Take my hand

For five years, I had the good fortune to be asked to work with infants in the NICU of our university medical hospital. The NICU cares for a variety of infants in need. My work focused on two groups; those exposed to drugs in utero and premature infants. In their little bubble world of clear covered bassinets, the premature are attached to machines that monitor their life functions. Some are so tiny that they cannot be touched for fear of damaging their tender bodies. Mr. Gomez was one of those teeny tiny babies. I liked to call him Mr. Gomez because it was such a grown up name for a very small baby. It made me smile and I felt like it gave him more strength to survive.

I loved seeing this baby and talked to him each time as I worked.  Since I had to be extremely careful, I had two Jin Shin Jyutsu holds that I did primarily; touching one hand lightly while gently touching the opposite foot, which helps energetically connect the right and left side of the body at every level and support the spine, and placing one hand just above his head and the other at his feet to help the main energy of the body. As I did with all the babies, I spoke with him before I worked, telling him who I was and what I’d be doing. I usually had to do this through the small openings on the side of the covered bassinet. 

On this day, I arrived as I always did. I washed my hands, donned my gloves and spoke as I moved my hands through the narrow openings. I placed one hand next to his. “Hi Mr. Gomez, It’s Jennifer. I’m here to see you again today. Would you like some Jin Shin Jyutsu?”

Mr. Gomez, who had been laying completely still with eyes closed, lifted his arm and dropped his hand into my palm. 

 Shocked and surprised, I took this as a yes and we started to work together.