Vimala McClure

Vimala McClure has been writing and teaching since 1973. She learned the basics of Infant Massage while studying yoga and working at an orphanage in India. She connected the way children interacted in India with the massage and loving touch they received as infants. Most games were inclusive, involving all, and it was common to see children playing in circular rhythmic dances. After returning to the U.S., Vimala researched the impact of touch between parents and their infants, and discovered Ashley Montague's book Touching, which had an incredible wealth of information that supported her idea that loving touch in infancy has a profound effect on parents and on babies, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She also discovered that it virtually cures colic, and having all the necessary elements, it profoundly supports the bond between parents and their babies. When her first baby was six months old, she began teaching Infant Massage out of her home. Eventually, she founded the International Association of Infant Massage, which has chapters in more than 60 countries, where instructors certified by her organization teach parents in their own cultures. Her book, Infant Massage: a Handbook for Loving Parents (Random House) has been translated into 14 languages worldwide. Vimala is also an accomplished artist, her art quilts winning many prizes and being shown in galleries and embassies around the world.