Developmental movement

Babies

Replaying his birth rotation

Birth 1

Baby Leo screamed when he was not on the breast, and often arched back.  He had experienced birth trauma when one shoulder was caught on the way out, and his head had to be pulled strongly to help bring him out. Although physically he was healthy, Leo was in continuous distress from the shock of the birth.

In session Leo replayed his birth and had the chance to do it over his way.  With gentle compression and guidance, Leo fully pushed his own way through containment.  Leo was in charge of how he  recreated his experience of birth through the whole session.

With this session Leo is now able to receive comfort and be calmed.  This is the beginning of a lifetime of his own ability to emotionally regulate himself. He can receive and seek comfort in times of challenge.  Leo can draw on his own inner resources to master the challenges that life presents to him.

 

Your baby naturally will do his developmental movement if he has the opportunity to fulfill them. These mastery activities integrate every aspect of your child’s growing mind and body. Developmental movements provide sensory integration, including for vision and hearing, as well as other essential neurological organization for good brain function. Some babies need more time or opportunities to fulfill their developmental activities.

  • In utero movements
  • Birth
  • Breastfeeding
  • Tummy time
  • Rolling
  • Coming in and out of sitting
  • Belly crawling
  • Four-legged crawling
  • Walking

Primary reflexes are small movements within these more complex movement patterns. (Complex for a baby!) Other reflexes organize the hands,  feet, mouth, eyes, ears, etc. Reflex micro-movements are developmental and organize body and mind in specific functions. For example, the developmental movements, including reflexes, orient and focus the eyes to see and the mind to sustain attention. Developmental movements are the child’s vehicle for natural sensory integration, developing the visual and auditory systems. Developmental movement therapy helps a child fulfill these normal, mastery activities.

Toddlers & PreSchoolers

As your child grows into toddlerhood and preschool years, he will recombine movements and reflexes into more complex patterns. As his movement becomes more complex, your child is more equipped to meet complexity in relationship and in the world. Developmental movements organize core, lower parts of your child’s brain for easy function of both body and mind.

School age children

By the age of 5 or 6, your child is ready to explore bigger worlds, so schools are intended to open these realms of learning. When your child has well developed the core organization of his brain through developmental movement, he is ready for reading, writing and arithmetic. His brain is ready to learn with a firm foundation in pre-academic skills of attention, balance and coordination.

  • A – attention
  • B – balance
  • C – coordination

 

 

Essential wellness for mother and child

Body-mind integration from the beginning