No more thumb sucking
Karen brought her 6 year old son to me for Jin Shin Jyutsu. He was what she thought was a busy and overactive child and she hoped that Jin Shin Jyutsu might help him calm down. When kids come to my practice I invite them to bring a favorite book to read while we work. They also have my ok to get up and move as they need to. Some even bring in music they like as long as it isn’t something that jacks them up.
This day, Benjamin lay on my table reading his book, moving around restlessly. These first sessions are sometimes short because like animals, kids know when they’re ready to be finished so I was prepared. After a bit however, Thomas’s eyes got sleepy. I caught the book as it fell out of his hands as he began to doze off.
For kids in this early part of life, I often use a simple hold.. It is a very settling hold and is similar to how a parent holds an infant. I do this by sitting on one side and touching the close shoulder/back underarm while sliding under the body to find the opposite back hip. This hold creates a feeling of nurturing, connection and safe boundaries. For overactive children, I think it helps them bring their boundaries back in so they don’t feel everything quite so strongly and can relax more easily.
Benjamin’s mom sat in a chair near the table watching intently. I could tell that she was a bit uncertain watching her son sleeping so soundly. After 30 minutes of this hold, Benjamin woke up, rubbed his eyes and said he was ready to go. His mom said she’d call later to set another appointment.
That afternoon I heard from Karen. She talked about her surprise at seeing Benjamin sleeping so soundly. It wasn’t the sleeping that surprised her so much as the fact that he had not put his thumb in his mouth. “Whenever Benjamin goes to sleep or is tired, he always sucks his thumb. We’ve been really concerned that he does this at his age and the dentist has recommended that he put in a device at night to prevent him. Even when we remind him to stop, he still sucks his thumb. But on your table, he didn’t even try to. I didn’t know what to think.”
It didn’t surprise me. I told Karen that thumb sucking is how infants and children calm their energy system, the same level of energy that creates boundaries, security and overactivity. Thumb sucking is their way to put themselves into harmony. It seems fine to us until they reach an age when it doesn’t feel right. Most kids don’t need to suck their thumb at age 6, but Benjamin still needed the harmonizing. The hold I did with him does the same thing.
After that session, Benjamin stopped sucking his thumb. Boom. I taught him how to hold his thumb instead when he felt the need. He explained to his mother than sucking his thumb wasn’t something he liked. He had felt he really needed to do it, and now he didn’t. The energy was back into harmony and Benjamin now had a tool he could use.