Dream Time Baby Massage is all about supporting mums with babies in a safe, secure and welcoming non-judgemental and inclusive environment.
I established Dreamtime in 1999 after qualifying as a Baby Massage and Movement Therapist whilst I was working full time as an English teacher. I ran classes on the weekends that my son was with his dad and worked at school during the week. Eventually I realised that my priorities had changed, that I wanted to put my family at the heart of my working life and have worked for myself ever since. I structured Dream Time classes to fit beautifully around family life.
I have qualifications in baby massage and movement therapy, level three in counselling, have attended many courses on aromatherapy and am a Reiki Master/teacher. I run meditation groups and do yoga. I have extensive experience of training teachers. I am also the CEO of Dream Time Creative, an arts company focussed on empowering, enabling and emboldening the Woman’s Voice. That company is at the heart of The Forgotten Women of Wakefield project that aims for Blue Plaque parity for women by 2025.
I took the decision to train women who wanted to become Dream Time teachers in 2014. There are always waiting lists to come to each of my classes and because I believe that such a positive experience as coming to a Dream Time class is something that no one ought to wait for I started training teachers in the autumn of that year. When I bump into Mums whose little babies came to Dream Time 17 years ago, and who are now heading off to university, these kind lovely women tell me time, and time again that Dream Time was the best thing they had ever done with their baby. They also tell me that they are still the best of friends with the mums they met in Dream Time Classes.
That makes me feel good.
The philosophy that underpins Dreamtime’s success is one that cherishes, validates, supports and cares about people, babies and the challenges we all face as new parents.
But it’s not all serious.
We have a lot of fun at Dreamtime. By singing through a unique routine of traditional and modern lullabies, we create powerful bonding connections. By using yoga and massage techniques combined with specially formulated Dreamtime oil, we become more flexible, more confident and more comfortable with our new parent selves as our babies respond to movements that counteract colic, birth trauma , restlessness and crying.
I think the reason Dream Time is so very successful is that it values downtime. This is incredibly important for parents too, it allows them to just ‘be’. After every class we share a cuppa and a homemade cake and we talk, and we laugh, we share and sometimes we cry.
You can take what you need from Dream Time and there is never any pressure to do anything. We always work with your baby not against her, and the same goes for you. What happens in class is often so very special it’s sometimes hard to leave, both at the end of a class, and once baby has grown too big for Dream Time! In fact, I often have to shoe horn mums out! Thank goodness there are Dream Time Little Wiggler toddler classes delivered by more and more Dream Time teachers!
How long do babies come for? Until they, and you are ready to leave.
It’s an honour and privilege to be part of the lives of all my Dream Time Families… over 8,000 of them so far!
Sarah
