Valérie Champault Coaching & Consulting

“How to find the strength” was the title of the conference given by Charles Pépin last night at the Novum Theater, organised by Yoga Room. And it was exactly that: a great time—smart, inspiring, and full of humour and laughter, just how I like it. With references ranging from Keanu Reeves to Tony Robbins, Pascal and Christian Bobin, it managed to be both light and deep at the same time. ✨

What I took away from this evening is that strength doesn’t come from one single place. It seems to rest on three big pillars: our relationships with others, our connection to the world, and our capacity to act.

1. Strength through others (and through relationships)
He opened with a sentence that immediately resonated with me: one of the factors that hinders recovery is wanting to go through things alone. We are social animals, and trying to be “strong on our own” is often a mistake. As a coach, I obviously couldn’t agree more.

One striking idea he shared: resilience is 95% relational.

According to him, to be resilient, at least one of these conditions needs to be true:

• You were loved unconditionally before the trauma.
• You meet a “tutor of resilience” after the trauma.
• You manage to find the right narrative of what happened—one that makes the story bearable and livable.

A coach or a therapist can’t change the first one—but we can absolutely help with the other two: being there, offering presence and support, and helping someone put a different light on what they went through. Also reminding them that they are not only the drama that happened to them—they are much more than that.

2. Strength through our connection to the world
The second source of strength he talked about is the world itself. We all know it intuitively: a walk in nature helps, connection to nature helps—it puts things back into perspective. It explains why coaching in nature, walking sessions, and even (yes) tree-hugging have become so popular. 🌳

Another point I loved: too much willpower kills willpower. It made me think of top-level athletes: you train hard, and then you need recovery time so your body and mind can integrate and grow. Obvious, maybe—but so good to be reminded that letting go is not weakness, it’s part of progress.

It also resonates with the way I approach my own projects: I launch things, send them into the universe, and see what comes back—boomerang style. What comes back is information. Then I adjust. We move forward knowing that failure is possible—and accepting it. After all: “I either win or I learn.”

3. Strength through action
The third pillar is action. If you overthink and don’t act, anxiety goes up. Accept uncertainty—but go. Prepare yourself as much as possible (that way, there’s no regret whatever happens), but know that anything can happen. And paradoxically, the more prepared you are, the more able you are to improvise.

That’s actually something we learn as coaches and trainers: prepare your programme to the max, know your topic inside out… so that you can let go of the programme, meet the group where they really are, and adapt in real time.

I also loved his closing idea: when the world goes bad, you will find comfort in trying to repair it. Again: action. Movement. Contribution.

I walked out of this conference feeling that a lot of my own life philosophy had just been put into words—and feeling quietly reassured.

If you ever get the chance to go listen to Charles Pépin, go for it. You’ll think, you’ll smile, and you’ll probably leave with a bit more strength than you came in with. ✨