"It is true that the future of one of the ‘flagships of the French industry’ is at stake. As the long economic crisis in France continues, the takeover of a nerve centre of Alstom by a foreign group will weaken the already low morale of the French even more."

Of course, I wish every of you, a GREAT YEAR 2014, with joy, hope, and abundance so as a comfortable fireplace to sit in front, wherever you are, in France or Switzerland !
May I introduce this time my Swiss American colleague,Clark Elliott, a bright and nice consultant – both are not so easy to find together - in his field, i.e Workplace Strategies ?

This month, I have decided to give a place to Elizabeth Landwerlin, whose talent and experience in the speech techniques has been recently tested by myself, as I have to present my professional coching activities to a Swiss audience in Geneva. 

The Christmas season does not always bring joy: some people fret about the presents to buy – how can I please my mother-in-law?-, others dread the family meals – if only my great uncle could spare us his corny jokes! etc..

I hope you are welcoming spring as best you can; it is the sign of energy renewal. In our country, as in others (Senegal or Mynamar for example), it also means election time. 

This month, I would particularily like to attract your attention to the subject of stress at work and the ways to fight it. To do so, I have chosen a book called ‘Stress’ by Jean Benjamin Stora, a renowned psychosomatician and teacher at the Medical School of the Hôpital Salpétrière, published by PUF, in the ‘Que sais-je?’ collection.

Today, we will talk about memory, namely the memory you need to practise the respiratory self- relaxation that many of you know about. For those who don’t, all you need to do is visit my website, ‘www.selfarmonia.com’, under the eponymous chapter. To study this complex subject, I have chosen the remarkable, accessible book, ‘All about Memory’ by Bernard Croisille, the neurologist, published by Odile Jacob.

I do hope you had relaxing holidays, full of rich encounters and pleasant experiences. Now the summer is over, I would like to invite you to think about our relationship with the passing of time, thanks to Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber’s book, called ‘Too fast! Why are we prisoners of the short-term?’, published by Albin Michel.

Some of you have already successfully tried my method of respiratory self-relaxation. In the second part of the session, during the positive visua lisation phase, I guide each person towards his or her secret garden. Then I invite them to head towards a specific tree that they are spontaneously drawn to. Today, therefore, I would like to speak about the symbolism of trees that goes far back into the ages. Here is the subtle meaning of some of our faithful, silent life- companions: