News!   APPPAH 16th International Congress  

Beverly will be presenting a one-hour Workshop

Essential Movement for a Happy, Healthy, Mobile Baby

Learn how Parent and Baby FloorMoves™ sessions daily build baby's body, brain and joy of movement. Photo vignettes from recent baby movement research demonstrate how gaze, gesture, and touch influence the baby's intention in reciprocal interactions and self-motivated actions. 

• Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology & Health
• Nov. 17 - 20, 2011 - San Francisco, CA 

Bear Standing & Bear Walking 

At six months, babies do push-ups raising their body higher into a plank position by tucking toes and extending elbows to support their body on hands and toes. Progressing to hands-and-knees creeping your active locomotion baby then pushes up onto hands-and-feet in the bear standing position.  This ability requires both pelvic stability and good should girdle control. 

Reaching for the ball...

Nine-month-old babies can shift their weight to bear walk in a cross-lateral pattern across the room or when they are outside.  On a grassy or rocky terrain they may not like the feeling of grass or pebbles on their knees.  When bear walking up a steep hill, they use a combination of creeping and climbing.  Gaining in independence, babies cover longer distances to explore their environment.  

The Wonder of Walking Upright 

In our last parent and baby visit during the workshop, I was once again inspired by a baby's ability to maintain balance in new standing positions.  It is amazing how new walkers problem solve in motion, on uneven surfaces - like maneuvering a thick mat on the floor.  It will take several months of continuous practice between weight-bearing and weight-shifting before babies coordinate arms and legs to walk in a cross-lateral gait.  

After my recent workshop, I went on a wilderness backpacking trip with my partner to May Lake in the High Sierra mountains in Yosemite National Park.  To reach the campsite at 9250 ft. was an aerobic climb on rough terrain and as you can see this undulating pathway was strewn with granite boulders.  Navigating this rocky, winding trail and balancing to traverse irregular sized rocks and tangled roots imposed attention and awareness of each movement.  Poking hiking poles in the ground to test the terrain, moving from stability to mobility, lifting and placing each foot before shifting weight to commit to the next step was a moment-to-moment precarious action.  Arriving at the top of this challenging climb was an exhilarating experience stimulating the nervous system to peak performance.