In Mayan culture, it is said that during labor the mother's spirit travels the universe to find and collect her baby's soul and then returns with it to birth together. In the Closing of the Bones ceremony, the spirit is called back to the body, bringing an energetic closing and physical healing and relaxation after giving birth.
Closing of the Bones Ceremony
This ceremony is performed in the privacy of your own home. The ceremony is available on its own, or with a traditional Moroccan bath. It is best to have someone else available to care for Baby so that you can fully relax. If you do not have a bathtub available, arrangements can be made to have the ceremony done at my house.
Closing of the Bones Ceremony w/ Ritual Hammam $250*
Includes:
- Ritual Hammam (bath) soak with soothing epsom salts, pink Himalayan sea salts, grapefruit, and pea flower. Natural Loofah and lavender sugar scrub provided.
- Ceremonial tray set up with herbal tea, snacks, and products for you to take home.
- Space set up with relaxing music and an intention to bring peace and deep relaxation to the client.
- Traditional Closing of the Bones ceremony performed with authentic Mexican rebozos.
- For any person in their postpartum (or life transition), whether a couple days or many years!
Closing of the Bones Ceremony $175*
Includes:
- Ceremonial tray set up with herbal tea, snacks, and products for you to take home.
- Space set up with relaxing music and an intention to bring peace and deep relaxation to the client.
- Traditional Closing of the Bones ceremony performed with authentic Mexican rebozos.
- For any person in their postpartum (or life transition), whether a couple days or many years!
What exactly IS Closing of the Bones?
The Closing of the Bones is a cross-cultural rite of passage ceremony, traditionally performed on postpartum mothers to mark the physical, spiritual, and emotional changes that come with the transition into motherhood, but can also be performed in other significant times of transition such as starting or ending a career, moving across country, or with the death of a loved one. While we are happy to perform this ceremony for any of these circumstances, the information provided here will focus primarily on postpartum mothers.
Closing of the Bones after birth is often thought to be a Mexican postpartum tradition - using the rebozo, or shawl. Closing of the Bones in Mexico is often called Cerrar la Cadera or a Cerrada, meaning: 'Closing of the Hips' or 'A Closing,' respectively. While Closing of the Bones absolutely has origins in Mexico, it also has origins in many other places in the world.
In Russia, this ceremony is called Seven Locks and is performed using a scarf called a Rushnyk. While in Morocco, Closing of the Bones is called Al-Shadd, meaning The Pulling, and the traditional cloth used to offer this care are called kourziyas. Al-Shadd is often combined with the Hammam, or ritual bath, in addition to the pulling ceremony.
Each culture, and practitioner, practices this ceremony with its own unique variations. We have pulled elements from an immense bank of generational traditional wisdom by researching practices throughout the world, and participating in trainings designed to honor the origins and founders of this unique practice.
Closing of the Bones after birth is often thought to be a Mexican postpartum tradition - using the rebozo, or shawl. Closing of the Bones in Mexico is often called Cerrar la Cadera or a Cerrada, meaning: 'Closing of the Hips' or 'A Closing,' respectively. While Closing of the Bones absolutely has origins in Mexico, it also has origins in many other places in the world.
In Russia, this ceremony is called Seven Locks and is performed using a scarf called a Rushnyk. While in Morocco, Closing of the Bones is called Al-Shadd, meaning The Pulling, and the traditional cloth used to offer this care are called kourziyas. Al-Shadd is often combined with the Hammam, or ritual bath, in addition to the pulling ceremony.
Each culture, and practitioner, practices this ceremony with its own unique variations. We have pulled elements from an immense bank of generational traditional wisdom by researching practices throughout the world, and participating in trainings designed to honor the origins and founders of this unique practice.
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Birth is an initiation into motherhood and so much of this rite of passage goes unseen as our modern culture fails to bear witness to the birth of mothers. Pregnancy and birth are praised and celebrated, but often a new mother is left alone during the postpartum time struggling to transform into a new version of herself. This time can be very disorienting: a new mother goes through a major life-changing experience and can feel like a completely different person, but friends and family often don’t view her any differently.
Closing of the Bones is to bear witness. It is to recognize the journey–that she is no longer who she was, and is not yet who she’ll be. (It’s easy to see how this translates to other life events as well.) Pregnancy and birth require us to open and expand. Part of the postpartum period requires that we close our physical bodies back up, that we redefine our personal boundaries, and that we reconnect with ourselves as newly born Mothers.
In Mayan culture, it is said that during labor the mother’s spirit travels the universe to find and collect her baby’s soul and then returns with it to birth together. During the bone closing ceremony, the postpartum woman is wrapped from head to toe, aiming to help the body go back to the pre-pregnancy state, and the spirit is called back to the body with the ritual encouraging a new parent to close energetically.
Closing of the Bones is to bear witness. It is to recognize the journey–that she is no longer who she was, and is not yet who she’ll be. (It’s easy to see how this translates to other life events as well.) Pregnancy and birth require us to open and expand. Part of the postpartum period requires that we close our physical bodies back up, that we redefine our personal boundaries, and that we reconnect with ourselves as newly born Mothers.
In Mayan culture, it is said that during labor the mother’s spirit travels the universe to find and collect her baby’s soul and then returns with it to birth together. During the bone closing ceremony, the postpartum woman is wrapped from head to toe, aiming to help the body go back to the pre-pregnancy state, and the spirit is called back to the body with the ritual encouraging a new parent to close energetically.
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There are many physical and emotional benefits to a Closing of the Bones ceremony. The following lists could go on and are unique to every parent.
The physical expansion of pregnancy and birth can be understood through the physiologic processes of:
The energetic / psychological / spiritual expansions that happen through pregnancy and birth range from:
Traditionally, this practice is facilitated 4 times during the first 2 weeks after birth and again at 40 days postpartum. However it has been shown to be remarkably healing if performed even only once, and can also be done at any time–even many, many years later.
Beginning at the top of the head, and working down to the feet, a long piece of cloth is wrapped around a new mother like a strong, grounding embrace - closing her body up and helping her to re-incorporate after the expansiveness of the experience of birth.
The physical expansion of pregnancy and birth can be understood through the physiologic processes of:
- Increased Relaxin: Relaxin is a hormone present in all humans, the amount of Relaxin is naturally higher in female bodies, rising to a peak during ovulation and declining in the absence of pregnancy. On average, pregnant women have 10 times the normal amount of Relaxin in their bodies. Relaxin softens connective tissues and makes ligaments and tendons more elastic. It affects every connective tissue, ligament, and tendon in your body from your thumb joints to your hips.
- Blood volume expansion: During pregnancy, the volume of blood in a woman's body increases on average by 50 percent.
- By the third trimester of pregnancy, 100% of women will have some level of Diastasis Recti, which is the widening of the gap between the 2 sections of the Rectus Abdominis (or 6 pack) abdominal muscles, along the linea alba.
- The pelvis OPENS during birth to allow for the passage of the baby. Many physical therapists report that the pelvic bones of many women are 'stuck open’ in a birthing position – even when they birthed their last child 20+ years ago.
The energetic / psychological / spiritual expansions that happen through pregnancy and birth range from:
- Memories of past physical or sexual abuse rising to the surface for the first time.
- Reckoning with our own early childhood experiences and how we were parented.
- Fears of who we might be as a mother/parent.
- Fears of what might become of our romantic partnerships.
- Maturation in our relationships to our partners, our finances, our outer work in this world.
- Shifting of family dynamics.
- Stepping into new roles and responsibilities in our families, communities, world.
- Knowing ourselves and our capacities in ways that we never had prior.
Traditionally, this practice is facilitated 4 times during the first 2 weeks after birth and again at 40 days postpartum. However it has been shown to be remarkably healing if performed even only once, and can also be done at any time–even many, many years later.
Beginning at the top of the head, and working down to the feet, a long piece of cloth is wrapped around a new mother like a strong, grounding embrace - closing her body up and helping her to re-incorporate after the expansiveness of the experience of birth.
- Manual work after birth is needed on the abdomen for the approximation of the abdominal muscles and fascia at the linea alba. This manual work helps to facilitate pelvic floor and core connection after birth. This work can be done with our hands OR with a long cloth (like a rebozo, rushnyk, or kourziya), and helps bring the actual muscles and fascia closer together anteriorly on the abdomen, which will then allow for a more effective core and pelvic floor contraction.
- The pelvis is meant to be closed up after birth (including the bony structure of the pelvis) through an extended resting period, nutrient-dense foods which facilitate tissue healing, and through hands-on work. Closing of the Bones is one of the ways to facilitate this closing of the pelvis after birth.
- Closing of the Bones offers mothers a small amount of time to turn her energy inward, as opposed to the persistent outward energy that is required of early mothering and caretaking of a newborn baby.
- Closing of the Bones is a small closing ceremony for whatever the particular mother feels she wants/needs to bring closure to at that time. This small ceremony is an honoring ceremony, honoring the work that this mother did to grow and birth human life, and her sacrifices (sacrifice meaning: a holy offering) through the work of Mothering. It is a way to honor mothers as the foundation to humanity's health and as the caretakers of the future generations.
*We believe everyone should have access to trained and full support through labor and delivery! We have a sliding scale available--please inquire. 25% of ALL fees collected (and anything above that!) goes directly into our grant fund. This fund allows us to attend births of incarcerated women and others who would not normally have access to birth doula services.