Scientific research suggests that the foundation of a person’s physical and mental health is laid in early childhood, or more precisely in the first seven years of a child’s life. It is during this period that the formation of internal organs and systems occurs, immune defense is improved, mental processes such as perception, memory, thinking, imagination, attention develop, and the basic personality traits are laid. That is why the Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) pay so much attention to the harmonious development of the individual and the use of health-saving technologies, among which su-jok therapy for children is of particular interest.
For what purpose is it used?
The roots of the technique go back to the distant past: 2500-3000 years ago, healers in Egypt, China, Tibet, and India already used similar acupressure to improve the health of their patients. But only at the end of the last century this invaluable knowledge was brought together and improved by Professor Park Jae-woo from South Korea.
The scientist claims that nature has built into the human body a mechanism that can effectively, without outside help, get rid of diseases. A kind of “control panel” that launches recovery processes are active points located on the feet, fingers and palms (hence the name of the treatment method, which means “Brush-foot” in Korean).
These parts of the body are of the greatest interest to su-jok specialists, since in their structure they are similar to the human body, they are its reflection, a miniature copy. This is where the doctrine of correspondence zones arose (we have already talked about them in more detail in the article: “Su-jok therapy: how to restore health without drugs”) and points that can improve a person’s well-being.
Using this massage in childhood, we pursue the following goals:
- Strengthen the child's health. Moreover, we are talking not only about the prevention of diseases, but also about the fight against them: after all, nerve endings located on the hands and feet, irritated by massage, send impulses to the brain, and it gives a response command to activate the functions of the reflex organs.
- Balance the baby’s psycho-emotional state. Sujok massage allows you to create an energy balance in the human body, normalize the processes of excitation and inhibition, helping to get rid of hyperactivity, training perseverance and the ability to concentrate.
- Increase the body's immune defense.
- Stimulate the development of cognitive interest, memory, attention, thinking.
- Prepare the hand of the future schoolchild for writing.
Observations show that children with disabilities experience positive changes in mood and general well-being after therapy sessions. In patients with cerebral palsy, coordination of movements and psychomotor skills are significantly improved, and the clarity of articulation and sound pronunciation increases.
It is important to know that the areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for motor and speech activity practically overlap each other. Therefore, by massaging the points on small fingers, we not only develop their sensitivity and fine motor skills, but also improve the preschooler’s speech, contributing to his intellectual development.
Su-jok massage is good for babies. This absolutely safe, simple and yet very effective technique is universal. It is equally successfully used by doctors, teachers and parents in working with preschoolers.
How it works?
Of course, knowledge about the importance of acupressure on the functioning of the whole body has been accumulated since ancient times. Human internal organs and systems have a projection on the surface of the skin in the form of special zones or points, especially many of them on the upper and lower extremities. Impact on these zones allows you to activate the work of the corresponding organ, improve its condition and reduce negative manifestations.
A simple and completely harmless system, which was invented by South Korean professor Park Jae-woo. Undoubtedly, it does not have any side effects or complications, therefore the use of this technique in classes gives very good results in children with speech disorders of varying degrees of severity. Not only during the work of a qualified speech therapist - specialist, but also during use by parents at home.
For these purposes, a massager is used in the form of a round box similar to a chestnut. Inside it are two metal springs in the form of a ring, which are put on the fingers and toes. At the same time, pleasant sensations arise, sometimes it tickles, but it doesn’t hurt at all. The surface of the chestnut tree is uneven because it has thorns or pimples. Young patients are better off with the latter, they don’t inject themselves. They can be rolled in your palms, on your cheeks and other parts of the body.
In speech therapy work
Today, experts are increasingly talking about an increase in the number of children with speech and sensory development disorders. These deviations lead to a number of serious problems: first of all, to impaired mental health of the baby, adaptation and communication difficulties, and difficulties in acquiring knowledge. Such children need timely help.
Scientific research has proven that the development of the speech centers of the brain occurs under the influence of signals coming from the fingers. Therefore, along with speech therapy exercises, experts recommend performing a su-jok massage aimed at activating the work of small fingers.
During classes with preschoolers, speech therapists use:
- Massage. “Hedgehog, hedgehog, wise hedgehog, you look like a ball (children roll the massager with their palms). On the back the needles are very, very thin (they touch the spines with all their fingers). Even though the hedgehog is small in height (they squeeze the ball in their palm), he showed us the thorns (they throw it up and catch it).”
- Exercises to develop fine motor skills. Kids spin su-jok balls, lay out various figures from the resulting halves, build pyramids, put on massage rings, hide them under prickly shells - in a word, they perform subtle movements with their hands that require great coordination of actions.
- Finger gymnastics. Roll a ring over each of the fingers several times. “This finger is grandpa. This finger is grandma. This finger is daddy. This finger is mommy. Well, this finger is me. We are all a close-knit family.”
The work of a speech therapist is aimed at developing the child’s phonemic hearing, the ability to perceive and differentiate sounds. Su-jok massagers turn complex exercises into a fun and useful game:
- Having heard a word, you need to determine the number of sounds in it and count the corresponding number of steps on the marked path with a ball.
- Put as many rings on your fingers as there are syllables in a given word.
- In the stream of sounds pronounced by the teacher, recognize and beat off each vowel (or consonant) with a ball.
Specialists work on the pronunciation of sounds, reinforcing auditory perception with visual and tactile ones. Children are offered:
- Use a massager to trace the contours of the letter shown in the picture, ensuring its correct pronunciation.
- Say syllables, phrases, quatrains in combination with self-massage of fingers and palms: “Ra-ra-ra is a high mountain. Ra-ra-ra - it's time to go there. Ru-ru-ru - I'll take the sleigh. Ry-ry-ry - I’ll ride down the mountain.”
When developing a child’s speech, a speech therapist works with grammatical categories. The exercises also often include elements of su-jok massage, thereby achieving more active brain function, training memory, attention and perception. For example, by moving a massage ball in space relative to other objects, they practice the use of prepositions: in, on, behind, under, in front.
Interestingly, Su-jok therapy successfully copes even with such serious speech disorders as stuttering.
Experts say that this pathology is associated with a lack of heat energy. As a result, the child experiences constant fear, internal stiffness, and spasms.
The situation can be corrected by activating the corresponding meridians with color influence (painting the reflex zones with a red felt-tip pen), massaging the fingertips, warming up the energy points, stimulating them with magnets, seeds or grains of plants.
How to exercise with a chestnut ball
First of all, Su Jok ball and ring games are used to massage fingers and palms. Undoubtedly, you can use both balls and rings in classes. Sujok procedures will become more attractive and enjoyable for children if finger games are accompanied by interesting rhythmic verses.
Examples of games:
- Ball Kids perform the actions described in the poems.
I roll the ball around in a circle and move it back and forth. I stroke and clean my palms, as if I’m sweeping away crumbs from them.
- Hedgehog First, the baby rolls the ball in his palm, then rolls it along each finger.
The hedgehog was running on his palm, his legs were tired. There are needles on the back, oh so prickly. The hedgehog is very small and showed us his needles. And the needles also look like hedgehogs.
- Magpie A tale about a magpie who cooked porridge. When pronouncing the words of a Russian folk nursery rhyme, we first move them across the palm of our hand. Then we put a ring on each finger, naming the next guest. We roll it to the base and remove it.
- Press the ball on the baby's hand, imitating steps, then make the pressure weaker. Increase the impact again and speed up the pace, then press the ball one by one on your fingers.
The she-bear walked sleepily, and behind her came the little bear. The kids came running and brought books in a basket. They began to open books and write on the leaves.
Working on your speech
Undoubtedly, working with grammatical and lexical categories, phonemic hearing, and sound pronunciation is also possible using balls:
- One is many An adult rolls a ball on the table towards the child, while naming the object in the singular. The patient catches the ball and rolls it back, converting it to the plural.
- Big - small You can build a game in a similar way if you transform words using diminutive - affectionate suffixes. For example, a fox is a fox, a cat is a kitten.
- Syllable structure of a word Simultaneously pronounce the word syllable by syllable and spin the ball in accordance with the rhythmic pattern. One movement per syllable. Or tap a given rhythm with a massager. We thread our fingers into the springs, while observing the rule: as many syllables, as many fingers.
- Phonemic hearing Listening to the words that an adult calls, go through as many sound tracks as there are sounds in the word.
- Fine motor skills Write a letter on paper, then ask the children to roll the ball with their palm or fingers along the outline of the letter.
- Coherent speech You can let yourself play with balls, developing creativity and imagination.
Using methods at home
Of course, su-jok is an excellent means of developing a child’s abilities, which diversifies classes, making them unusual and exciting. But we should not forget that children of preschool age often get sick, because their immune defense is still in the formative stage. In this case, su-jok therapy will help to carefully provide first aid to a sick baby and prevent the development of complications. Therefore, it would not hurt any mother to consult a su-jok specialist to find out what exercises to use for various diseases.
- Cough is treated by attaching mustard plaster, pepper plaster or buckwheat seed to a point in the area of the interphalangeal joint of the thumb.
- You can get rid of a runny nose if you massage the point in the center of the ball of the big toe or foot several times a day.
- Sore throat is relieved by working on the points on the index finger associated with the larynx and tonsils.
- The heat is relieved by pressing on the top of the second finger or applying cold to the line between the nail plate and the middle of the first phalanx of the index finger.
Parents should be aware that pressure on the points can be quite painful: it is important to correctly calculate the force of pressure so as not to scare the baby. Treatment in early childhood is recommended to be carried out in a playful way, accompanying each action with funny comments, poems, songs or “fixers”, like the traditional one: “The fox is in pain, the wolf is in pain, and my baby (we call his name) heal, heal, heal "
