How can the way your baby learns to move today shape the way they learn about the world for the rest of their lives?
Amy Matthews and Sarah Barnaby are the co-founders of Babies Project, but their path into this work didn't start with being parents themselves. Amy began her career in dance and theater, always curious about the "underpinnings" of how adults move and use their bodies. Sarah grew up in a very athletic family and spent years in gymnastics and yoga before looking for a deeper way to connect movement with the mind. They eventually met through their training in Body-Mind Centering and realized that working with infants offered the most satisfying way to explore the foundations of human development.
They often see parents struggling with the "modern parenting" trap of keeping babies in containers like car seats or strollers for too long. They also noticed that many parents feel huge stress about hitting milestones on a strict timeline. Their key transformation was moving away from a "fixing" mindset to one of pure curiosity. They teach that we don't need to "teach" babies how to sit or walk. Instead, we should provide an environment where they can safely explore "horizontal life" and even practice falling to build resilience. By using gentle techniques like the "baby ball" hold, they help parents settle their babies and trust in their child's natural ability to navigate the world. We believe this perspective offers a beautiful way to slow down and truly see what our babies are capable of.
Key Takeaways
- Learning to move is actually learning to learn, which influences a baby’s lifelong ability to engage with and understand their surrounding world.
- We should focus less on the exact timing of milestones and more on the rich quality and curiosity of the movement process itself.
- Falling is not a failure but a vital skill that helps infants build physical resilience and trust in their own bodies.
- Spending time in horizontal positions on the floor helps babies bond with the earth and feel supported by gravity on all sides.
- Holding a baby in the "baby ball" position helps them orient to their midline and creates a settling baseline for their nervous system.
Resources
Guests Bio:
Amy Matthews, CMA, IDME, BMC Teacher, RSMT/RSME, has been teaching movement since 1994. She is a Body-Mind Centering® Teacher and an Infant Developmental Movement Educator. She co-authored the best-selling book Yoga Anatomy and serves as a Program Director for the School for Body-Mind Centering.
Sarah Barnaby is a certified BMC Teacher and Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME). She is trained in the Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) system and is a post-partum doula. She teaches developmental movement to people of all ages, from infants to elders, in New York City.
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