Coming back on track

It is nearly 2 years since the madness of Covid-19 lock downs and masks started.
We, at Child Connection, are aware of the damage it has done, especially for children's health and mental state.
So the message we have received from Monika Mokrzyszczak, Principal of Integrative Kindergarten No.45 in Warsaw, about a Children Massaging Children (CMC) course for teachers in Warsaw was like a light in a tunnel. Despite the shortage of teachers and strict hygiene regimes, the demands of parents and students after 2 years were met. Finally the children could enjoy CMC again in Poland !!!  

It motivated us to take  action for our Kiwi children . During  Child Connection Trust executive board meeting we made a decision to bring our next safe touch CMC courses into  

1) Foster care agencies/services.

2) Into hospitals for palliative care and for children and children  affected by depression.

The picture shows the participants at a CMC course in Warsaw 01 March 2021.

Strengthening friendship

 On Saturday, 31st October, the Kaipatiki Project  Organisation held it’s AGM. It was uplifting to see the Kaipatiki Project thriving with new resources, new infrastructure, new paid staff and a lot of devoted volunteers
Eva’s Herb Fairies Academy and CMC (Children Massaging Children) will continue to be a part of  Eco Festival early 2021 welcoming families and children at her mini farm in Glenfield backyard.
In pictures Ksenia, the youngest volunteer, is helping her mum Irina with her  tasks during AGM 

 

CMC at the Glenfied Library

On the 19^th of March we had our first presentation of CMC at the Glenfirld Library in North Shore.

This time the age of our students varied from a few months to a few years old. Despite this variation, I had great feedback. After the covid-19 virus lockdown is lifted,  CMC will come back on a regular basis in some North Shore libraries, mainly for preschoolers. The anouncements will be made by the Libraries .


In the meantime, please read my last article published in the Massage NZ Magazine

At beginning of 2020, CMC course in Warsaw

Despite it being winter in Poland when all nature is hibernated – preschool teachers started the New Year with a CMC course run by Monika Mokrzyszczak in Warsaw . 12 teachers from different Kindergartens attended the course . Some of this year’s graduates will join the professional team of  teachers who have already been trained, with a new one at “Bobotechnika”  kindergarten situated in the building of Warsaw Politech – Institute of Technology  for their employee. In the picture are the first teachers attending this year’s CMC course in Warsaw.

CMC for HEATWAVE in Europe.

This summer in Poland was very unusual - very hot weather. Also, traffic radiated heat from the streets which raised temperatures inside buildings.  There is not air con in all kindergartens there.  How to perform Children Massaging Children –the  children’s favourite activity in such conditions?
Teachers from Integrational Kindergarten No. 45 in Warsaw came up with a brilliant idea.  One child  would wave a silk pocket square above the another one. The feedback was excellent. Students painted impressions of their sensations with sketches. They compared touch from the fabric to a spider web, gentle waterfall, butterfly touch.

Nature Play Community Day

On 12th  May at Ngataringa Organic Garden we hosted 2 Conscious Kids groups . This time I enjoyed the help of Remco Bakker – an experienced gardener and sports massage therapist who recently joined as a  volunteer at NOG. Our programme was very rich starting with foraging greens that children gathered for their salad, and herbs to make herbal infusion.
Running this programme  was a real pleasure for us, as our students were not novices with nature or as well as massage . Mums  received very good back massage from their offspring as an unexpected gift for Mother’s Day. Even though the weather was not perfect we all enjoyed our classes  despite frequent showers

12th March - CMC at Massage New Zealand Regional Networking Meeting

The beginning of  2019 has been celebrated at a new location,Wellark College of Natural Therapies in Alba

In the picture Eva Scherer demonstrates CMC - Back Massage Technique on  Mark Fewtrell.

The audience of members of MNZ had a lot of fun sharing children’s massage techniques in a professional Massage School environment.
ny. Now our regional MNZ meetings have two locations in Auckland;  New Zealand College of Massage (NZCM) Greenlane  and Wellpark-Albany.

CMC at The Gaya Tree in Mangawhai

Siri Embla, a CMC instructor, uses Children Massaging Children program in her activities with children in  theatre and clowning workshops for a mixed age group between 5 and 10 years old. She introduced CMC to The Gaya Tree Homeschool group in 2018 https://www.thegayatree.org/

Since then CMC has been a part of their school curriculum. The teachers are flexible with the use of CMC techniques,  integrating  it  whenever  there is a need and if it fits with other subjects. Students know the lyrics by heart and are often humming along when playing together. The children are very comfortable and at ease with each other.  The children shared how they brought the techniques home and the benefits it has brought to their families through more connection time.

CMC is a complex learning process

At the end of 2018, two groups of preschool teachers participated in a workshop run by Monika Mokrzyszczak in Warsaw. As well as CMC techniques, Monika always adds a few more processes to give deeper meaning to touch. In a picture, participants are finishing the phrase “What massage means to you”.
Through massage;
-you can feel warmth
-Muscles relax
-we become aware of our body
-decrease pain
-we can have fun
-we feel closeness to the person giving the massage
- we can know each other better
-we can calm down
Next CMC course in New Zealand is planned on the 21 September during Massage NZ Association Annual Conference in Hamilton

CMC still Growing in Poland.

At the end of the year, two groups of Polish teachers graduated with CMC course conducted by Monika Mokrzyszczak in Warsaw. It is uplifting to see that despite stupidty of politics, we in Poland can do the best for our children to grow in a humanistic society.

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CMC in Wetlina

20 students from a small Kindergarten in the far south east of Poland, in beautiful Bieszczady area, are now practicing CMC.
Monika Mokszyszczak – CMC  Master Teacher in Poland, has just introduced the programme there.
Children love it as well as parents, who are very involved in the process, and are encouraging students to practice as well at home. In the picture the younger 3 year old is sharing back massage.

CMC in Dubai

In NZ it is already winter, but in Dubai summer has just started.
With outside temperatures of 45 C degrees, our classes took place indoors. Home schooling a group of mums with children from different part of the globe.  They enjoyed CMC massage techniques. Children enjoyed massage very much and we continued  with a free style reflexology and legs massage. At the end of the classes, everybody was very relaxed.

Visit from Narrowneck Playcentre

Last Wednesday, Ngataringa Organic Garden was visited by a group of students from a nearby Playcentre. 

It was a real pleasure to host a group of advanced gardeners there. All the students demonstrated  experience with the topic of composting organic matters, were very friendly with our helpers (the warms!) , loved our lemon balm tea and tasted stevia they received a small leaves each. They also admired our fluffy chicken, baby and adult fish as well.  At the end all of the students enjoyed a back massage using CMC programme which in garden scenery was not worse than at the kindergarten environment . When they visit us again, they will feel at home. We will love to see them all again at our NOG !!!

Touch is a really Universal Language

Last Monday I had the pleasure to demonstrate my CMC to Chinese students.  There was lots of fun, and my students were very talented at performing all techniques with professionalism. Having had the lyrics of the songs translated into Chinese language made the process even easier. The next step will be to add music to the songs and CMC will have a Chinese version as well as Polish and English. 

按摩背部
我们要按摩这个
我们所做的第一件事情就是非常柔软温柔
接触
按摩按摩背部，按摩按摩背部
它非常简单
一旦你得到了诀窍
你可以按摩背部