Blossom & Berry


 Founded by Gayle Berry.
Gayle is an expert in baby massage, trained in toddler massage, a baby yoga instructor, massage therapist, author of "Baby Massage-Expert Know-how at your fingertips", and mum to three children.
She also has a law degree.
Gayle trained with the International Association of Infant Massage and Birthlight and has taught baby massage to hundreds of parents.
 She is also a lecturer at the Body Basics School of Body Therapy in London where she teaches the baby massage, baby yoga, pregnancy massage and preschool massage diplomas.
Gayle works closely with Sure Start and with a number of nurseries in the Colchester area teaching baby massage and yoga.

Gayle is also an aromatherapist and can offer a range of bespoke blends for all the family.
She has a special interest in aromatherapy for pregnancy, birth, babies and children and has seen first hand with her own family how essential oils can enhance wellbeing.

Classes

Blossom & Berry baby massage classes are based in Colchester and have small numbers to create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Babies can be unpredictable and classes are led by baby’s mood. If you find you or your baby don’t want to massage one week, don’t worry as there will be plenty of opportunity to watch, learn and repeat strokes and moves. Baby Massage and Baby Yoga classes are informal and fun and will give you the chance to meet other parents as well as spend special and beneficial time with your baby. Wherever possible we use buggy friendly, comfy and spacious venues for classes.

Having a baby is a very special but sometimes overwhelming time. Our baby massage and baby yoga classes aim to help support new parents, make friendships and to nurture baby naturally.

We also offer baby massage gift vouchers for classes through our online shop if you want to treat someone special.

Benefits of a holistic approach for pregnancy and childhood

A holistic approach to health promotes wellbeing through the treatment of the body, mind and spirit.

Babies and children can benefit from a natural and holistic approach to health as many complementary therapies offer a gentle way to treat childhood problems and ailments, potentially reducing the need for drugs and medication. Taking a simple holistic approach focusing on the importance of the senses in the early years, the environment in which children live, and the need for supportive nurturing can help boost a child's emotional and physical wellbeing.

During pregnancy conventional drugs are usually not advised to treat minor health problems. Many of the minor ailments of pregnancy such as morning sickness, digestive problems, swelling, muscular aches and pains can be reduced using complementary therapies. They can help relax the mind and body in preparation for childbirth and parenthood.

We have listed just a few useful therapies and treatments and their potential benefits for you and your child.

Baby Massage Baby Yoga Yoga for Children Homeopathy

Cranial Osteopathy Pregnancy and Labour Massage Doula

Pre and Post natal Yoga Birth Hypnotherapy Maternity Reflexology

Aromatherapy for babies and children

Baby Massage

What is it and how can it help?

Massage is a wonderful and special gift that you can share with your baby. Baby massage is an ancient art used in many diverse cultures to help with a variety of physical and emotional needs and to promote relaxation. Babies crave skin contact. Touch is your baby’s most developed sense at birth and through it you can communicate love, security and trust to your baby immediately. Everyone has the ability to touch and massage another. You do not need any qualifications to massage your baby. Baby massage is simply a method that helps to reinforce the natural power of touch.

Baby massage will allow you to understand your baby’s subtle non verbal language and develop your ability to listen to your baby through the creation of a special intimate time together. When you massage your baby you lay down the foundations of trust and security which will help you to build a happy and confident relationship with your baby for the future.

Specfic benefits for you and your baby include:

Baby massage can help relieve wind, colic, constipation, teething and much more
Baby Massage may help create and develop the bond between you and your baby.
Baby Massage provides relaxation for you both
Baby Massage stimulates and supports your baby’s physical, emotional and social development

Baby Massage is great fun to learn and a brilliant way to meet other parents and spend special time with your baby.

Baby Yoga

What is it and how does it help?

Baby Yoga is based on the principles of adult yoga; breathing, stretching and relaxation. Baby Yoga classes help to get babies to stretch and move and to discover their abilities and bodies. Parents also practice gentle yoga stretches too which can help the body recover after birth. Yoga helps balance the body and mind and can help boost circulation and digestion, strengthen joints and muscles, and encourage removal of waste and toxins in the body.

Baby Yoga is a fantastic way to support your baby’s development by improving muscle strength and tone, co ordination, and balance. It is also a wonderful way to bond with your baby and have fun together. It encourages instinctive parenting and promotes many well- used techniques for calming, soothing and reassuring baby. A session of baby yoga stimulates all baby’s body systems and helps to integrate all of baby's senses. Baby Yoga sessions use fun rhymes and songs to help you learn the simple movements and to help relax baby.

Yoga for children

Children are naturally flexible and enjoying moving and stretching. Yoga is a brilliant way to tone the body providing gentle exercise which is accessible to all. It can help to develop body and spatial awareness and balance the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Muscle co-ordination, balance and strength can also be improved. Yoga is also non competitive which allows all children to take part and develop at their own pace. It teaches children the benefits of relaxation and how to concentrate and focus the mind. It can help to relieve any stress children may feel as a result of pressures at school, home or in the playground. In many cases yoga has been found to be particular useful for special needs children including asthmatic children, children with cerebral palsy, and children diagnosed with ADS.

Homeopathy

What is it and how does it help?

Homeopathy is a gentle holistic therapy based on the theory that 'like cures like'. It is particularly suitable for babies and children. Treatment is by means of administering extremely small quantities of the substance that produces the symptoms in the body. These small amounts strengthen the immune system and restore balance within the body.

Osteopathy (Cranial Osteopathy)

What is it and how does it help?

Osteopathic treatment during pregnancy can help to support and assist the body as it changes shape and postural changes occur. Gentle treatment can help make pregnancy more comfortable and enjoyable and give baby room to grow comfortably and in the optimum position within the womb. Cranial Osteopathy can be of particular benefit to babies and children. Some commentators believe that problems commonly experienced by babies after birth such as colic, prolonged crying and over stimulation may be caused as a result of the moveable plates of baby’s skull becoming misaligned during birth. This can be particularly the case in a traumatic birth. Cranial Osteopathy uses tiny, gentle movements and manipulations to the skull and spinal column to help restore balance within body.

Pregnancy Massage and massage in labour

What is it and how does it help?

Massage is an ancient art based on our instinctive need to touch, soothe, calm and promote wellbeing. Massage offers a great way to relax during pregnancy, and can help to ease aches and pains which often centre around the lower back area as postural changes take place in the body. Massage can also help reduce swelling and water retention, improve the removal of toxins in the body, and boost circulation. Massage and aromatherapy massage can also help improve the condition of the skin and reduce the possibility of stretch marks appearing. Using safe aromatherapy oils during pregnancy increases the beneficial effects of massage as essential oils can help to aid relaxation, uplift the spirit and boost energy levels.
Massage in labour can also be an effective form of pain relief, security and comfort. It also helps you and your birth partner work together to encourage a natural and relaxed birth.

Maternity Reflexology

What is it and how does it help?

Reflexology is an ancient art originally practised in the East. It works on specific organs of the body by stimulating reflex points on the feet or hands. Maternity reflexology involves gentle massage strokes and pressure sensitively applied primarily to the feet. This treatment will be carefully tailored to the pregnant woman and her baby. It can be of use in preparing the body for birth.

Pre and Post natal Yoga

What is it and how does it help?

Yoga is an ancient Indian practice using physical postures, breathing and relaxation to obtain a harmony of mind, body and spirit. Yoga takes many forms. The most commonly practice in pregnancy is Hatha yoga. Its benefits include:

increased circulation and oxygenation of the blood

improved muscle tone

a more relaxed mind

improved posture

more efficient functioning of body systems

Pre natal yoga can help prepare the body for birth and post natal yoga is a safe, gentle way to begin to tone the body and recover after birth. It can help balance hormones and emotions throughout pregnancy and after birth.

Birth Hypnotherapy

What is it and how can it help?
Hypnotherapy teaches relaxation techniques which can be used in labour to relax the body and mind and break the pain/stress cycle frequently experienced in labour. When the body experiences pain stress hormones are released which can heighten our perception of pain. By making birth a relaxing experience the levels of these hormones can be reduced and birth should feel more comfortable. Hypnobirthing can help eliminate fear and anxiety, give the mother more control over her feelings during birth, provide breathing techniques to deal with pain and give a birthing partner an active role during the birth.

Doula

How can a doula help?
"Doula" is a Greek word meaning "woman servant or caregiver". Today a "doula" might describe a woman who offers emotional and practical support before, during and after childbirth. The philosophy of a doula is to "mother the mother" This experience can help build a woman’s confidence and to enhance the enjoyment of motherhood though additional support, advice and guidance.

Aromatherapy for babies and children

Aromatherapy or the use of aromatics has existed for centuries. It involves the application of essential oils to boost health and wellbeing. Essential oils are extracted from a variety of different natural sources such as plants, flowers, fruit, bark and roots. They are considered to be vegetable hormones containing the "life force" of the plant. Aromatherapy works on our sense of smell and by absorption into the bloodstream. Odours travel to the roof of the nose, where olfactory receptors transport odours straight to a part of the brain called the limbic system. This area is connected with instinct, mood and emotion, and it's thought that aromatherapy may stimulate the release of chemicals which in turn play a part in unlocking emotions . Babies and children can benefit from essential oils blended either in massage oils or in a vaporiser. You can buy pre blended aromatherapy products or have an individual consultation with an aromatherapist. A bespoke aromatherapy blend for babies and children can be a brilliant way to extend and further the benefits of massage.