Sophrology for seniors: when, why and how?

Aging well is an issue to which sophrology can respond. This practice is a method that allows everyone to feel better and live in a more peaceful way. Sophrology also concerns seniors who, thanks to it, better support the hassles of everyday life.

Why is sophrology aimed at seniors?

Retirement brings about a major upheaval in the daily lives of seniors. Even if it is sometimes eagerly awaited, this moment can nevertheless be experienced as a source of anxiety, even bereavement.

While a senior can sometimes feel neglected, perhaps even useless, sophrology can come to their aid. The method requires little effort and allows the consciousness to travel. Its aim is to restore a taste for life. By taking care of the management of stress, anxiety attacks, it helps the elderly subject to feel better in his head and in his body.

How does sophrology support seniors?

As they age, the elderly often see their senses diminish: sight, hearing, smell, taste. Touching it sometimes causes awkwardness. Sophrology is there to give seniors pleasure and find a smile in difficult times.

As surprising as it may seem, sophrology can help prevent falls, intervene in sleep disorders or accompany memory and motor disorders.

Particularly linked to old age, these problems can sometimes cause seniors to experience depression. This practice also makes it possible to feel better in the face of loneliness and boredom. By accompanying the elderly, sophrology attempts to remedy this.

Exercises suitable for the elderly

The sophrologist invites the person(s) to perform dynamic relaxation exercises. The goal is to gradually release bodily tension by working on the breath. This process is then followed by a phase of static relaxation during which the person closes their eyes to let themselves be guided by the voice of the sophrologist. The practitioner then leads her into a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping.

Discipline helps to strengthen the self-esteem and vitality of seniors who will have the opportunity to practice it, by significantly improving their quality of life.

Sessions for memory and aging

Stress is one of the main sources of interference with memory.

Sophrology offers our elders the possibility of exploring the past and remembering pleasant events.

When an elderly person puts pressure on themselves about their ability to memorize, they can unfortunately reduce all their efforts to nothing. The method helps to lower the pressure associated with this level of stress. In any case, in the case of a failed attempt at concentration, sophrology helps to sort things out so as to play down the drama.

Each session lasts approximately one hour. These can be offered individually or in groups. Sessions can take place once a week, fortnightly or once a month.

Interventions in nursing homes and retirement homes

At the time of retirement, sophrology makes it possible to strengthen the bodily, mental and emotional balance. It ensures a certain dynamism among seniors. The practice also helps to manage the transformation of people on a physical, psychological and emotional level.

Today, as in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, many nursing homes or retirement homes offer sophrology to their residents. These workshops, led by sophrologists, are adapted to the pace of the participants. They can be held collectively in a room in the establishment provided for group activities, or individually in the room of the elderly person.

Once seniors get into the game, they get a taste for it and quickly regain a certain appetite for life. Once seniors get into the game, they get a taste for it and quickly regain a certain appetite for life.