Upon birth, a baby undergoes tremendous and far-reaching changes.
Initially, the baby is unaware of most of these changes.
At a later stage, the baby develops body awareness and of the enviornment and with it extraordinary abilities in the transition from crawling to walking, from gurgling to speaking to full and satisfactory development.
One of the most important actions in a baby’s development is the act of “cross-crawl movement”, which profoundly affects many processes, critical to the baby’s future development.
The act of cross-crawl movement originates in the human brain which is divided into 2 hemispheres: the right hemisphere is responsible for the left functioning of the body, the left for the right.
As a result of this an imaginary midline that is created in the center of the body and along its entire length, which is very important.
The ability to cross this midline from side to side assists in many and varied actions, from rolling over and crawling in infancy, standing and walking as a toddler, scribbling and drawing at a later point and on to greater motor-skill based abilities such as jumping, running, driving, swimming, cycling and more.
Later on, our lives as adults are also affected by the basic ability to perform this cross-crawl movement in activities of daily living such as driving and exercising.
As parents, we are always happy to share a new milestone achievement such as to roll over, crawl and standing. Often, however, if there is a delay in the development of the crossbody movement, we are left disappointed, worried and frustrated . The Vardi method succeeds in assisting with
re-learning and encouraging good, quality development.
The Vardi method succeeds in encouraging proper movement and encouraging good, high-quality development.
How is it done?
The secret to normative and satisfactory development is found in the many and mysterious connections between the different parts of the brain. The brain connections begin to form in the womb, develop in the first years of our lives, and are greatly affected by various states and circumstances, both physical and mental.
According to the principles of the Vardi Method, changes can be achieved through unique physical coordination exercises, which improve the quality of brain connections.
The Vardi Method consists of a series of exercises, for each of the baby’s different developmental stages:
For example, awareness of the crossing the midline can be encouraged even in the softest baby by moving the hand or foot from one side to the other.
You can also cross-move your baby’s hands and feet slowly and very gently, to stimulate learning and understanding of what is occurring. Later, your baby can be encouraged to crawl by crossing its hand beyond the midline and by giving it a toy from another direction. The Vardi Method can lead to very significant results, even after the first treatment.
Ilanit, mother of the 10 month old Maya, tells:
“I came to Anat with Maya, a cute and round baby, ten months old, and also - unable to move on her own. At first, we joked and blamed her lack of movement because of her love of food. Later on, and with the many testimonies from friends regarding their own babies’ progress and joyfulness, we realized that something was wrong. After a series of physical therapy treatments that lead to no practical results, we arrived to Anat. This may sound unbelievable, but after around 3 treatments Maya accomplished a series of astonishing movements - she rolled over on both sides and showed signs of the beginning of a crawl. Needless to say, the feeling of relief and gratitude that Anat’s therapy gave to us”.