Back in early fall, a friend wrote to me saying she asked her son as she was putting him to sleep: “What was the favourite part of your day?” He responded: “The Foot Rub”.
If you didn’t know already, each and every class at Appleseed ends with foot massages complete with supportive and seasonal essential oil blends in an all-natural cream! These foot massages are always optional, but most of the time I turn around to a number of bare feet sticking out from under the yoga blanket, and even a few in the air, waving me over. “Me next?” the toddlers will say.
Kids love massage. They just do! There’s something about the loving touch and calming effect that just reels kids in. Touch is healing!
This is why I made an appointment for my 5 year old to have his first massage over at Me-Time Massage for Kids with Heidi Bigl, this past July. Heidi started her kids-only massage practice in October 2018 and offers massage therapy to kids from ages 4-17, in Toronto’s Upper Beaches neighbourhood. And if you’re wondering, Heidi indeed welcomes and encourages parents to stay right in the therapy room with their young child.
Heidi claims there are 4 main benefits to massage for kids:
1. Calm - Massage encourages your child’s mind and body to power down and gives it an opportunity to enter into a state of relaxation, leading to better sleep.
2. Replenish - Massage helps to ease your child’s stress and anxiety caused by things such as academic pressures, a busy schedule, or relationship strains with family or friends, thereby replenishing and restoring the body back to balance and peace.
3. Awareness - Massage helps to bring attention, awareness and connection to the body in a positive and healthy way and gives a child a foundation for self-care.
4. Comfort - Massage brings comfort to your child’s body by easing general aches and pains, growing pains, soreness from sports, or tension headaches.
So join us at Appleseed and enjoy a massage at the end of class, AND book in with Heidi! Your kids will thank you for both. Visit metimeforkids.com.
~Megan