This week the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) has been holding events across the UK to promote baby massage as part of its National Baby Massage Week initiative (16-21 May 2011). According to the IAIM, the many benefits of massage include parent-child bonding, better sleep, body awareness and sensory stimulation. These findings are also reflected…

“A child who displays aversion to touch can be taught how to understand touch—essentially learning to differentiate between normal and painful sensations. I have found that a systematic approach to massage is very important for children with autism spectrum disorders. When they learn what to expect, they are better able to relax and receive massage.”

By Chris Mitchell, author of Asperger’s Syndrome and Mindfulness: Taking Refuge in the Buddha. Body language, or non-verbal communication, is an aspect of life that many people with Asperger’s Syndrome struggle with. As a person with Asperger’s Syndrome myself, I find that as well as being able to interpret non-verbal signals, being aware of your…

In this series of videos, Nancy Williams – author of Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child – talks about the many benefits of Yoga for children with special needs, including those with autistic spectrum disorder, developmental delay, sensory integration disorder, anxiety disorder, ADHD, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Nancy has been a yoga therapist for 9…

“Imagery lets you know that a certain skill or learning with which you are already familiar can be usefully applied to an unfamiliar situation, similarly to the way in which computer developers ‘re-use’ code that is known to reliably perform a certain function. You can think of ‘imagery’ in this context as the software of the body – that which enables us to coordinate all our different muscles and bones without having to consciously ‘think’ about coordinating them, which is neither necessary nor possible.”

“Reader, you probably have yourself felt those precious moments of quiet in your life, no? …The genius of the Chinese sages was that they found a method, a technique akin to Indian Yoga, by which this experience could be cultivated, taught and developed. Of course, all this is now being verified by modern research, brain imaging and such like, and work on neuro-transmitters; the benefits of regular pratice of qigong are at last being recognised.”

Free Talk at the Nutri Centre Bookshop! Functional Medicine A Nutritional Practitioner’s Approach with Lorraine Nicolle, Nutritional Therapist In recent years, the growing demand for a more integrative approach to healthcare has led to the increasing adoption of the functional medicine model. Using examples from her recently published book Biochemical Imbalances in Disease, Lorraine Nicolle…

“When I was young, my mother always consulted the people living in the local temple when she needed help. I was astonished by the accuracy of their advice and their ability to predict outcomes. I became interested in learning more about astrology and its connection to Chinese medicine and the Yijing prediction system…Through over 20 years of teaching these ancient Chinese wisdom practices, I realised that Chinese astrology is a great tool to help guide people through their life and their inner cultivation.”

This past weekend, Singing Dragon attended the 7th World Congress of Chinese Medicine in The Hague, Netherlands. The theme of this unique and important congress was “The Clinical Practice and Scientific Research of Chinese Medicine”, with a focus on the topics of andrology, the treatment of infertility, anti-aging, and research and development in Traditional Chinese…

In this interview, Gordon Faulkner – Principal Instructor at the Chanquanshu School of Daoist Arts in Scotland – answers some questions about his new book, Managing Stress with Qigong. How did this book come about? The first input to lead to the book was at International Daoyin Qigong Symposium in Portugal in 2005 when European…