It's not perhaps the most usual way of spending a drab, winter Sunday afternoon, but it's strangely calming to watch. In a living room in a house in south London a small group of adults are learning about the benefits of massage for children from a Swedish therapist.
During the past few years infant massage and baby yoga have become accepted and even trendy in the UK, but the benefits of massage for school children are something we've yet to explore. It couldn't be more different in Sweden, where it's been a regular classroom fixture since the early 1990s and is now even established as part of the curriculum.
Solveig Berggren has been teaching massage in Swedish schools to children from nursery age upwards since 1996. Now she's here to teach this group of British therapists all about the positive effects of massage for children and consider how it can be introduced in the UK.
Originally trained as a sports massage therapist, Solveig worked for a high-ranking Swedish football team, Asa (Orsa), for several years, before turning her attention to the classroom.
'It doesn't take long to see the benefits for children,' she says. 'In a short time they become much calmer and less stressed. You can see the reaction in their expressions.'
When she is introducing massage into a school Solveig will spend a day explaining to teachers the movements and rhymes that she uses. The children watch the adults demonstrate the movements on each other and then practise the different techniques on their classmates. (It goes without saying that at no point are adults involved in the massage itself, which is only ever practised by the children on their contemporaries). The movements consist of shoulder, neck, head and hand massage, all of which can take place with children sitting at their desks.
Solveig says that just 15 minutes of massage at the beginning of a lesson will help children to calm down so that they become more receptive for learning. First thing in the morning is ideal for the younger children, as this settles them and prepares them for the day ahead.
To keep younger children interested and engaged, Solveig combines stories and rhymes with the movements. For example, here's an extract from 'the weather story': 'Once there was a land were the sunlight felt so warm.
'The sun warmed up the flowers, water, animals and all the people... With your hands placed at the shoulders, move smoothly down the back, crossing your hands over once or twice. When you reach the base of the back, move back upwards, crossing your hands again. The movements need to be continuous and smooth and the whole hand needs to be in contact with the back.
'Then clouds came and blocked the sun and the wind started blowing, first a little and then stronger and stronger. With both your hands slightly cupped, alternately tap across the top of the back.
'There were more clouds, darker and darker, and finally came the rain...
Starting at the top of the back, with a hand on each shoulder, drag your fingers down the back again and again, getting a little harder each time...'
Solveig sees massage as a fantastic way of promoting respect and trust among children. While she says that children should never be forced to take part, she has found that even the children with the worst behavioural problems are won over by curiousity to join in.
She says, 'It's difficult to be a human being today when there is more and more violence. Children are seeking meaningful activities.' She sees massage as a means for children to explore the physical boundaries of right and wrong. 'I teach them that they have the right to their own bodies and that they can say "no". When they can recognise healthy, positive touch, this helps them to recognise negative touch.'
Certainly the therapists I talk to at the end of the workshop seem to be convinced of the great potential for massage in nurseries and schools here in the UK. However, most agree that selling the idea won't be easy, with the greatest stumbling block a cultural one, about changing our preconceptions.