Pariṇāma

Become who you are. Unleash your potential.

OUR MISSION

Like the farmer who opens the dike to let the water irrigate his crops...

Everything we are called to become, we already carry within us.
Pariṇāma means transformation — the unfolding of what is already present in us.

By learning to recognize, accept and cooperate with these potentialities, our unique qualities can flourish. In this way, our potential is unleashed and we can live the life that is truly ours.

In his Yoga Sutra-s, Patañjali compares this process to the peasant who opens the dam so that water can irrigate his crops again.
It is precisely this openness that we seek to support: to create the conditions that allow everyone to let what is already there emerge.

To accompany this path, we rely on several sciences and practices from the Vedic tradition: yoga, āyurveda, jyotiṣa — Vedic astrology — and Vedic chanting.

This thousand-year-old tradition is often referred to as sanātana dharma, which could be translated as eternal law. The dharma refers to the set of laws that sustain and organize the universe. Understanding these laws makes the journey through life much clearer and more fluid.

But these universal laws are also reflected in our own existence. Each one carries within him a svadharma, a singular orientation, a unique way of inhabiting the world.

What is the nature of my body and personality ?
What are my strengths and limitations?
In what activity can my qualities really flourish?
Which diet is best for me?
What yoga, breathing, or mantra practices can support my balance and development?

It is to discover these answers that we each accompany, thanks to the living tools of the Vedic tradition.

The team

The Faces of Pariṇāma

Two enthusiasts united by the love of thousand-year-old Indian traditions and the joy of passing on these precious teachings.

Sophia & Jens

United by a common vision

Pariṇāma is carried by Sophia and Jens, united by a common vision: to accompany each one towards his or her deep nature and his or her rightful place in life.

Their paths intersect between tradition, living practice and transmission.

They met in 1999 during the yoga teacher training in Paris, with Bernard Bouanchaud.

From this meeting and their deep connection was born Pariṇāma, as well as a shared path of accompaniment and transmission.

For more than twenty-five years, they have been in the spirit of Yoga Sutra IV.3: like the peasant who opens the dam so that water can naturally reach his crops, the richness of Vedic knowledge supports each person in the discovery of his or her own potential.

Sophia & Jens

United by a common vision

Pariṇāma is carried by Sophia and Jens, united by a common vision: to accompany each one towards his or her deep nature and his or her rightful place in life.

Their paths intersect between tradition, living practice and transmission.

They met in 1999 during the yoga teacher training in Paris, with Bernard Bouanchaud.

From this meeting and their deep connection was born Pariṇāma, as well as a shared path of accompaniment and transmission.

Sophia

Founder | Yoga | Vedic Chant | Āyurveda

For more than twenty-five years, Sophia has been accompanying people on a path of transformation through yoga, āyurveda and Vedic chanting, at the heart of a living, embodied and profoundly human approach. She shares with Jens the same vision and the same mission: to accompany everyone, individually and in groups, towards more accuracy, coherence and self-presence…. Read more

It was in Paris, while working in a cultural center (Maison pour Tous-M.J.C) in Montrouge, that Sophia discovered yoga during Sylvie Douliery’s classes. This first encounter was decisive: immediately touched by the depth and scope of the practice, she fully committed herself to it and would never leave it. From 1998 to 2002, Sophia trained as a yoga teacher with Bernard Bouanchaud, in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. She then teaches yoga on a regular basis, through weekly classes, workshops and retreats, developing an attentive, precise and deeply respectful pedagogy of the rhythm and uniqueness of each person. For more than twelve years, Sophia continued her path of continuing education by assisting Bernard Bouanchaud in yoga teacher training. This long period of assistantship is a real process of learning and maturation for her, allowing her to refine her understanding of yoga and to accompany, in turn, teachers in training. She extends this dynamic during the yoga therapy training, where she assists Natesan Chandrasekaran, in France and India, participating in the accompaniment of students and the integration of the therapeutic dimensions of yoga. In āyurveda, Sophia trained with Jens and the Kurush Kurmi, developing a fine understanding of this traditional medicine and its articulation with yoga and therapy. She is also a teacher of Vedic chanting, trained with Shantala Shriramaiah, and actively participates in the living transmission of the texts and vibration of Sanskrit. Within Pariṇāma, Sophia plays an essential role in supporting people, both pedagogically and relationally. Whether in class, in internship, in training or in individual support, she embodies an attentive, supportive presence that is deeply committed to the transformation process of each person. These students in Brugge appreciate her for her smile, her gentleness and her good humor. She pays attention to each of them, even if her course reaches young and old alike. Everyone finds their place and feels good in the group. For Sophia, harmony, kindness and the bond between the students are important.

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Jens Keygnaert

Founder | Trainer | Yoga | Vedic Chant | Āyurveda Vedic Astrology (Jyotiṣa)

Jens has been accompanying people on a path of transformation for more than twenty-five years, through yoga, āyurveda and Vedic chanting, disciplines to which jyotiṣa, Vedic astrology, has been added more recently.
His approach is rooted in Vedic traditions while being fully in line with the contemporary world: a thousand-year-old vision, alive and timeless, adapted to the current life context and the uniqueness of each student, in the spirit of viniyoga as transmitted by T.K.V. Desikachar.
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The son of a committed yoga teacher, he grew up from an early age in contact with yoga and complementary health approaches. This early immersion profoundly shaped her outlook and oriented her career.
Initially trained as a physiotherapist, Jens became involved in the study of yoga at a very early age. He trained in Paris with Bernard Bouanchaud, in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. In 2010, he joined his mother in the training of yoga teachers in Belgium, within a program recognized by the European Yoga Union, and from then on he was fully involved in the transmission.
With his partner Sophia, he then deepened this path with Bernard Bouanchaud as a training assistant, then continued this process jointly during the yoga therapy training, as an assistant to the Natesan Chandrasekaran, in France and India.
In āyurveda, Jens followed a complete training in Paris in connection with the Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, the same college as Vasant Lad and Robert Svoboda. Since then, he has maintained a close and continuous link with the Kurush Kurmi, his mentor and main teacher, who regularly intervenes in Europe for the continuing education of Pariṇāma practitioners and students.
At the same time, Jens studied Sanskrit at the University of Ghent.
He also devotes himself to the transmission of Vedic chant: encouraged in 2005 by T.K.V. Desikachar during a study stay in India, he then followed a specific training as a teacher of Vedic chant, notably with Shantala Shriramaiah.

In recent years, he has also been deepening his study of jyotiṣa with Katy Jane, an approach that sheds light on the life mission (svadharma) and highlights the imbalances — including diseases — that can arise when one moves away from it.
Whether in consultation, in class, in internship or training, Jens accompanies everyone in the spirit of Yoga Sutra IV.3:
Like the peasant who opens the dike so that water can naturally reach his crops, the richness of Vedic methods supports the emergence of what is already present in each person.
.

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