Touch for Kids

children experience stress too

One of the many 'Hats' that I wear in my life is as a Qualified Massage Therapist. I have performed and given hundreds of massage treatments over the past twelve years. I am most passionate about giving nurturing touch to children, babies and pregnant women.

As adults, we all know that tension and stress manifests itself as knots and muscle soreness commonly in our shoulders and neck, with the odd headache attached. This is no different for children. Particularly in boys. Steve Biddulph writes in his book, Raising Boys, that male children from the ages of 8 to the teenage years often have shoulders that are "hard as rocks". 

I have found this to be the case on my 8 year old. He carries a heavy school bag, he climbs trees and gym equipment, he uses computers daily at school and concentrates hard on reading and writing and learning. It's no wonder his shoulders become so tense.

give your child the gift of touch

Over the years, as Junior Hoges has gotten older, he has become less inclined to just come and snuggle or cuddle with me. To counteract this, I have taken to giving Junior a regular weekly shoulder and neck massage of about fifteen minutes in duration. 

I ask Junior to sit on a chair, leaning into a cushion. He sits facing away from me, back to front on the chair. Using a medium firm pressure (I always ask what is comfortable for him first) I massage my way around the top of the shoulders, between the shoulder blades, at the base of the skull and the sides of the neck. For me, this a great way for us to bond and for me to express love. For Junior, he gets to receive the gift of touch, learn to relax and connect with mum.

This week, why don't you introduce the gift of touch with your kids and feel the connection.

Be Happy
Nicola 

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