POST-natal Classes for Infant Massage
Infant Massage Instruction Class - Post-natal Workshop Rundown:
Infant massage techniques are generally taught over five, weekly, one hour sessions. This helps keep the volume of new information at a comfortable level for the novice massage-giver; allows time for hands-on, home-based practice; and, most importantly, allows for gentle integration of the new techniques into the infant’s world. This helps prevent overstimulating bub with too many new sensations or triggering too many bodily responses for them to comfortably deal with at once. As all babies respond differently to massage, coming back to debrief and modify techniques as needed while you build up to a full body routine can be extremely beneficial.
In each session we cover a new area of the body, recap the previous techniques, and work through any concerns or difficulties that may have been experienced during the week’s practice. This practice time also allows you to better identify any areas of bub’s body that he or she may not enjoy having massaged, so that we may isolate and modify the approach/exclude that area without impacting negatively on an otherwise positive experience.
Because we are working with children, I need to stress the importance of the foundation from which we teach: that of ‘healthy touch’. Instilling self-awareness and self-respect from a young age - that your child has the right to communicate ‘no’ to any touch he or she does not want (babies communicate this through non-verbal cues that we look at in the first session).
Although most babies adore being massaged, communicating ‘no’ may occur at times for various reasons and in differing situations – particularly when they are already overstimulated. A prime example of an overstimulating situation is a room full of other Mums & Bubs – when there’s just too much going on to contentedly lie back and enjoy.
To accommodate this, I bring life-like demonstration dolls to each session so that bub can happily watch and absorb the activity while you practice on the techniques on the doll. You can then try out your new skills in the quiet, calm environment of your home at a time that the two of you can relax and enjoy the experience without external distractions.
These workshops teach life-long stills, empowering parents and care givers to proactively support healthy development and growth. Infant massage has been proven to aid healthy weight gain and immune function; ease teething and digestive distress such as colic; improve bonding, communication and sleep patterns; support healthy development of the myelin sheath (nerve fibre casing), plus much, much more!
For further research, please visit http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/
Infant massage techniques are generally taught over five, weekly, one hour sessions. This helps keep the volume of new information at a comfortable level for the novice massage-giver; allows time for hands-on, home-based practice; and, most importantly, allows for gentle integration of the new techniques into the infant’s world. This helps prevent overstimulating bub with too many new sensations or triggering too many bodily responses for them to comfortably deal with at once. As all babies respond differently to massage, coming back to debrief and modify techniques as needed while you build up to a full body routine can be extremely beneficial.
In each session we cover a new area of the body, recap the previous techniques, and work through any concerns or difficulties that may have been experienced during the week’s practice. This practice time also allows you to better identify any areas of bub’s body that he or she may not enjoy having massaged, so that we may isolate and modify the approach/exclude that area without impacting negatively on an otherwise positive experience.
Because we are working with children, I need to stress the importance of the foundation from which we teach: that of ‘healthy touch’. Instilling self-awareness and self-respect from a young age - that your child has the right to communicate ‘no’ to any touch he or she does not want (babies communicate this through non-verbal cues that we look at in the first session).
Although most babies adore being massaged, communicating ‘no’ may occur at times for various reasons and in differing situations – particularly when they are already overstimulated. A prime example of an overstimulating situation is a room full of other Mums & Bubs – when there’s just too much going on to contentedly lie back and enjoy.
To accommodate this, I bring life-like demonstration dolls to each session so that bub can happily watch and absorb the activity while you practice on the techniques on the doll. You can then try out your new skills in the quiet, calm environment of your home at a time that the two of you can relax and enjoy the experience without external distractions.
These workshops teach life-long stills, empowering parents and care givers to proactively support healthy development and growth. Infant massage has been proven to aid healthy weight gain and immune function; ease teething and digestive distress such as colic; improve bonding, communication and sleep patterns; support healthy development of the myelin sheath (nerve fibre casing), plus much, much more!
For further research, please visit http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/