles of this method but I know that I can count on Pamela for more sessions if I need them. I took weekly sessions with Pamela at her practice at her home. This weekly rhythm suited me very well as I could remain concentrated and focused on my objective.
Pamela sent me a recap of the exercises by email at the end of each session, they are easy to practice at home and I could see the physical and psychological difference they made. I would highly recommend Pamela's sophrology sessions to anyone who wishes to realign themselves, to feel less scattered and to feel better in their mind and in their body.
June 2018
Sylvia C.A few years ago my first encounter with Sophrology was inconclusive, but thanks to Pamela, I rediscovered Sophrology and can now see the various benefits of this method. Pamela started with a presentation of the method before going over what I wanted to work on. This can be quite a painstaking exercise as I found it difficult to express my needs, put words on them, but Pamela is very diplomatic, patient and thoroughly professional. She never suggested words as the 'client' really needs to find his own. Once this was done (for me it was after the second session but next time I know I'll be quicker) we could start working on the objective I had set out. What I recall from the sessions was how stressed I was before as I had not done my homework and my feelings were a mix of shame and being useless and I often thought of giving up. But as soon as we got going, first with the physical exercises which calmed me down and created a positive mindset, then with the visualisation, I felt encouraged in continuing. Pamela was incredible, she was always smiling, gentle, understanding and helpful through the 10 sessions we had. I finally achieved the objective I had set myself and this would not have been possible with just any sophrologist. Pamela clearly has a gift, loves what she does on top of being a methodical professional. Sophrology is a great tool to learn how to control one's stress, to relax and the positive visualisation actually works! I was very lucky to have done all this with Pamela. I should mention that I'm a French native speaker and Pamela did the full 10 sessions in French which is no easy feat as the client can be distracted by the language (accent, idioms etc ...). Pamela's French is so good that this was never the case.July 2018The Roaming Schoolhouse
We asked Pamela to lead some sophrology sessions at our Day Camp for English-speaking children (aged 4 to 11) in Paris to help them harness their skills and inner resources and mentally prepare for a challenging day. Pamela adapted her sophrology programme perfectly to our larger groups, setting the children up for their morning sessions brilliantly. She engaged with each age group in an appropriate, friendly and professional manner. Her methods of communication helped the children let go on any negativity and created a space of calm in the morning. The teachers appreciated having more focused children after the sessions, especially for the older children who could use the sessions to fuel their creative writing. The younger children liked connecting with their inner super hero.
January 2019
Orna C.
Pamela is an excellent sophrologue and more. She empathises deeply with the patient - she has the ability to make you find the true cause of the problem and then lift you up in one session. Moreover, she has this natural ability to make you smile when the going gets very tough. In addition to her therapy, her big smile and humor in service of therapy is what I appreciated highly. I believe that this is what sets her apart from other practitioners I have seen. I highly recommend her!
June 2019
Gillian T.
Pam is very thorough. She asks some deep questions and is a good and empathic listener. I found the exercises very helpful in dealing with my stress levels.
September 2019
Participant at Société Générale La Défense well-being workshops.
This is the second time that I have had the pleasure of participating in these sophrologiy sessions. This morning I arrived at work with a ton of stress . I already know of the magical well-being benefits of Pamela's sophrology sessions but I had forgotten the level of serenity with which you are guaranteed to leave the session. This time was no deception: I even passed on some of the exercises to a friend who is taking her driving test today.
June 2019
Participant at Société Générale La Défense well-being workshops.
This mornings sophrology session was very interesting and restful. I learnt some techniques to help me relax and to manage my stress levels. I spoke to some other colleagues who would be interested in taking this type of workshop.
June 2019
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CONTACT
- Don't be afraid to get in touch.23 rue du Président Kruger, 92600 Asnières sur Seine+33 (0)6 80 00 41 91
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