Feldenkrais for infants

By | February 26, 2010

I had been worried somewhat about nisarga not being particularly interested in rolling over, reaching for toys, or anything physical. I wasn’t really worried, since he was happy, but I used to get these bouts when his massage woman put those worry trips on me. “Oh, he isn’t taking wieght on his legs, ask the doctor” “He isn’t rolling, trying to sit, ask the doctor” and so on.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t, he doesn’t. He can suck his thumb, so he can bring his hands up, he chooses not to. Same with reaching for toys, or turning to his side. He turned from his front to his back around four months, and then nothing. Not once. That’s fine with me as long as its the two of us, but when I am with people who seem to “KNOW” how babies should be, their excessive advice and voices of doom can get me worried. What if I have missed some problem just because he looks happy and my instinct says he’s fine?

In my search to see ways I could help him do these things, I ran into the Feldenkrais method. It clicked, because of its sensitive, non-invasive, non-manipulative, non-correcting approach. More than that, it seemed very similar to what I used to do with my horses to encourage their health and recovery from any physical problems. I knew that worked. Why wouldn’t it work for babies too? I went over to YouTube and downloaded as many videos as  I could.

I contacted one of the practitioners who seemed to have done a lot of work with children, and asked for his assistance.

His suggestion was so simple. Love and touch the guy a lot, and then touching him in a certain way – a kind f touch, not touch, touch, not touch pattern, all over his body.

Been doing this for a couple of days, and the results are near miraculous.

Little guy is much more active. Its like he’s discovering his body really fast. He’s started using his hands much more, trying to catch his feet, and what not. Its incredible.

Will write more details later, but yes, if you know anyone with a child with physical problems, do tell them to try the Feldenkrais method rather than physical therapy and other potentially uncomfortable or invasive methods. If you are in India, contact me, and we can see what we can do together. I am not a teacher ,but hey, I’m a great student, and I can help you learn with what resources we have available here.

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