Closing of the Bones: Postpartum Care for New Mothers
The Closing of the Bones massage, ceremony, or wrapping practice represents basic postpartum care that has been forgotten across many mother lines.
Now we look to those cultural lineages that are today to some extent intact for the teachings, and build a modern cultural foundation out of remembering, grieving, honouring, and newness.
There is so much medicine present for all.
Tending the Newborn Mother: A Broken Legacy of Care
Of course the monumental opening and all levels intensity of birthing asks an in kind response.
And of course women have been doing this for centuries, all over the world, in all of our blood lines.
Swaddling the new mother.
Releasing holdings from her tissues, muscles, fascia, bone.
Letting go her old identity.
Supporting the organs to find their way back to new positions.
For it is the mother’s body now, that is also newborn.
We give her space to wash and clear and cleanse as she morphs, arrives, lands.
With the plants as ally to the supreme intelligence of our bodies, we offer this as standard care for each new mother.
Please READ THIS ARTICLE by Rachelle Garcia Seliga of Innate Traditions, Closing of the Bones – a Cross-Cultural Postpartum Practice for the deep dive.
““We are confronting a PROFOUND, collective AMNESIA relative to our respective cultural inheritances and our collective human inheritance.“”
La Cerrada Completa: The Recipe
The recipe I work with is an adaptation of La Cerrada Completa, “The Complete Closing”, as shared by Mexican midwife Naoli Vinaver, and taught to me by my dear mentor Sasha Padron.
I also incorporate pieces from many more teachers along the way, and learn from each woman, and each ceremony, every time.
The Recipe:
Opening circle
Full Body Massage
Herbal Bath or Steam
The Sweat
Closing of the Bones
Closing circle
Lunch!
Closing My Bones: Is it too late?
La Cerrada Completa can be offered as early as ten days postpartum; Naoli teaches that it is done three times within the first 40 days or so after birth, or loss (miscarriage, abortion, stilbirth).
I’ve done this ceremony many times at around six weeks postpartum.
And, I mention, with great emphasis… IT IS NEVER TOO LATE.
It is never too late to receive, and to heal.
I’ve also offered La Cerrada Completa at six years postpartum, for a mother ready to close her bones, as well as the birthing portal, as she moved beyond her childbearing years.
““The closing of the bones ceremony was so powerful for me even so many years after my last birth. I had never really felt that I had given my body the focused, centred and nourishing time it needed to recover. I felt so supported by the doulas in a deeply spiritual way that I wish we could all enjoy more regularly.””
Healing from Birth, Trauma, Loss: Tending the Root
You also do not have to have given birth or been pregnant to benefit from this ceremony.
I am aware that many types of trauma, injury, or shock events can be tended to and/or dislodged through this powerful sequence, perhaps especially trauma imprints from sexual abuse.
This ceremony is about tending to our root.
The roots of our bodies, and the cultural baseline of what we believe to be true.
Mothers NEED profound tending, care, reverence and restoration following pregnancy, birth, and loss.
The extent to which we care for and respect the physiological, emotional and spiritual needs of mothers determines the health of our society.
Taking care of mothers IS taking care of babies.
