For fellow mums
Learn practical ways to use coaching tools and wellbeing techniques to support your teen (and yourself…).
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Key topics to help you support your teen’s wellbeing and performance
Sophrology: helping teens feel calm, focused and confident
What is Sophrology? And why is it reimbursed by the Swiss private health insurance companies? And how is it that teenage boys are loving it?
These are the three questions that I asked myself when I moved to the Swiss Alps twelve years ago to work as a Housemistress in a boarding house for boys aged 13-18 years. I had never heard of Sophrology before and yet the word kept popping up in conversation – especially from boys in our House - many of whom struggled with organisation, focus and motivation; yet these same boys would consistently be up early so that they could attend their weekly Sophrology session before school.
Help your teen to sleep better
You don’t realise how essential it is until you have to go without it. What normally tastes good, is suddenly bland and inedible and a day in which you would normally function well and be on good form, becomes long, arduous and it feels as if you are nursing a hangover and struggling to perform the most basic of tasks.
So, if you have ever found yourself feeling tired, exhausted and with a brain aching from having to focus and realising that you’ve just poured orange juice onto your bowl of cereal rather than milk, it may well be that you’re struggling from sleep deprivation.
Many clients come to see me and cite low energy levels and poor sleep quality as a factor for wanting to see change in their lives. In the UK, statistics from Aviva show that as many as 1 in 3 adults suffer from insomnia at some stage in their lives. The basic symptoms are:
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Trouble staying asleep — waking often throughout the night
- Waking very early in the morning
- Waking feeling tired and unrefreshed by sleep
For one or more of these symptoms to happen is normal, but when they are present more frequently and consistently, then insomnia sleep disorder may be an issue.
Using coaching tools to help your teen handle pressure
It’s vital not to underestimate the impact of stress on your child, nor the positive influence you can have. I’ve witnessed moments when stress became overwhelming—children shaking in exam halls, unable to think or write, experiencing panic attacks, or enduring 24 hours of stress-induced hiccups from work pressure.