A short history...where it all began

“A young mother sat in the dirt with her baby across her knees, lovingly massaging him and singing. As I watched her I remember thinking, there is so much more to life than material wealth. She had so little, yet she could offer her baby this beautiful gift of love and security, a gift that would help to make him a compassionate human being. I thought about all the children I had known there and how loving, warm and playful they were in spite of their so-called disadvantages. They took care of each other and they accepted responsibility without reservation. Perhaps, I thought, they are able to be so loving, so relaxed and natural because they have been loved like this as infants, and infants have been loved like this in India for thousands of years. A seed was planted in my mind, and I returned home with both joyful anticipation and of the future and sadness for what I had to leave behind.”


By Vimala McClure, Founder of the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) and author of Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents.