photographist

"Research into sport and the body did not really exist when I was a PE teacher. I did the first PhD in sports sciences with a dissertation on modified states of consciousness, hypnosis, mind-body connections and everything that helps us to understand the mental processes in connection with the body. I then became a sports psychologist at INSEP (French National Institute for Sport and Physical Education) where I worked with the French national teams for the Olympic games. I stopped when I became a university professor. I also trained as an occupational psychologist to improve my understanding of stress-related problems and high-risk behaviour. This is what I am currently studying in my laboratory: issues related to emotional regulation, stress and performance, as well as risk issues. I am also the director of the doctoral school of sports sciences and motricity. This allows me to continue to supervise research projects that further broaden my interests.

I teach yoga to my colleagues, always with the same sense of unity of body and mind. There are some difficult sides to high-level sport, such as pushing one's body to its limits and causing it suffering. These are issues that I study in my field of research; I try to understand why athletes injure themselves, why they take drugs, why they have eating disorders or alcoholic behaviour, or why they experience difficulties at the end of their career. Their sporting environments and their personal injuries both allow me to find links between these various elements. As for aikido, which I have been practising for over 20 years, and which I teach at amateur level on a voluntary basis, it is something that I really enjoy because it is not competitive. It follows exactly the same principles as communication: know the mind of one's partner, put oneself in one's place, negotiate with respect and without psychologically crushing the other person."

Christine Le Scanff
Director of the Department of Sports Science (UFR STAPS) at Paris-Sud University

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