Remember that video of the Russian woman swinging a baby over her head? Remember how it made its way around the Internet and left us gasping? Was it real? Did someone really practice this strange form of mother-baby yoga?
Yes and yes.
According to a report by BBC News, the routine we saw in the video is something called "dynamic baby gymnastics" and it is apparently part of a widespread practice in Russia:
Oleg [a psychotherapist] maintains it gives babies a head start in life. "When they're born, babies are very tense," Oleg explains. "They're frightened by the wide, open space around them. This procedure helps a baby adapt to their new surroundings. It makes infants more open, more sociable, more relaxed. It also helps them develop more quickly."
So yes, folks. That video was real. "Dynamic baby gymnastics" is real. And the world is a real sad place.
It's worth noting that not everyone agrees with this particular method of child raising. Robert Young, an American general practitioner, remarks that he thinks "this is potentially dangerous" and "would never recommend it" to his patients.
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. If she wasn't obsessed with Twitter, she'd tell you to go like her on Facebook.