Lois Vitry Trapman, 9D Breathwork Facilitator
We have known Lois Vitry Trapman since 2019 when we wrote an article about Royal Bloom florist shop in Lausanne at this link. We got to know Lois better when The Fish Club opened in Geneva in 2021 (now closed) at this link. Following this talented, beautiful, humble, and personable lady has been an inspiration and we are delighted to let our readers know about her new venture, BloominBreath. She explained it to us below.
How did you get started in breathwork?
I have always cared about people, about wellbeing, about betterment. What we do with bretahwork can result in the same amount of work of years of psychotherapy... It has transformed me and I believe in it so much that I wanted to be able to teach others how they can transform their lives in a positive way.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
So far everything has been aligning in my life regarding this path. I feel drawn to it and it feels natural. Breathwork is not very well known but I think it is so important to your wellbeing that it should be taught in schools! It is something that needs to be explained as it is not very common yet.
What is the definition of Breathwork?
There is nothing like breathwork and its not just meditation or breathing calmly. Its breath WORK, I have been utilizing breath throughout my life. I started running with my father when I was 6 years old, and I practice apnea diving whenever possible.
I discovered "breathwork" itself in Bali during a life changing voyage, and i have decided to share this beautiful knowledge since.
In layman terms Wikipidia describes Breathwork as a term for various breathing practices in which the conscious control of breathing is said to influence a person's mental, emotional, or physical state, with a therapeutic effect.
The 9D method is one of a kind, mixing hypnosis bibaural beats voice coaching, and other methods to help you feel and deal with imprinted traumas and limiting beliefs in order to become a better you.
We were contacted by Erica Sluys, Founder of And You, a recently created company that offers online courses for postpartum women to take care of their body and get back to movement. The courses are taught a multidisciplinary, professional team in English. Erica explained all about And You here:
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
And You was founded in October 2023 and courses were launched in July 2024. As an American expat and medical writer, Erica was motivated to reach English-speaking women in Switzerland and in the US (where there is such a lack of postpartum support) with trustworthy information. Erica is passionate about making health-related information easy to understand. As the postpartum period can be overwhelming, hard to navigate and also very baby-focused, And You is solely focused on taking care of the mother, holistically. Our courses are self-paced and online so that they can fit into the real constraints of postpartum.
Have you been working on this idea forever?
This idea has been turning in my head for a few years now. I wasn't exactly sure of the how but I knew why and what was needed. I started putting paper to pen with the blog and talking to mothers and healthcare professionals to see what we could create. Once I found a motivated and multidisciplinary team of teachers we ironed out the core material the courses came to life.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Learning about building a company! My career has been spent in medical communication so I knew what I wanted to deliver and how, but building a website, design, contracts, business admin, marketing and growth are all new to me and still part of the learning process.
ESCA CancerSupport is undergoing a significant transformation and will now be known as Cancer Support Switzerland. This name change is more than just a rebranding; it signifies their commitment to expanding their services beyond the Lake Geneva region and reaching a broader audience across Switzerland.
Cancer Support Switzerland, a non-profit association, will continue its mission to provide free support in English to those affected by cancer. Expanding their services across the country comes from the growing number of individuals affected by cancer. With increased life expectancy and a diverse population, our goal is to ensure that no one, regardless of nationality or language, feels alone during such a challenging time.
We caught up with Alana Dunsmore, Communications and Awareness Manager at Cancer Support Switzerland. She told us, "We believe that our new name better reflects our mission and the inclusive nature of our services. Expanding our services allow us to offer emotional support, practical assistance, and well-being support to anyone directly or indirectly affected by cancer who prefers assistance in English. We have services and activities available in Geneva, Lausanne, Zürich and online, delivered by both professional Counsellor and trained volunteers.
UPDATE: During the pilot phase in 2023, 1’064 calls were received during the daily opening hours from 6 pm to 11 pm. The Dargebotene Hand is pleased that with Heart2Heart also people can be reached who do not speak a national language.
Compared to the German line, the callers to Heart2Heart are younger and more men. Mental illness is a topic in half of the conversations, often even serious ones. Suicide is a topic in every twelfth call.
Heart2Heart will continue in 2024 and can be reached daily from 6 pm to 11 pm on 0800 143 000. It remains important that English speaking persons in Switzerland are aware of this service. We would therefore be grateful if you could continue to draw attention to Heart2Heart. Flyers and posters can still be ordered. Check out some more statistics at this link.
The launch in 2023
Since January 2023, Heart2Heart launched an English-speaking hotline throughout Switzerland. This is a new branch of the emergency service for telephone number 143: La Main Tendue. Tel 143 is one of the best-known contact points for emotional first aid in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein and offers empathetic conversations with trained listeners. This service is free of charge, anonymous, and confidential.
Matthias Herren explained to knowitall.ch, "At Heart2Heart no topic is too big or small – we are here to listen to people's concerns, support them in a crisis, or share their good news. We are pleased to have trained English-language volunteers over the last year to be able to try out this new section. All the other 3 official Swiss languages are represented but we felt it necessary to reach out to those that are more comfortable speaking in English, especially in times of turmoil."
From January 2023, the new English line will be called "Heart2Heart", and can be reached daily from 6pm to 11pm through the toll free number 0800 143 000. Those needing to talk about depression, relationship issues, sadness, mental distress, pandemic worries, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, exciting news of any sort, or any other subject where they need have someone listen, are welcome to call the hotline.
Please pass this information along to your friends, colleagues, and neighbors as there are many people who do not know this service is available.
When we found about DaysAway Adventures special Snowshoe & Menopause Wellness Retreat, we caught up with Vivien to find out more. We wrote an article about Vivien and Jason Day a few years ago at this link.
What has changed in the last 2 years concerning Days Away Adventures?
We have grown, both personally and professionally and have not only built a solid and returning client base, we have formed personal relationships, bespoke experiences and discovered more of this beautiful area. We offer not just snowshoeing but snowshoeing with an experience such as yoga, lunch at a mountain restaurant, sunset snowshoe walks, birthday parties and corporate events. In the summer we offer hiking around the area, often joining up with partners such as a local artist to do Art in the Mountains and the local Farm - la Ferme du Caly to do an afternoon walk ending at the Alpage to see the cows being milked and have Apero with a selection of cheeses, meats and wine...! We have also partnered with Serac-montagne which means we can now offer packages such as multi-day retreats.
Why menopause?
Vivien has been going through the 'joyful' symptoms of peri-menopause herself over the past few years and has been feeling a bit lost about it all. Last winter, a neighbour, whom we hadn't met before contacted her to come on a snowshoe walk. Her email footer was 'Menopause Coach.' The conversation started there and developed over coffee. There are many women 'at that time of their lives' and we are all having both similar and wildly different symptoms. Many women on our snowshoe walks seem to be having the same conversations and so I asked some of them if they would like to attend some coaching sessions. The resounding answer was yes!
