BABY GAZING…
When your eyes meet there is a wonderful magic that happens. I always think here is a little being who has so recently been connected to the onene
ss. From this access to wholeness they seem to emanate a kind of wisdom and serenity. It feels so good to connect this way, in part because our brain stimulates the release of oxytocin when we hold or look at babies.
This conversation of the eyes, really the whole face, is lovely. And everyone benefits. Being seen, being held in a calm loving adults attention helps the baby feel themselves. Yes, we get a sense of who we are by being witnessed openly by another. For babies this is critical, childhood is devoted to developing the brain areas involved in communication and connection.
Yesterday I listen to a webinar by Annie Brook, a somatic psychotherapist. I first knew of her work as a dancer and Body Mind Centering practitioner. Her work as a therapist is grounded in pre and perinatal psychology. She helps people of all ages integrate their early birth and pre-birth experiences so their nervous system can finally make sense of why it responses to the world the way it does. If you want to know more about birth psychology here is a 6 minute video https://birthpsychology.com/special/conscious-baby
Many of us don’t have access to information about our birth or time in utero. But our nervous system does, our amygdala which develops our implicit or pre-conscious memories is fully functioning very early in life. And that memory helps us create a template for how to navigate the world as we experience it. We are learning from the field of epigenetics that our experience of our environment tells us which genes to express and which to inhibit in order to adapt to the demands of our environment yes, even it utero. I shared this webinar with one of my dear colleagues Zoe Waggoner who has a special interest in Pre and Perinatal Psychology. She has developed a short questionnaire to help you explore what you might discover about your very early life.
If you don’t have a little baby in your life look around for opportunities to connect, the grocery line, doctor’s waiting room, they may be a little someone waiting to be seen, and wondering who is out there in this big world. Happy baby gazing.
