My son who is in third kindergarten, who is almost 5 years old, received a message in his binder. It asked me if I would agree that he would participate in massages workshops. It is great, I love to go to do massage in institute, it is relaxing and it provides a lot of well-being. These massages will be directed by an instructor and it is only the children who massages themselves. I find it adorable and an excellent initiative on the part of the school!

MISA

The Massage in Schools Association (MISA) is being created in countries, provinces, states or regions where the MISP has been implemented to bring together all MISP qualified Instructors. All MISA Branches are under the umbrella called MISA international.

MISA international has two main categories of affiliated members that are the MISP qualified Trainers and the MISA affiliated Branches.
ISA’s goals are mainly :

• to provide support to all its members to enhance the chances of success in bringing the MISP into schools
• to provide a forum for sharing experiences
• to promote ongoing updates for the evolution of the programme

MISA will evolve based on the efforts put in by the Instructors in each country. All MISP qualified instructors are invited to join their local MISA Branch, or to participate in the creation of one. As a qualified Instructor, you will be invited to be a member. Free membership will be offered to you for the first year.

Having an association brings further credibility to the MISP program and brings many opportunities for its members for ongoing improvements. There is nothing like shared knowledge and shared experiences. The quality of the program will only improve with the sum of involved Instructors staying in contact with each other.

The Massage in Schools Programme (MISP) is a unique, child-centered massage programme that’s helping children all over the globe.

Their Mission

The mission of the Massage in Schools Programme is to provide high quality and professional training to all teachers and caring adults willing to bring nurturing touch into schools.

Their Vision

The vision of the Massage In Schools Programme is that every child attending school experience positive and nurturing touch every day, everywhere in the world.

Massage therapists have also developed massage approaches for individuals with special needs, young children in pre-school, and elderly people living in nursing homes. It is only recently that massage was introduced in schools. It has been done at local levels by individuals searching for ways to help the well-being of children at schools.

Various authors have written books on massage for children. Some of these approaches were for therapeutic reasons and some were developed for massaging children in hospitals. Others were developed for the nurturing touch and the enjoyment of massage, and many times the parents were included.

The idea of children massaging each other was slowly brought to consciousness by individuals who saw that there are amazing ways of improving relationships and social skills among children.

A better society

Too many students do not thrive. The day when all children experience school as being positive, has yet to come. It is our task, as adults responsible for raising children, to continue seeking solutions.

There are many schools of thought and many forms of massage. Massage therapy schools offer a wide variety of different types of massage courses. Some massage therapists have developed approaches directed to specific populations and age groups. Infant massage is now well recognized throughout the world mainly because of the work of the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM). IAIM was founded by Vimala McClure, who became inspired by the massage she observed while working in an orphanage in India. Subsequently, she created a routine of massage strokes for parents that consisted of Indian massage, Swedish massage, reflexology and gentle movements derived from yoga. Other approaches to baby massage brought into modern culture have also been mostly inspired by massage in traditional culture.

Massage in Schools – Research

http://massageinschools.com/why-massage-in-schools/research-articles/

Studies and research, together with a strong anecdotal evidence and recorded observations by teachers all strongly attest to the way in which massage has made significant positive changes in pupils’ emotional well-being and constructive social behavior.

Where to Start seems to be a challenge in itself, and there are many angles from which this issue can be seen. Of course, the Massage In Schools Programme does not even to try to embrace all the angles. However, as any journey begins with one step, we have a step to propose. That step finds its basis in human nature. No matter what background, culture or social conditions people come from, we all share a common element that is part of human nature.

Careful observation of human nature can lead us to an understanding of who we are and what we need to satisfy our potential.

• Could more nurturing touch between human beings lead us to a better society?
• Could using nurturing touch consciously and deliberately while raising children lead to a better society?
• If nurturing touch became the norm and a natural way of relating to one another, would that lead to a better society?

Part of the evolution of society depends on the willingness of individuals to come forward with their ideas. It then takes time, even years or generations to understand if the idea was worth a try.

From research and studies on touch, from our personal experiences, from observation and from pure intuition, we have come to believe that promoting nurturing touch should be experienced by all people in all stages of their life. They believe that massage in schools and the encompassing of nurturing touch and respect among children, can be seen as a tool for a better society.

Their ultimate vision is that there will be thousands of MISP instructors and hundreds of MISP Trainers, all teaching the programme, all sharing their dedication with love so that the nurturing touch will become a way of life for children in all schools, world-wide.
They now know that nurturing touch is an important need. We believe that if nurturing touch is brought into the educational arena, it might become an important step towards a resolution of the crisis that education is facing.

I will see if these workshops have beneficial effects on my son. They will start on 19/10/2017 and they will have 6 workshops and hope that the teacher then continues the process throughout the year.