The Closing Ritual is way to create a moment of stillness, to honour & reflect her completion of pregnancy, her transition into motherhood & to bring her awareness back into her goddess self. It is a way to support the woman’s healing, to both her body & her mind,
by nourishing & nurturing all aspects of her journey she wishes close.
Women experiencing all life paths are welcomed & held within this space. A closing may be giving to celebrate her maiden era or her transition into our crone. To heal her womb space, after early birth, miscarriage or abortion, after her birth even many years post.
Closing the Bones is traditionally known as an ancient Mexican Postnatal practice; however, similar rituals & ceremonies have been practiced & taught through traditional birthing attendance across many cultures, across many decades. I hold the deep piverlaged to have learnt these traditional wisdoms of the Rebozo & the beautifully powerful closing ceremony from world renowned traditional Mexican Midwife, Naoli Vinaver.
I acknowledge the great lineage of Naoli, her wisdoms & teaching. I hold great respect & gratitude for the teachers, Elders & communities of women who have held space for this healing practice.
During pregnancy, her hips are widening, opening, housing her growing babe & preparing for their birth. During birth, her whole being is opening & releasing, birthing this new soul, & as life changing as birth is, it can often leave the mother feeling exposed & broken open.
During the Closing the Bones ritual, we create a safe space to acknowledges her body’s transformation & call her spirit back into her body, guiding her bones back into their place, encouraging her womb space to shift, her hips to close, her uterus to shrink back
& to stimulate her blood flow.
This traditional Mexican Postnatal Closing ceremony that I hold space for,
generally lasts up to 5-6 hours & is offered within your home. It can be offered past 10days postpartum or 40days after Caesarean or highly invasive birth but this can be discussed at time of booking. This traditional ceremony consists of 4 elements that are designed to warm, cleanse, clear, release, nurture, ground & honour the rite of passage that is birth
& welcoming in your next stage of life that is motherhood.
The 4 elements;
one: grounding her pelvis, gentle pressure able to her hips & a full body gentle massage.
two: a ceremonial herbal steam bath, designed to emulate a 'temazcal'; I create a safe, held & dark environment either within mama's bath or I am able to bring a DIY bath set up {this will be discussed at time of booking}. The steam bath is traditionally meant to be hot, but in my experience this is very empowering & offers so much strength, it can also offer deep insight, healing, cleansing & understanding for mama's birth.
three: mama is wrap completely head to toe {face showing} within heavy blankets & is laid down to rest. Again this is meant to be hot, to encourage mama's body to sweat,
release toxins & to release deep emotions.
four: mama is wrapped tightly with 7 rebozos, reiki energy healing is intuitively channeled
& then the unwrapping {which is my favourite part!}.
Warmth is such a vital part of postnatal recovery, I assure that the space & your body are kept warm throughout the Ceremony. It is vital that the mama has space to stay warm inside & at home for at least 1-2days post ceremony.
*it is important to have a support person to watch over & tend to baby & children throughout the ceremony, there will be opportunities to breastfeed during. This is to assure mama is fully relaxed & present throughout the Closing to bones ceremony.
The Closing the bones ceremony is also a beautiful & nurturing way to honour periods of transition within all stages & rites of passages. I offer a ceremony that consists of just the 4th element within this traditional ceremony. This Ceremony generally lasts up to 2hours.
When you book your Closing Ceremony, I create a sacred space that is intimate & bespoke to you & your desires. This is ideally done within the comfort of your own home but of course can be offer within my space of practice.
I place my mat on the floor & place 7 rebozos over top. You are then invited to lie on your back where I then ground your pelvis & perform a series of rebozo massage & rocking techniques. You are then wrapped in the rebozos, from your head to your toes & covered with a blanket while reiki energy healing is channelled. This can often ignite a comforting release of emotions, a reminder that you are safe & held within this space. I hold space for you to share your story & your closure over a freshly brewed tea. Each Closing ritual is uniquely yours & honours your own journey.
The Closing the Bones ritual can also be an opportunity for your circle of women, to come together & celebrate your journey. Similar in the ways of Blessing ceremony, check out the Blessing Ceremony page for more details. Again, all Blessing Ceremonies are bespoke to you & your desires, cost reflect this & can be discussed personally.
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