Social and Cultural Anthropologist and contributor Scherin Barlow-Massay
Community news. Formal massage and exercise to improve motor skills begins in infancy in many African and Caribbean communities. In Western societies, those skills were often formalised outside the home in the later stages of a child’s development, often in the form of sports and dance movements. However, with the spread of alternative medicines and therapies, many of the practices that had traditionally been part of African and Caribbean daily child rearing routines became popular in Western society through the practice of yoga for babies.
Yoga, an ancient discipline, features heavily in Eastern religions and combines meditation and exercise with the aim of being at one with a supernatural being. There is evidence that the Dravidians (original people of India), who founded the Indus valley civilisation during the third and second millennium B.C.E. and Africans are related. That would explain why the practice of massage, exercise and shaping is also an integral part of the childcare rituals performed in Indian society. The book Yoga for mothers and babies, recommend that baby massage routines should begin with a cold pressed oil, such as olive. Massaging the whole of the foot area is recommended. Based on the principles of reflexology, the nerve endings of the body are located in the feet and massaging that area enhances other parts of the body. An upper chest massage promotes a healthy upper respiratory tract, easing congestion, while massaging the stomach is good for colic, wind and constipation.
Although modern child rearing practices has replaced many of the traditional methods of childcare in Guyana, kneading, massaging and manipulating the muscles are still part of a daily routine performed by many African Guyanese mothers on their infants. Such activities improve blood circulation bringing oxygenated blood to the tissues. Massage also helps to get rid of toxic waste products, thus promoting the well-being of the baby.
The purpose of this article was to explore and highlight aspects of West African cultural retention in the African Guyanese community, not to advocate any form of yoga, massage and exercise techniques as a method of paediatric childcare.
Photo courtesy www.taraleeyoga.com
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