Be Chill Happy Confident Self

Performing and Approaching Life Calm and Confident

by Annette Ebbinghaus

I am a high energy person and have always lived my life at full tilt! I was a competitive track, middle distance and long distance runner in Canada up until the age of 28. It required great discipline as throughout this time I studied and worked as a Civil Engineer, building bridges and tunnels, and also completed a Masters of Engineering while working full time.

I moved to Switzerland in 1993 and have since moved continents 3 more times, twice with two young children. When I returned to Switzerland in 2005 it was a challenging time for me. I had some underlying health issues and being uprooted from my support network at this point in my life sort of unravelled me.

I knew it was time that I learn a form of contemplation or meditation outside of my prayer life and my long contemplative runs. Thus I began my Sophrology journey.

What is Sophrology

Sophrology is about discovering one’s consciousness in a state of peace. It is actually referred to as “Happiness Training”. The technique is a from of dynamic relaxation. It involves various movements with phases of standing and various seated positions, tuning into body sensations and awareness, and uses visualizations of positive experiences. Advance levels include sounds and deep contemplation of the origins of life and our human essence. I mastered Sophrology quickly as I am a visual person and am a person of motion and as a an athlete have a high level of body awareness.
While studying Sophrology I instantly felt my mindset shift to a level of acceptance and joy at where I was in life, in that moment. I wanted to bring this to the other people around me that I could see were also struggling with the upheavals of life.

beChill: Happiness training for the next generation

My true passion is working with young people as I have been mentoring adolescents most of my professional life. In 2008 I began working in schools in the Lac Leman region of Switzerland teaching adolescents how to manage both life and exam stress. Collège du Léman was where I began and I developed my own program with Sophrology as the foundation.
Over 10+ years of work has cumulated in my beChill Courses and Workshops that I teach in schools and publicly. As time has progressed I have worked with hundreds of adolescents in the region in group settings, one to one and in camp settings. In 2014 I was asked to teach at the only English speaking Sophrology school in the world, the Sophrology Academy, located in the UK. Here I teach future sophrologists the ins and outs of working with adolescents and am an active mentor to students.