relaxation

4	BACK AND SPINE

The back of the body is essentially used to sit or stand, while the spine determines our flexibility. Both the back and the spine are much in demand at school or while playing. Concentrating on them as the child lies face down provides muscle relaxation and tension release.

1. For this session, your child is prone on their stomach. Start with the mountain of the head, and slide down on the neck that has held up the head all day. Explain that the head is now at rest. Then discover the vast desert plain of the back, with its central axis made of aligned rocks, the vertebras of the spine.

2. Softly apply your finger on each one, feeling the spine. The spine allows the child to stand, remain seated, and is now taking a well-deserved rest.

3. At the base of the spine, continue your trip by ascending the mountains of the buttocks.

4. Each of these mountains gives way to two rivers that you carefully travel down to reach the river of the thigh.

5. Once your reach the back of the knee, circle there for a while so as to relax this often tense part.

6. Continue the trip down the leg, and turn your attention to the heel. It has carried the weight of the whole body and now deserves to relax.