Nurturing the Development of the Inner child through Therapeutic Massage and Creative Movement
with Sam Mandelbaum, Licenced massage therapist and registered somatic movement educator
What is "reparenting"?
Reparenting can refer to different processes in growth-oriented psychology and self-help. In this case, it is the process of intentionally regressing your movement capabilities to that of a child and witnessing your own growth. You become both the parent and the child of your new movement life; I am here to structure lessons and share my own parallel process; you do the reparenting.
“Adulting” is hard. 🍼 We develop coping mechanisms through movement.
For instance, many adult lives are all about being upright and looking forward, alert and tense, limiting our availability to sense inner needs. To recuperate from this sedentary stability, many seek intense exercise that generates powerful sensations in the body. While necessary for a balanced life, this approach does not sensitize us to notice subtle sensations that may be asking for attention, and may even constitute a form of violence against one’s inner life, if the pursuit of exercise is to wipe out the uncomfortable sensations of stress.
It is my belief, from having spent many hours in contemplative movement, and practicing a form of reparenting though a 12-step tradition, that these subtle sensations are expressions from our inner child - the collection of unconscious sensations, behaviors, and emotions that, for whatever reason, were not able to fully grow up. My offering is to return to the floor, where we all began learning to move, before we could walk and type and lift, to retrace the primal, forgotten processes by which we learned to move with full presence of mind. Through these gentle, enlivening somatic movements based on our early childhood development, we can offer a loving gaze to this innate little genius we all carry within us.
This bearing witness I call Movement Reparenting.
In gratitude to your attention, your little suppressed one may infuse the childlike qualities of curiosity, experimentation, and buoyant energy into your adult movement and perception, even in the boring parts. Every inner child is unique and there is no model for how the child’s collaboration will affect the way you move, but, at the very least, you can expect more nuance in how you sense your movement after sustained attention to this young, growing presence.
For instance, many adult lives are all about being upright and looking forward, alert and tense, limiting our availability to sense inner needs. To recuperate from this sedentary stability, many seek intense exercise that generates powerful sensations in the body. While necessary for a balanced life, this approach does not sensitize us to notice subtle sensations that may be asking for attention, and may even constitute a form of violence against one’s inner life, if the pursuit of exercise is to wipe out the uncomfortable sensations of stress.
It is my belief, from having spent many hours in contemplative movement, and practicing a form of reparenting though a 12-step tradition, that these subtle sensations are expressions from our inner child - the collection of unconscious sensations, behaviors, and emotions that, for whatever reason, were not able to fully grow up. My offering is to return to the floor, where we all began learning to move, before we could walk and type and lift, to retrace the primal, forgotten processes by which we learned to move with full presence of mind. Through these gentle, enlivening somatic movements based on our early childhood development, we can offer a loving gaze to this innate little genius we all carry within us.
This bearing witness I call Movement Reparenting.
In gratitude to your attention, your little suppressed one may infuse the childlike qualities of curiosity, experimentation, and buoyant energy into your adult movement and perception, even in the boring parts. Every inner child is unique and there is no model for how the child’s collaboration will affect the way you move, but, at the very least, you can expect more nuance in how you sense your movement after sustained attention to this young, growing presence.