Massage: children

On our massage courses people very often say that it is not easy to massage their teenagers. Children at this age seem to rather avoid physical contact. Although at this age the era of cuddles is definitely over it is very important to stay in close contact with your children. Introduce them to touch in a way that it will not interfere with their fast growing independency! Go to them while they are sitting at their desk struggling with another exam and just place your hands on the top of their shoulders.

1. Hold your left hand on his/her left shoulder and your right hand on his/her right shoulder. Do not apply any pressure
2. Let your hands rest on his/her shoulders. Thumbs on the back and the fingers on the front of the shoulders
3. Gradually squeeze the shoulder muscles between your thumbs and fingers and hold for 5 seconds. Release
4. Squeeze them again and this time start to make small, slow circles with your thumbs.
5. Work all over the top of the shoulders, changing the position of your hands.
6. You might feel knots under your thumbs. It means that these are the places where lots of tension is accumulated. Work on them with a slow motion.
7. Finish with resting hands on his/her shoulders again.
   They will thank you.

Originally published in Stella Magazine, the weekly supplement of The Sunday Telegraph