The most essential engine of child development is through deep human connection.

What is the art of touch? Holding hands. Hugging a friend or love one. Holding a child close to you during a time of stress. Giving or receiving a massage from someone. I discovered the beauty of touch after receiving my first thai massage in Thailand while traveling the country in 2010. I wanted to learn more about this experience and the art of touch through Thai massage. I found a Thai Massage program in Chicago called Blue Lotus Thai Healing (https://bluelotusthai.com/). During the 6 month program, I grew a deeper understanding for the way the body holds emotions and how it releases these emotions and blockages through the art of touch. Through different movements, stretching, compression work, and letting go, I grew a deeper understanding of how we hold these emotions in our body.

While learning this new practice, I started to notice how we hold our emotions in the body. I started noticing where I held my emotions and how I could let go by doing certain movements, breathing through the belly, massage my hands and shoulders when I felt I was holding stress there, massaging my legs and feet when I felt heavy and needed some grounding. I was still teaching in an Early Years classroom environment while doing my Thai Massage study and became more aware of the emotions little children held in their bodies, especially in the early stages of schooling and the stress and separation that happens while transitioning from family community to school community at the beginnging. There is a huge trust factor that plays into these little momo’s minds and bodies. Can they physically trust this space (the space being the classroom)? Can they fully trust the me, the teacher and caregiver of them while they are away from their parents?

While teaching at an International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I had students from all over the world in my early years classroom who didn’t speak English and would struggle with the unknowns of the new environment they were entering. I had one student who’s family had just moved from China to give their daughters a more holistic approach to education. Her initial entry to the classroom was a challenge and she had a hard time letting go of her mother in the mornings. I could feel her struggle, I could sense her stress in her body when she finally felt comfortable enough for me to hold her while she cried. Her mother and I would hold her together until she felt comfortable enough to let go and enter the classroom. It took weeks for her to enter the classroom all by herself but what I reassured her mother was that we work together and allow the process of trust to build within her daughter of me and the new environment. She did finally enter the classroom all by herself and greet me every morning with a big hug. The art of touch and trust was built here by being patient and allowing her to process through her emotions both mentally and physically.

I had another experience at the same school, different child, who wasn’t comfortable eating during lunch time. I would ask her why and she couldn’t really give me an answer. I respected her wish and allowed her to go at her own pace, trusting her process. Allowing her the space she needed until she was comfortable, until she knew what she had to do. It took some time, and then one day I saw she was eating at lunch. Later that day I asked her what had changed, she told me, “My tummy told me I was shy and that it was hungry.” I praised her for recognizing what her body needed but that her mind was also maybe a little fearful of eating in front of new friends. She was shy of eating in front of her peers and recognized this but also knew she needed to feed her body. Trust the process and they will come to recognize what their needs and wants are.

When we can listen to our body and mind and hear what it might need or want, we can allow ourselves to heal, open up, and maybe let go a little at a time.

I also brought my practice from what I had learned from the mat in Thai Massage into my classroom. I taught children how to massage their hands, their feet, and different stretches to help them release emotions. Try it sometime with your Momo. Sit with them and massage each others hands and feet. You can do a little light compression work, cupping and squeezing the arms and legs, moving up and down each limb. You can practice this in the morning or at night. Give each other the art and gift of touch.