IAIM NZ

01/06/2026

🍂 Tiny hands. Warm hearts. Lasting connections. 🍂

Welcome Winter. Welcome June.

As the colder months settle across Aotearoa, we are reminded that some of life’s greatest gifts cannot be bought or wrapped.

A loving gaze.
A gentle touch.
A cuddle.
A moment of feeling truly seen.

Throughout June, we’ll be exploring the word JUNE together:

✨ J is for Joy
✨ U is for Understanding
✨ N is for Nourish
✨ E is for Engage

Each week we’ll reflect on how these simple yet powerful qualities help strengthen the bond between parents and babies, and support healthy emotional, social, and physical development.

Because when babies feel safe, loved, and connected, they don’t just grow - they thrive.

We invite our parents, students, CIMIs, and wider IAIM whānau to join us as we celebrate the little moments that make a big difference.

❤️ One touch.
❤️ One connection.
❤️ One relationship at a time.

25/05/2026

✨ Today marks the final day of our May IAIM NZ 4-Day Online Live Stream Instructor Training ✨

What a beautiful journey these past four weeks have been. 🌱🌻

From the comfort of their own homes, or work space, students from around Aotearoa gathered together to learn the art of infant massage, nurturing touch, bonding, communication, and connection.

One of the highlights of our training is that parents and babies join us for three sessions of infant massage, allowing students to step into the experience of facilitating and teaching in a real infant massage class environment. 💛

“Getting the opportunity to take part in a class and observing PJ take one.”
“Opportunities to teach sessions to parents.”
“The way the student-led massage classes were structured.”

This is more than learning strokes.
This is learning how to truly see, support, and empower families.

✨ September 2026 Online Training enrolments are now open
✨ February 2027 Auckland In-Person Training now confirmed

Perhaps your heart has been quietly calling you toward this work too. 🌱

Become and instructor click here 👉https://www.infantmassagenewzealand.org/become-an-instructor.html

21/05/2026

✨ Meet Hannah✨

The word she chose was simple:

🌱🌻 Supported

A new mother, an occupational therapist, and a woman following her heart, Hannah attended our February Auckland IAIM NZ Instructor Training with her 3-month-old daughter and the loving support of her family close by.

And she was not alone. Another mother also attended with her baby and support person, reminding us that IAIM training honours both the professional and the personal journey. When we honour the needs of both mother and child, learning becomes deeply human.

Hannah’s favourite part?

❤️ Learning the massage strokes - the very heart of the programme.

In her words:

🌿 “The training went above and beyond my expectations.”
🌿 “I felt more supported than anything I have experienced before.”
🌿 “This training has no limits on how supported you will feel.”
🌿 “I would recommend it 100%.”

If this training has been whispering to your heart, trust that whisper.

Come as you are.
Bring your baby.
Bring your dreams.

We will welcome you with open arms.

19/05/2026

Tonight’s Stroke Review was a beautiful reminder of why ongoing practice matters. 🌱🌻

Here is what our CIMIs and Students shared:

✨ “So worthwhile attending.”
✨ “It is easy to forget the small things.”
✨ “It builds confidence.”
✨ “Reassuring.”
✨ “Connecting through touch and slowing down.”
✨ “Lovely to meet other CIMIs and Students.”
✨ “Really good to go over it all again.”
✨ “It refreshed me.”
✨ “I realised I had been on autopilot.”
✨ “Excellent - I definitely needed this.”

Sometimes it is the little things we forget that make the biggest difference.

Coming together to practise, reflect, and reconnect helps us return to the heart of the IAIM programme - slowing down, following the baby, and supporting parents through nurturing touch.

We may be a small community, but we are mighty in heart.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and continues to invest in themselves and in the families they serve.

As part of their annual IAIM NZ membership, Certified Infant Massage Instructors and Students have an opportunity to attend four Stroke Reviews each year, which I facilitate as the IAIM NZ Trainer to help them refresh their skills, build confidence, and keep up their practice.

Together, we are creating ripples of connection, confidence, and love throughout Aotearoa and beyond. 🌱🌻



PS. Photo - you may notice that some of the demonstration dolls have been handmade - A special thank you to Mary Beattie, IAIM Trainer from Baby & Child Massage for providing beautiful hand-crafted infant massage dolls for sale where each doll is lovingly made by a circle of women in rural India using local sheep’s wool and materials sourced within India. Every doll is unique and created with warmth, dignity, and respect for both people and planet. 🌏💛

19/05/2026

🎉 Congratulations to our newest Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI) in Aotearoa New Zealand! 🇳🇿🌱🌻

Becoming a Certified Infant Massage Instructor is a significant achievement.

Through dedication, study, practical teaching, and the delivery of a five-week infant massage programme, you have developed the skills to support parents and pēpi in a truly meaningful way.

Your work will help whānau:
✨ Strengthen bonding and secure attachment
✨ Build confidence in reading baby’s cues
✨ Promote relaxation and emotional wellbeing
✨ Experience the power of nurturing touch and loving connection

You are now part of a global movement committed to ensuring that parents, caregivers, and children are loved, valued, and respected throughout the world community.

Trust the Journey 🌱🌻 thank you for your commitment - You trusted the training, embraced the process, and delivered your own five-week infant massage programme. Congratulations on becoming a Certified Infant Massage Instructor. Your work will support families for generations to come.

18/05/2026

We are delighted to welcome Kathryn Berkett to our IAIM NZ 30th Anniversary Celebration.

Kathryn is one of New Zealand's most sought-after speakers on neuroscience and child development. With a Master's in Educational Psychology, a second Master's in Applied Neuroscience (King's College London) underway, and over 20 years translating complex brain science into accessible, practical knowledge, she has a gift of making neuroscience feel both fascinating and immediately relevant.

Through her ENGAGE training business, Kathryn has worked with teachers, psychologists, the Police, health professionals, and parents - helping people understand how the developing brain shapes behaviour, learning, and connection. Her work has a particular focus on early childhood: how the experiences a baby has in their very first weeks and months lay the neurological groundwork for life.

✨ In the afternoon, Kathryn will present:
“Bringing Complex Neuroscience Information to Everyday Spaces.”

🌱 Registrations are still open.

As a room full of Certified Infant Massage Instructors and Students, whose roles touch these exact topics, you’ll no doubt be fascinated by what Kathryn will share. The neuroscience of early touch, secure attachment, and how the infant brain responds to nurturing interaction sits at the heart of what we do - and Kathryn brings that science alive in a way that's both affirming and genuinely energising.

We're so grateful to Kathryn for coming to join us.



Photo sourced from ENGAGE Training website (https://www.engagetraining.co.nz/about-1)

14/05/2026

Our 30th Anniversary Celebration is nearly here, and we would love to see as many of our Certified Infant Massage Instructors and students there as possible.

We are delighted to welcome Jo Osborne to our IAIM NZ 30th Anniversary Celebration 🌱🌻

Jo is a Physiotherapist, and former IAIM NZ Trainer, and founder of Wagtastic - NZ Dog Training.

Jo will share her knowledge and experience in supporting babies and children with special and additional needs. With her warm and practical approach, Jo brings a wealth of experience in understanding behaviour, communication, and connection.

🌱 Registrations are still open - https://iaimnz.infoodle.com/form_process?g=bc236d2c-9e52-4547-b895-776febe74981

This is a beautiful opportunity to reconnect, celebrate 30 years of nurturing touch in Aotearoa, and be inspired for the journey ahead.

11/05/2026

Today I had the privilege of leading our first Parent & Pēpi infant massage session while the students observed and learned.

This is where the training truly comes alive. Students witness the baby-led approach in action and begin building the confidence to support families in their own communities.

Next week, it will be their turn to guide the session. 🌱🌻

A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful parents who generously gave their time to join us and share their precious pēpi. Your presence meant the world to us.

Parents shared that they enjoyed:
🌿 The pace
🌿 Learning how to set up for massage
🌿 The leg massage strokes and movements
🌿 Taking home practical tools they can begin using right away

Their takeaways included:
✨ Insightful
✨ Relaxed
✨ Useful
✨ Confidence-building
✨ Great

Each stroke is more than a technique. It is an invitation to slow down, connect, and nurture the bond between parent and baby.

Supporting parents and babies in this way is meaningful work that can have a lasting impact for generations to come 🌱🌻💞



pic - ✨ A beautiful highlight from our May 2026 IAIM NZ Online Instructor Training ✨

07/05/2026

Thinking of you both today…
In loving memory of Mike and Peggy Dawson

06/05/2026

🌱 50 years ago Vimala McClure had a vision..

IAIM Founder Vimala McClure had a vision:

"I believe that by fostering and encouraging Infant Massage and other cultural traditions which enhance the parent-baby bond and by helping to create more family-centered values in our culture, we will begin to see whole generations expressing more compassion toward and responsibility for their fellow human beings.

I believe in supporting parents in their love for their infants. I believe that babies are aware human beings who deserve respect, tenderness, and warmth, and above all, a listening heart. When we listen to our infants with our hearts, we discover whatever it is that we want to know.

I believe that every parent, regardless of personal philosophy, and every infant, regardless of birth history or disposition, should have the opportunity to experience the lifelong benefits that come from early bonds that are loving, healthy and secure."

The IAIM has a presence in over 70 countries and our curriculum has been developed and refined for over 30 years through research, reflective practice and practical experience. This has resulted in a widely endorsed and implemented parenting programme.