What Is a Closing the Bones Ceremony? The Ancient Ritual Supporting Postnatal Healing

The origins of Closing the Bones in Traditional Cultures

Closing the bones is an ancient practice that uses cloth or handmade woven scarves to rock and wrap the body. It can take anything from 40 minuets to two hours, and may involve just a physical practice of rocking and then wrapping the postnatal body or build in ceremonial practices like, reiki, journaling, singing and even drumming.

There are many different ways to deliver this postpartum healing ritual and each practitioner will use a combination of ancient wisdom that they have learnt, weaving in other practices and knowledge they have gathered to provide a ceremony that is deeply nourishing to your post partum body.

If you want to find out more about the history of closing the bones you can read this beautiful blog post by Sophie Messenger my teacher. Sophie is a closing the bones therapist and doulawho has delivered this women’s wellness ritual of many many years. https://sophiemessager.com/closing-the-bones-a-universal-postpartum-healing-practise/

Why is this post birth ritual is so powerful for post partum women.

The benefits of post partum body work are extensive but not often shared. Birth is a transformational rite of passage. Whether you birth your baby vaginally, at home, or birth in hospital and experience intervention. Closing the bones is suitable for everything woman.

Massage, tapping, rocking, and wrapping are all forms of body work that support post natal healing.

Benefits of closing the bones are:

Reduced pain of the shoulders, back and pelvis

A safe space to process the emotional transition from maiden to mother

A physical release of trauma stored in the body. (Both birth trauma or other trauma including miscarriage, sexual trauma and childhood trauma)

Supports the muscles and tissues to relax

Moving the body in a focused and specialised way supports the healing of tissues and joints.

Personal reflections from women who have experienced closing the bones ceremonies:

“It’s like being tucked into bed at night”

“I feel so safe and held”

“A beautiful opportunity to recognise the huge shift I have made as a mother of two”

What to expect during a closing the bones ceremony?

This ancient post partum ritual can take many forms. Some women want to experience only the physical practice of rocking and wrapping the body. This element will take around an hour and consists of:

A gentle discussion with your closing the bones therapist or practitioner to talk about any physical sensations or pain you are experience or parts of the body that you feel need particular care and attention.

After your discussion you will be invited to lie among the soft blankets and scarves layerd on to the floor.

Scarves are often layerd on top of a soft layer or yoga mat and blankets and run horizontally to support the head, shoulders, ribcage, plevis, top of the legs, lower legs and feet.

Although every practitioner will hold you in their own and unique way the ceremony often starts with a moment of connection between your body and theirs, some gentle breaths, or a gentle placing of the hands on to your body.

From there the physical post partum ritual begins gentle rocking then wrapping from the head all the way down to the feet.

Once each part of your body has been nurtured you are then cocooned in a blanket (a little like a burrito) and given some time for the physical and emotional shifts to process.

If you are seeking more ritual and ceremony your closing the bones therapist may offer reiki or gentle hands on work, they may also speak a poem, sing or drum.

After a period of time unique to each treatment you will be unwrapped and invited to slowly inter grate back into the space.

If it is just the physical practice you seek the your practitioner will serve you a warm drink of your choice and end your experience

If you seek a deeper emotional closing then you may share your experience, journal, perhaps even work on additional parts of the body that still hold tension with additional movement or massage.

The emotional and physical benefits of this post partum ritual

The physical benefits of the ceremony may include a release of tension and pain in your body. The rocking helps to soothe muscles and tissues to support relaxation.

There could be a physical shift in joints realigning the body after the opening of the plevis in pregnancy. The work on the pelvis can help to relieve and pelvic girdle pain and in some circumstances significantly reduces pelvic floor dysfunction, leaking and heaviness felt in the pelvic floor muscle.

Emotionally and energetically the gift of time to process and integrate the huge shift a woman experiences during birth be that a vaginal birth or a c-section can be profound.

This post partum ritual can offer a moment to pause. Soothing anxiety, releasing tension, stress and worries. Often it is the way a woman feels emotionally and mentally after a ceremony that provides the greatest reward for mothers.

My Approach to closing the bones in Northumberland

As an experienced body worker with passion for nervous system regulation through motherhood my approach will prioritise not only your physical needs but support you emotionally too.

I have two offers one just a physical body practice and one ceremonial practice.

The physical practices focuses on the body, working to ease tension and pain and providing you as a mother with time to simply rest in a safe place.

The second offer of closing the bones allows you to view your whole experience as as mother we invite your whole journey from pregnancy to the day we work together. Before the ceremony I will take time to understand your emotions and feelings and we will set an intention for our journey through the ritual. I will bring in additional massage and body work to the ceremony and during the ceremony will share a poem or use words that honour your journey through motherhood. We will also take time to share after the practice anything that you feel able to voice or I will share journal prompts with you to support additional release.

The experiance I offer can be deeply personal or a body work and postnatal healing massage that is safe. It depends on your needs as a woman. You may have multiple treatments or just one. Your baby is welcome to be a part of the ceremony too. In the early post partum days mothers are often needed to feed or cuddle baby during the ceremony and I work with you both to support the care you need to give.

How soon can I have a closing the bones ceremony at home in the North East of Engalnd?

You can experience this postpartum massage as early as you feel ready. The ritual is gentle and the experience will be adapted to match your needs. You could also be 5, 10 or twenty years post birth and still benefit greatly from this offering. Some people have a closing the bones ceremony on their birthday each year as a way of honouring their bodies after another journey around the sun.

A 90 minuet purely body work practice is £90 and a two hour ceremony is £120. I provide all that you need including scent, tea and other post ritual care items to make your experience special.

To book get in touch via the contact form here.

You can see the details about other massage offers I have here and if you have any questions please do reach out to me. I love to connect with you all personally before sharing in this deeply personal practice.

I am so greatful that you have taken the time to explore this post natal wellness ritual recognising the huge undergoing your body and mind has taken during this shift into motherhood. You matter just as much as the baby you are growing or holding in your arms. My work helps you to nourish yourself on a deep soul level. You need this. You deserve this. Much love Chloe