How to calm children through massage/appropriate touch.
How do we help our children calm down when they are experiencing the effects of stress? Why would we even want to do this for our children?
Looking at what is happening to immigrant children, being separated from their “moms”, my heart experiences sadness. Knowing that without touch, loving touch, their brains form differently.Could we be setting up these children to experience ACE? (Adverse Child Experience) Research now shows leads to drug addiction, sexual promiscuity, violence.
Then our system blames them for those behaviors and punishes them! In looking at it from a wider perspective we can see that this system truly created the problem. I know it is hard for many to take responsibility for their part in the harm we do, unintentionally due to the fact we struggle with sitting back and looking at the impact 4 generations in the future.
Ashley Montague, wrote the book “Touching…the Human significance of the skin, years ago. It was one of the first books I had to read to enter the profession of massage therapist. It truly had the science behind why we need to “touch” and “be touched” for our existence.
With the children separated from their mom’s, even an energetic hold helps them to calm the nervous system. Touching their hands gently, or touching their hearts with our hand. This kind of touching when done with love, compassion and presence shifts the physiology.
There is now much research on the subject of touch/massage and healing:
The Beehive project: studied the effect of massage and it’s importance to children’s development.
A study of adolescent girls with eating disorders who were massage twice weekly for a five-week period had fewer depressive symptoms, lower anxiety levels , less distorted body image, lower cortisol levels.
A study conducted with children who were traumatized by Hurricane Andrew and displayed behavior problems in the classroom. They were massaged at school two times weekly for a month. A control group watched relaxing videos during their sessions. Results showed that the massaged children had less depression, lower anxiety levels and lower stress hormones and that their drawings had fewer depressive and disorganized features.
Massage therapy works by increasing vagal activity, slowing down the nervous system to a more alert, relaxed state in which people feel better, perform better, sleep better, focus better and less likely to get sick. It grounds us, brings us back into body awareness.
Isn’t this what we really want for them? Feeling better, more coherent, healthier and happier! Touch is a way in. Use a licensed /certified massage therapist.
