Early To Bed. Early To Rise...yawn.

I think that's how the phrase goes. I wouldn't know really. But I will say that the last two nights I've been waking up at times that I think God could even be asleep (He needs to rest, right?). Ryan and I have a lot going on right now, and something in me is turning on way too early. Wow! I'm turning into my mother. I always wondered what that was like for her. Due to a nightmare, I was planning our summer Alaskan vacation at 3 am yesterday, and this morning I was up at 4:30 singing Hanson and remodeling a bathroom (in my head). Probably, the only other time I've been like this was when our friends called us to let us know they were in labor. The ironing and the dishes were put away before 7 am that day. Anyway, I decided to channel my energy and efforts into a well over do blog that I've been scripting (also in my head) for a month now.

Before this morning, the title of the blog was going to be - (wo)MAN, I Love My Job! Due to confidentiality, we're going to give my client a "fake" date and a "fake" gender. Yesterday evening a client came in that I hadn't seen in over a year; we're going to call this client, a "her," and leave it be. She's a great person, and I had actually thought about her often. She heard I was in Nashville working now, and she decided to come and see me. We went into the room for the "interview" part of the session, and she said she just wanted to relax, had a lot going on, and felt the need to come in. Ok. I thought. I can handle that. Before I stepped out of the room, she added...I've got a lot of emotional stuff I'm dealing with. Can you help me get rid of the "bad" stuff and push it out or something? I thought, "Whoah there. Kind of caught ME off guard." Reduce muscular tension - check. Increase circulation of blood and lymph- check. But I'm not "directly" asked to help get rid off emotionally binding and burdening stuff too often. People will say that they want to relax and get away, and people will leave in an altered state brought about by releasing and balancing the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects, but I'm not usually verbally called on before hand for such a task...you know to personally push out the emotionally "bad" stuff. Honestly, when she said that, it lit a fire under me. It didn't frighten me. It hit me like a ton of bricks (how many times do I need to be hit to remember) what the power of touch is capable of, and I get to be apart of that, assist that, watch that take place on a regular basis. Just so you know - she left relaxed, happy, and balanced. It's amazing what touch can do.

You'll all probably get a ton of information in the future about the class I took last month. But for now, in a nutshell, I went to Atlanta for 4 days last month and took a course that certifies you in Infant Touch and Massage. The teacher, Maria, helped pioneer the movement over the last couple of decades. She parted ways with some of the women because she felt the need for individualized touch sessions instead of the usual routine taught to parents for "well babies." She works for the University of New Mexico Hospital now. She makes home visits and works in the NICU at the hospital. They work a lot with drug exposed babies and premies. It was an incredible experience. We were in class for 4 days from 9-5 and learned the entire time. We had families come in, and it was one of my most amazing experiences. With this approach we teach parents how to touch and massage their infants in specific ways designed just for them. Some benefits for parents massaging their infants...where do I start? On the infant side - bonding, attachment, communication, body and sensory awareness, sleep deeper and longer (yeah!), stimulate GI and circulatory systems, neurological development, regulate state transitions, helps digestion and colic, regulates all physiological systems, relaxation, and that's not all of them. And then on the parent side, builds competence and confidence, ease stress, helps relax their child, relaxation and unwinding, communication, bonding - do I need to go on?! I totally enjoyed watching the families come in and #1 bond with their babies and #2 at the same time enhance their children's overall health. Blew me away! Maybe later I'll share specific stories. I'll ask the parents. So, right now...I'm in the certification process. I have to do some reading, teach at least 15 sessions, take an exam, do a little research, observe another instructor, and then I'll be good to go. If you're interested in knowing more, I would love to talk about it. And if you're a new mom or dad and you're not in my reach, I'll contact the instructors and find one for you in your area. Once Ryan gets up, I'll get him to help me attach a picture of the people I took the class with in Atlanta. They were awesome!

Hey, the sun is rising! Maybe I'll watch my Hanson dvd now.