Shantala massage is a baby massage, which comes from India. He came to Europe thanks to the book "Shantala. The Traditional Art of Massage" by the French obstetrician Leboyer, published in 1976. How is a Shantala massage performed and what are the benefits for a child?

Shantala massagebecame known by chance. Shantala was a poor and paralyzed inhabitant of Calcutta, the mother of a baby. Sitting in the city streets, she would place the baby on straightened legs and gently massage it. One day Frédérick Leboyer, a French obstetrician, was walking by. As a result of this meetingbaby massage with Shantala methodis one of the most popular methods of massaging babies today.

All thanks to Leboyer's book "Shantala. The traditional art of massage" published in 1976, describing the operation of Shantala massage, which, although it took its name from the name of a woman he met by a French, has been practiced in India for centuries and passed down from generation to generation. Since the publication of the publication, an increasing number of Western parents have also used this technique on their children. Although the Shantala massage is intended mainly for infants up to 2 to 9 months of age, there is nothing to prevent it from being performed on older or younger children. The younger ones, however, may not show adequate patience and the session should be shorter than the typical 30-minute session. It is worth adding that the Shantala massage is not a rehabilitation technique, which turns out to be its great advantage, because it can be performed by people who are not professional masseurs, especially by the mother and father of the child at home. However, you must remember to carefully read the rules of its preparation and carrying out before performing a Shantala massage. You can watch instructional videos on the Internet, read publications or sign up for special parenting courses.

Shantala massage: proper preparation

Where to start baby Shantala massage? First of all, it should be performed in a warm room - at a temperature above 20º Celsius. The child is massaged naked so it cannot be cold. You also need to prepare a towel on which we will put the child on our lap. You can also prepare a spare art as a naked baby can just pee. We use natural oil for massage - e.g.almond, coconut or olive oil with which you rub your hands. It is not advisable to use a care oil containing artificial ingredients. It is worth remembering that Shantala massage cannot be performed in children suffering from cancer, epilepsy, and asthma. It should be abandoned during infection and after vaccination. Skin diseases are also a contraindication to its implementation.

After proper preparation, we find a comfortable place - one in which the massage will be performed well - if the massager is uncomfortable and tense, the child will feel it and will not relax. Approximately 1.5-2 hours before the Shantala massage, the child should not eat anything. Remember that the room must be quiet, you can also turn on a special music for Shantala massage - its sounds resemble those that the baby heard in the mother's belly. Place the child on its straightened legs, at knee level, with the head pointing towards the feet of the massaging person.

Shantala massage: gentle touch of the whole body

Shantala massage starts from the chest, hands, hands, belly, legs, feet, spine and back. At the very end, the face is massaged, as touching it may feel "disturbing" and may not want to undergo a massage at all. The massager places the oil next to him, in which he regularly dips one hand. The second one must always rest on the child's body - during the Shantala massage, we never stop touching the baby.

  1. After spreading the oil on your hands, start the massage. First, the child's chest - we make up and down movements, keeping our fingers together all the time. You have to repeat them, just like any other massage, from 3 to 9 times. Then, while massaging the chest, we move from the center to the outside. Then alternate movements - we start from the right hip and head towards the left shoulder. Then from the left hip to the right shoulder.
  2. Now it's the turn of the more complicated action - transition from chest massage to hand massage. First, place one hand on the baby's hip, the other grab his shoulder, and then grab the baby's hand with your hand from the hip. Move your hands from the child's shoulder to the palm of your hand. This movement looks as if we want to "take out" the infant's hand. Then we move on to the so-called wringing movement - a circular movement around the baby's hand.
  3. The next step is hand massage, starting from the wrist towards the fingers. Later, we massage the fingers themselves - we touch them as if we would like to remove the rings from them. Massage the fingertips with a circular massage
  4. We start the abdominal massage by placing two hands on it and moving them from the arch of the ribs down. We make circular movements with the back of the hand, clockwise and along the course of the intestines.
  5. Now it is the turn of the Shantala massage on the baby's feet. It looks the same as a hand massage: we perform the movements of milking and wringing. Massage the feet diagonally with the palm of the hand and knead the outer edge with the fingers.
  6. We put the baby on its back and make alternate movements on it. Then we place one hand on the child's bottom, the other at the nape of the neck and gently "slide" it towards the one placed on the buttocks. Massage the spine in circular movements - from the buttocks to the nape, using two fingers. Then we grab the baby with one hand by the feet, put the other hand on the nape of the neck and "slide down" to the feet with the one from the neck.
  7. We start a Shantala massage covering the baby's face. The infant is not always patient with it, so this element can be dispensed with if the child resists it. If not, place both hands on the sides of its head and massage it gently. Massage the forehead from the inside out, and make delicate circles around the eyes with your fingers. Alternately massage the child's nose with small fingers, and move gently from the root of the nose to the cheeks. Finally, we wrap our hands around the baby's head.

Shantala massage should be performed 2 times a day or, if time does not allow young parents, at least 3 times a week. First, it may contain fewer repetitions of movements and be shorter, and then - gradually lengthened. It's a good idea to do it before bathing to wash the baby's oil off.

Shantala massage: he alth benefits for the child and parent

Why is it worth doing baby Shantala massage? First of all, it stimulates his digestive system, accelerating intestinal peristalsis, thus regulating bowel movements and preventing colic and constipation. Shantala massage also improves the functioning of the nervous system. There are receptors on the skin which, thanks to the massage, are activated and new connections are created in the brain. Thanks to stimulating the receptors, we also regulate the work of the circulatory system - poor circulation in such young children is stimulated, especially in the area of ​​the arms and legs. The Shantala massage also reduces the muscle tension of an increasingly relaxed infant.

The child becomes more calm, a certain ritual appears in his everyday life, and he falls asleep more easily. His sense of security is strengthened. This has its advantages also for massage people, i.e. young parents. They can be sure that they are helping their child through massage they connect withcloseness, they calm down themselves.

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Pregnancy