About Marti

Sitting idle has never been my style so when the last of my six children left for college, I decided to get my license as a massage therapist. Those courses led to an awareness of the lack of touch in our society. The more I read about touch, the more I came to see that if all children (by child I mean up to adolescent years) were the beneficiaries of more loving touch, then our culture would be a happier one.  Loving touch communicates value, safety and connection. With loving touch the body’s chemistry actually changes and the way in which the brain develops is enhanced. The child feels safe in his attachment to his caregiver and the body can work the way it should so healthy emotional and physical growth can take place.  And the beauty of infant massage is that both parents and baby become comfortable with loving touch and even dependent on that interaction so that touch doesn’t end with the first birthday. Families who enjoy massage continue to show affection through touch as the child gets older, massaging hands or feet while watching tv, stroking the face as the child falls asleep, massaging tired legs after soccer practice. All that touch continues to reinforce the message of attachment, value, commitment. 

 I love babies and nothing is more important than taking care of babies and giving them what they need, physically and emotionally. So I have begun Toesies to Nosies Infant Massage Instruction to teach parents, relatives, and caregivers (because the more people to love a baby, the better!) how to massage their babies. Massage is a simple and fun activity but one that is profoundly effective in giving a baby a great start in life.