What is baby massage?
Baby massage involves the rhythmic, gentle stroking of different parts of your baby’s body; a professional can apply gentle pressure on certain points to relieve pain and discomfort, while manipulating a baby’s ankles, wrists, and fingers. You can choose between using organic and natural oils or perfume free moisturizers to help make movement over your baby’s skin smoother.

Soothing strokes of your hands can stimulate the production of the feel-good hormone oxytocin in your baby. Oxytocin is the hormone that gives you that heartfelt and tender feeling that one gets when being held by a loved one, or when you hold your baby for the first time and initiate skin-to-skin contact.

Traditional Chinese Massage for Infants and Babies
Nakato Tracy, a student of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, will graduate this summer with a Bachelors Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The aspiring acupuncturist and Pediatric Masseuse is currently offering parents traditional Chinese massage for babies and infants.

Tracy describes her baby massage sessions as the perfect combination of basic Chinese medicine theory in partnership with therapeutic principles and manipulation of certain parts of the body. The forearms, hands, and sometimes the chest, abdominal area, and head are the main areas of focus.

Tracy highlights that the needs a baby might have cannot always be communicated. It can sometimes be difficult to determine if your baby might be in discomfort or pain. Tracy always asks parents to give as much information as possible while she conducts a tongue and finger vein observation. A combination of these diagnostic techniques helps Tracy to find the root of the pain and discomfort if any so that she can use the appropriate massage to help your baby.

Below are the common infantile disorders that Chinese traditional massage can help with:

• Fever, coughs, and colds
• Poor appetite and malnutrition
• Diarrhea, vomit, and constipation
• Night crying
• Enuresis

To find out more information, message Nakato on WeChat: Nakato1. RMB 300 (for two sessions). Wednesdays 1.30pm-6pm and Saturdays 12pm-4pm (131 2118 8602).

What better way to kick the dry Beijing winter than to give your skin, especially your face, a little bit of extra love? That’s exactly the aim of the game at Hummingbird Skincare Center’s newest Central Park location, part of The Wellness Spa by Hummingbird, and one of our favorite spas in town.

We went to check out their new location, which was clean, tidy, and is made up of several private rooms at the back where the treatments take place. The reception area has plenty of example products laid out, which the staff are happy to demonstrate and explain if you’re unsure as to which is most suitable for your skin type or needs.

I tried an aqua peel oxygenating purifying treatment, a 50-minute session (at an original price of RMB 880) involving cleaning and moisturization of your face. The treatment was performed delicately, and the refreshing effects more than noticeable for the days following, my skin now markedly more bouncy and less dry. There is also a short face massage included to increase your blood circulation and send you on your merry way.

I can hear you worrying about your wallet, but they do have a fairly good deal on right now: try it for only RMB 198 on your first visit to their new location – go on, treat yo’self!

Hummingbird Skin Care Center
Daily 10am-10pm. 102, Central Park, Bldg 17, 6 Chaowai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6597 0457)
朝阳区朝外大街6号新城国际17号楼102

More stories by this author here.

Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
Instagram: s.xuagram

Images courtesy of Hummingbird Skin Care Center

This post originally appeared on our sister-site, thebeijinger.