Babies Project Writing

GEEK NIGHT: A Conversation About Collaboration

Tuesday, September 17, 2019
6:00-7:30pm

with Sarah Barnaby & Amy Matthews

In our first Geek Night of the new season, we’ll take up the topic of collaboration, which at its most basic (and etymologically), means working together.

  • What are the elements of a generative collaboration, where each participant contributes and grows, and the outcome is greater than the sum of the parts?
  • Can we find inspiration from looking at how our cells collaborate with each other?
  • Can we find support for improving our collaborations in principles of fractal systems that we’ve previously explored, including agency, participation and interdependence?

 *  *  *

Developmental Movement: On Track or Behind?

written by Sarah Barnaby on 07/16/2019

A good part of our work at Babies Project involves talking about developmental movement: what it is and why it’s important. Very often, the topic comes up in our discussions with parents and caregivers who bring their babies (and their questions) to Babies Project:

    • “Is my baby on track?”
    • “Are they behind?”
    • “Should we be concerned?”

Developmental movement refers to the way a baby learns to move, from birth to walking. At Babies Project, we believe that a baby’s developmental process takes priority over the speed of their progress*. This means that a baby who isn’t “on track” according to … Read more

 *  *  *

Agency, Relationship, & “You’re OK”

Our topic here is AGENCY and RELATIONSHIP. A baby’s development is a relational process. A baby and their primary caregiver(s) are affected by and in turn affect each other. They respond to each other, they co-create their relationship, and they exist within layers and networks of other relationships.

In our work educating parents and other caregivers, we bring awareness to how they influence their baby’s development: through how they touch and handle them, how they talk to them, and how they view their role as caregivers.

We acknowledge and want to help parents navigate their choices about parenting. What we teach in terms … Read more

 *  *  *

Agency & Emergence

“Things are always changing, and we have agency in that change.”– Rebecca Solnit

“Developmental change is not planned but arises within a context as the product of multiple, developing elements.”– Esther Thelen

Agency is the first of our core values, and we come back to it again and again. It encapsulates many of our ideas, underlies our principles, and guides our teaching.

As we define it, agency is the ability to make choices, to have an impact, and learn from experience. We do not think agency is the same as autonomy. Rather, agency is relational, interdependent and participatory.… Read more

 *  *  *

Our Vision, Mission and Values

Our Vision

To create a world where babies and adults of all ages get the touch, support and movement they need to thrive.

Our Mission

To nurture resilience, healthy interdependence and connection by educating about touch, handling and movement.

We serve babies of all ages: infants, toddlers, parents, caregivers, adults and elders.

We do this by using principles of Body-Mind Centering to support each person’s developmental process of learning, exploration, change and growth. We offer classes and workshops, training for professional caregivers, and writings about our ideas and work.

Our Values

Our core values are AGENCY, COMFORT, CURIOSITY … Read more

 *  *  *

Our Principles

We believe:

Babies come in as whole people, not as blank slates. Babies are fully and intensely immersed in becoming themselves – always whole, and always changing.

A baby’s experience is real and valid, though it might not be comprehensible to us. We can offer comfort without denying their experience, or our own. We can acknowledge and validate their feelings and emotions while also saying “no” to particular behavior.

Babies learn best when they’re led by their curiosity – which comes from a sense of safety and comfort. We are a baby’s environment when we hold and handle them, and … Read more

 *  *  *

Our Values (the long form)

At Babies Project, the principles we teach, play, facilitate, explore and live from arise from our core values of AGENCY, COMFORT, CURIOSITY and MOVEMENT. We believe these values are embedded in developmental movement, and they can guide us to be more responsible, resilient, interdependent, self-regulating and relational.

  • How do we raise children (of all genders) to respect themselves and others?
  • How can we model a way of being in the world that encourages self-awareness and awareness of others?
  • As caregivers, how can we re-pattern what we were taught and no longer value, and find a different way
… Read more

 *  *  *

Developmental Movement for Babies & Toddlers: A Body-Mind Centering® Approach

Idra, 6.5 mos

The study of developmental movement is the study of how we learn to move in our first years of life. In Body-Mind Centering®, we specifically study the basic movement patterns, reflexive pathways and integration of our senses, as well as the progressive layering of rhythms, experiences and relationships that help an infant find a sense of self, integration and ease.

All of the sessions we offer for babies and toddlers are ‘infant-centered’ and ‘baby-led.’ This means that we engage with babies at their own level of perceptual awareness, and respect their rhythms of attention and rest.

We … Read more

 *  *  *

About Body-Mind Centering®

(Note: This text is from the Body-Mind Centering® website. Please visit the website for more information about BMC, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and the School for Body-Mind Centering.)

Body-Mind Centering® is an integrated and embodied approach to movement, the body and consciousness. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it is an experiential study based on the embodiment and application of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. Its uniqueness lies in the specificity with which each of the body systems can be personally embodied and integrated, the fundamental groundwork of developmental repatterning, and the utilization of … Read more

 *  *  *

About IDME

All of our classes for caregivers and their babies are taught by IDMEs (Infant Developmental Movement Educators) trained and certified by the School for Body-Mind Centering. IDME training includes four core developmental movement courses in addition to two 10-day modules on working with infants. This training takes place over several years and includes over 500 hours of course work, observations and sessions.

We meet each baby at their own level, and help parents and caregivers understand what kind and amount of stimulus and support is appropriate and helpful at each stage of development.

We teach parents and caregivers the skills they … Read more

 *  *  *